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Sunday Shenanigans! --On Short Sales and Pre-Foreclosures

By
Real Estate Agent with Casa Latino Four Corners, REALTOR, CDPE

Well, I have seen some pretty snazzy-looking blogs with names such as Tuesday Townhouses for Sale, so I just HAD to come up with something equally as interesting.  Hence--SUNDAY SHENANIGANS. 

So, I was on the phone with an agent today, speaking about Pre-Foreclosures and Short Sales.  We were commiserating about the many short sales in our market and the UN-timeliness of them and how they take up a lot of time and typically don't close.  Also, "short sales" are misnamed; it's an oxymoron.  Short sales are actually LONG sales--they take a LONG time to sell b/c you have to get the Buyer and the Seller on the same page, THEN try to wrangle the first lienholder in line, THEN, if there's a second, wrangle THAT lienholder in line or, at least , get them to sign off that they understand they'll not even get paid a penny...  Yep, it's a mess.   

I'm NOT a short sale specialist but:  A Pre-Foreclosure is when an owner is a little bit behind in his/her mortgage and is just looking to sell the property to get out from under it.  That Seller may have some or a lot of equity but the point is--they are in trouble and want out.  A short sale is when the owner/Seller is looking to sell the property and owes the bank MORE than what they can sell it for; hence, a shortage or "short" sale.  If the owner/Seller has a good enough "hardship" such as loss of job or death in the family, that Seller may qualify to sell the property "short" and the bank may accept less than what it's owed and let the owner sell it; but maybe not. 

Well, me and this agent today came up with a great SOLUTION to the whole mortgage mess:

Are you ready?  Here it is:

Have all the displaced, looking-for-work loan officers and real estate agents who haven't had a sale in a while apply for and get jobs with the lenders as Workout Specialists!  It's brilliant. 

The Benefits of this Solution are: 

1.  LOs and agents can get hourly jobs and pay their bills

2.  Listing agents and Sellers can get timely calls-back for their deals

3.  More than 2% of the short sales in our market will actually close

4.  Everyone is happy

**Hopefully, you realize that this is a tongue-in-cheek solution.  I have a lot of friends and colleagues in the business that are having a difficult time financially, so I feel the need for some humor at times.  But the situation IS what it IS; short sales are here to stay for a while.   

Maybe I should name this Sassy Sundays?!  

Seriously, though; If you are in a Short Sale Situation, please consult an attorney as to your best course of action.  Then consult another one.  Then consult another one.  If you were getting a consultation as to a physical, cancerous tumor, you would have more than one opinion, right? 

 

Comments (4)

Rob Arnold
Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. - Altamonte Springs, FL
Metro Orlando Full Service - Investor Friendly & F

The only issue with getting these Realtors and loan officers jobs working for lenders negotiating short sales is that they might have to move to India in order to get the job.  That is a heck of a commute. LOL

Feb 24, 2008 12:18 PM
Lisa Spalding
Casa Latino Four Corners, REALTOR, CDPE - Longwood, FL
REALTOR, CDPE

Rob-  Oh, I got a solution for that, too!  The last time I was on the phone with a Workout Specialist, she was an extremely NICE lady; Okay, she was very POLITE but NOT nice.  After having told her I had been on the phone WAITING for TWO hours on TWO separate DAYS waiting on HOLD for her to answer her phone, being given incorrect phone extensions, being diverted to the wrong department, THEN finally getting an e-mail for her, then e-mailing her an introduction, oh--and NOT being able to leave a message b/c when I did finally get the correct extension, her voicemail was constantly full and "not accepting messages at this time," she politely notified me that she purposely does not use e-mail at all in her job b/c it's "just one less thing" to worry about.  She only uses the fax.  She didn't comment about me not being able to leave a voicemail message. 

So, here's the solution--the Workout Specialists can be virtualJust give 'em their own FAX NUMBER and let them loose.  We'd be getting the wrong phone numbers to reach them anyway, so we can just communicate with them all via fax and never have to use the phone, e-mail, or anything like that because those are just other things to worry about and we really only need the fax. 

Feb 24, 2008 02:00 PM
Nancy Brenner
Referral Associates of Georgia, Inc. - Roswell, GA
Roswell Georgia Real Estate Agent

Lisa - Great explaination on the difference between a pre-forclosure and a short sale.  Your idea of a workout specialist is wonderful.  Maybe I'll apply for a position????

Feb 24, 2008 04:58 PM
Lisa Spalding
Casa Latino Four Corners, REALTOR, CDPE - Longwood, FL
REALTOR, CDPE

Nancy-

He he.  I KNOW I could do a better job than many Workout Specialists out there.  BUT, I also know that they're EXTREMELY overworked right now, so I definitely wouldn't want to touch their job with a 10-foot pole. 

Feb 24, 2008 11:36 PM