Each and every short sale holds hostage a buyer waiting to know if they own the home. If an investor is the buyer, they can wait for the answer, but what about the young couple waiting to see if this is going to be their new home? The wait could be devastating.
I have agents working for me on my team, and even they're beginning to say, "Frank, we would rather show our buyer a home that's not a short sale." In many ways, I am starting to agree with them. Sure, short sales may be a great deal sometimes, but with lenders now looking for almost full market value, is it really? Plus, is it worth the long delayed wait?
Lenders seem to be so focused on protecting their investors and creating their profit and loss on the deal that they forget there is a buyer allowing this deal to exist at all. Sure, it's not really the lenders problem, but if they think about it, it soon might be. Obtaining buyers in my business is not hard; selling short sales and foreclosures is very sexy business. Everyone wants to work with the foreclosure agent because they have the best deals and buyers think we hold the key to the treasures. When foreclosure agents begin to say they don't want to show a short sale to their own buyers, this speaks volumes, and should make the lenders take notice to the problem!
I'm sure my agents aren't the only ones that feel this way. With this rumbling starting to take place now; soon the masses will be made aware of the issues, if not already, and begin to walk away. Lenders will no longer be bogged down with short sale applications, because there won't be any buyers for these foreclosed properties. Short sales and foreclosures will become known as the "the good non-obtainable deal not worth pursuing."
Short sale listing agents complain about the time it takes for a short sale to be approved, yet we push forward to assist the sellers in a bad situation. The buyers however seem to get lost in the shuffle and are expected to be patient with the good deal they are getting. Buyers that leave the deal while waiting for an answer are tagged as "uncooperative." This could not be farther from the truth. How can we expect them to put their lives on hold as we protect the sellers from their own bad situation with the lender? In fact, additional wait time is sometimes a good thing for sellers.
Lenders seeking market value only continue to hurt themselves as broader marketing and additional buyers that assist in driving the price to this value disappear. Buyers that do dare to venture continue to cancel contracts after long waiting periods, and short sale agents continue to work harder for nothing. The only remaining buyers will be investors that will drive the prices opposite of what the lenders expect. It seems to me that the short sale craze for traditional buyers could come to a fast halt.
Lenders and hardships have placed homeowners in very bad situations. I will always continue to help these people! It's what I do, and what I'm passionate about. However, my next sales meeting with my staff will be the green light to avoid short sales if they so choose, and bring their clients/buyers to non-foreclosure homes.
Thanks for reading my blog posts;
Frank Wible
REMAX ALL PROS
ShortSaleNJ.com
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