The extent to which a Realtor can't answer these questions likely indicates that the Realtor might be walking blindly in their Short Sale transactions and, unfortunately, may be experiencing too much unnecessary "drama" and too many time delays. Please ask yourself the following questions.
1. Do you know the main difference in shorting a VA, FHA, or Conventional Short Sale?
2. Do you know the specific bank net thresholds for each type of loan you're shorting, without relying on the bank to tell you, so that you know where to price the property and know what offers you should and shouldn't be submitting to the bank?
3. Do you truly know which bank to short first on a Short Sale with 2 mortgage liens? Is it the 1st, or is it the 2nd? Is it both? Hint: Realtors too often make mistakes in the sequence of this approach and too many Realtors are shorting the wrong lender first.
4. Do you know the unique difference in the required components of a Short Sale package for a VA, FHA, or Conventional loan?
5. Do you know when to go active in MLS based on the type of loan you're shorting? It depends on whether it's a FHA, VA, or Conventional Short Sale?
6. How do you know what the bank needs and how do you get the required Short Sale documents, without relying first on the initial communication with the bank?
7. How much do you rely on the bank to tell you what to do next in your Short Sale?
NAR: Short Sales Solutions for REALTORS®
By Laura Melcher
Attendees at NAR's 2008 Conference & Expo "Short Sales Solutions" session busily scribbled notes throughout the 90-minutes talk led by the husband-and-wife team of Michael and Stacy Spickes.
Through their company, America’s Home Rescue in Austin, Texas, Michael and Stacy have spent the last four years facilitating short sales, and they have offered more than 200 short sales training sessions for companies, brokerages and REALTOR® associations, with a goal of reducing foreclosure rates across the nation.
The session highlighted five keys to closing short sales, as follows:
1. Knowing the correct steps in the process, depending on the type of loan. (The order of steps is also different depending on the loan type.)
2. Knowing what different lenders require in a short sale package, and submitting the required documents quickly.
3. Knowing what lenders’ bottom-line net percentage is for a short sale.
4. Knowing what banks will or will not approve in the buyer’s purchase offer.
5. Forming good relationships with loss mitigation reps at banks, in order to facilitate short sales approvals.
The Spickes team offered an extremely informative session, packed with information (slides are available their Web site). They emphasized that short sales are a win for everyone – sellers, banks and buyers – and that getting the education necessary to effectively manage a short sale is the key.
America's Home Rescue has recently launched their online course, which holds the answers to these questions. Please visit www.ShortSaleSolutionsVT.biz to take the course. It's amazing what you get for only $39.
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So far the loss mitigation department has been less than helpful, they are saying that they do not acknowledge the permission to share information (their form filled out by the sellers and faxed to the number that the bank instructed) with me the realtor, until we get an offer and submit it. So what is the best way to find out what should be included in their package for an offer submission so we can prepare some of that information proactively? My strategey is to try to call repeatedly and ask the different reps that field my call. Eventually I hope to have some better idea of the different elements that this bank requires while we await an offer.