Don't pay fees upfront to those guaranteeing to sell your home as a Short Sale

Lynn- I think this might be a little misleading. We need to clarify what exactly you are saying to not pay up front for.Most consumers do not know what a short sale is. So they will confuse what you are saying with foreclosure defense.  Some attorneys and companies combine the short sale along with foreclosure defense.  I do not know of any attorney who would take a case without a fee upfront. 

Brian ( our attorney) charges a fee of $650 to start all the foreclosure defense which would include doing the short sale processing because it kind of is all in the same boat. He also charges $500 a month for every month we avoid a foreclosure. I highly recommend this! We are not attorneys and as agents working with short sales there is a fine line between what is constituted as practicing law without a license to do so. 

Lynn- Brian would never guarantee the outcome of a short sale and neither would we. I would definitely warn people from anyone offering a guarantee!

What I really think is disgusting is those companies that tell the homeowner to sign over their deed to them! And then go and negotiate a short sale that they then flip within the process!  

We don't have many short sales/foreclosures and the few we do have....well, hardly any of us have done a short sale and the majority I have seen are agents doing their first short sale and knowing NOTHING about them. That's sad. They're walking around ...the blind leading the blind. You have some good points here.

We don't have many short sales/foreclosures and the few we do have....well, hardly any of us have done a short sale and the majority I have seen are agents doing their first short sale and knowing NOTHING about them. That's sad. They're walking around ...the blind leading the blind. You have some good points here.

Lynn -

I'm kind of hurt - but you did clarify yourself.

There are several ways to charge for short sale services.  I don't think one way is better than the other, but each has its good and bad sides.

Charging up front with a fixed fee (as we do) means we are bound by the rules of the bar mandated by the Florida Supreme Court to provide the service that we were contracted for.  And the faster we get the deal done the more money is left over as profit.  But yes, we got paid so who cares?

Brian's way of charging is also fair - if he is not trying to milk the client by dragging out the short sale, since every month he makes another $500, so why rush?

Getting paid at the end of the deal, for an attorney means taking a contingency fee, which most attornies will not take for a transactional event.  There may even be conflict of interest issues in taking a transactional continency fee since the incentive is to get the deal done rather than the best deal done.

So you can see, there is no perfect arrangement for the payment of the attorney.

Lynn - thanks for your support.

Now that you opened the door, here is a post on how the attorney can really take advantage of the client!

ATTORNEY SPELLS TROUBLE!

Richard Zaretsky, Esq., RICHARD P. ZARETSKY P.A. ATTORNEYS AT LAW, 1655 PALM BEACH LAKES BLVD, SUITE 900, WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA 33401, PHONE 561 689 6660  RPZ99@FLORIDA-COUNSEL.COM - FLORIDA BAR BOARD CERTIFIED IN REAL ESTATE LAW - We assist Brokers and Sellers with Short Sales and Consult with Brokers and Sellers Nationwide!  Shortsales@Florida-Counsel.com