Short Sales Grow Business for Phoenix Agent

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Numbers are an important part of real estate, with prices, closings, commissions, fees, interest rates and the like adding up to potential angst. Sometimes we put so much pressure on ourselves to reach certain goals that we lose track of our main mission. So why not disregard the numbers and do what you do best? You might be surprised how quickly your transactions pile up without the added

Kathleen Bliss Porter, an agent in the Phoenix-Scottsdale area, decided about four years ago to start concentrating on short sales as her primary way of doing business. Part of that was reality because of the housing situation in Arizona and part of it was she saw an opportunity to help struggling homeowners and to do something many other agents were reluctant to try.

“There’s a big need for short sales and helping people who are upside down or experiencing a hardship,” Bliss Porter said. “I just started working on them three or four years ago and now I’m mostly all referral-based.”

She’s mostly pretty busy, too, with at least 50 closings through August this year.

“If I price it right, I’m getting multiple offers the first day, and on some of them I’m getting up to 10 offers the first couple of days,” she said. “They’re selling pretty quickly; within a few weeks they’re under contract.”

By anticipating a need and jumping in early, Bliss Porter now has an efficient system and is known as an expert in short sales. She has become acquainted with a large number of lenders and investors in her area and knows what they require to net on a sale. Therefore she prices the houses appropriately from the get-go and doesn’t “accept really low offers.”

“I tell them, ‘this is where you need to be, so submit an offer at this amount.’ Then I submit it and things go quickly,” she said. “I don’t wait for two weeks and get the best offer. I get an offer, get it to the bank and get things going.”

Her results are proving that Realtors who see an opening, become an expert in that area and then go full steam ahead will most often benefit down the road.

“I don’t really worry or think about my numbers,” Bliss Porter said. “I just go to work.”

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