Home : Blogs : Kristal Kraft ~Denver Real Estate~720-279-4599 : Denver Real Estate & Relocation

The Constipation Effect of Short Sales.

Not that I need it, but validation in always nice. This week I wrote about short sales in the Denver metro Toilet paper and laxatives market. Today John Rebchook of the Rocky Mountain News follows with a good article discussing short sales along with quote from fellow real estate associates.

There are agents who make a living chasing the short sale and foreclosure markets. They of course are advocates of the process. Many others feel the opposite, short sales to them are a waste of time.

Jim Smith, owner of Golden Real Estate, had this to say about them this week in his online real estate column: "Having listed a short sale myself, I have experienced this colossal waste of time, and I'm no longer willing to list such homes."

Smith said banks won't tell you the amount they will accept until you bring them a "live" contract, and the deals usually fall apart because it takes such a long time to get an answer from the lender.

Lou Barnes, principal of Boulder West Financial, agrees. There are so few short sales being completed that they aren't worth the effort, Barnes said.

"I was teaching a real estate class and I told my students that they would be better off doing their laundry than wasting their times on short sales," Barnes said.

I believe the entire short sale process is congested with unrealistic bids on properties. True to the business, the bottom feeders come out, placing bids on properties that have no chance of ever getting accepted. Yet these bids are presented to the banks and gain a position on the desk of the short sale administrator.

What happens next takes forever. The time involved to get to the file often fends off real buyers. This sort of frustration causes a ripple effect that resonates through all parties in the transaction.

No body want to waste time, money and effort on a useless cause. It gives the industry a black eye.

What needs to happen with the banks is more efficient organization. A front-end traffic cop that looks at the file, knows the banks break-even, bottom line number and immediately sends the offers without a breath of hope packing.

Get the useless crappy offers off the desk!

By making sure only the bids that have hope and potential of getting accepted you loosen up the time restraints on the over-worked administrators. Giving them an opportunity to do focus on getting their job done will help the industry. It will save countless wasted hours, many disappointed buyers and send near-bankrupt and distressed homeowners away so they can rebuild their lives.

We need one thing right now.

That is consumer confidence.

May we have some Please?

Welcome to Denver Dwellings Blog! If you enjoy reading about Denver real estate and things to do in Colorado be sure to add this blog to your feed reader, just click on the RSS puzzle to the left.

Are you looking to buy or sell a home? Contact me directly or click on these icons to either search all the homes for sale in the Denver metro market or to request a market analysis on your home. Thank you for stopping by my blog, leave a comment or two, I'd like to hear what you have to say.

Kristal Kraft Denver Realtor

Broker Associate, ABR, CRS, GRI, ePRO, PMN, PNG
The Berkshire Group, REALTORS
3801 E. Florida Ave., Suite 400
Denver, Colorado 80210
720-279-4599 ~ direct 303-953-5362 ~ fax

Selling Colorado Since 1984, Serving the Following Areas:

Denver Home Search	Highlands Ranch Home Search	Parker Home Search	Englewood Home Search
Littleton Home Search	Search Denver Foreclosures	Greenwood Village Home Search	Relocation to Metro Denver

Posted by Kristal Kraft ~Denver Real Estate~720-279-4599 on 02/14/2009 05:53 AM

Comments (113)

Generate short URL

This post has been included in Colorado Real Estate News Denver County, CO Real Estate News
Post is included in group: Colorado Realty Bloggers

113 Comments on The Constipation Effect of Short Sales.

FEB

2009

I am not a fan of short sales. I have been on the buyers end and it is a waste of time. The buyer gets mad and you may lose them to not getting the sale after they wait and wait. The listing agnet does not know anything either.

By the time I moved on then the buyer missed a credit card payment and lost the loan on the second home I found for them. UGH.

Your right and it is up to the agent to educate them on the fact that they will not be able to buy the home for 50 cents on the dollar in most circumstances.

Certainly it would be better for everyone involved if the banks would be more proactive in the way they deal with short sales. But they have proven ineffective at dealing with the housing crisis that they created, so should we be surprised?

Send me some consumer confidence. I didn't know what it was before, but now I certainly know what a lack of it is.

Kristel,

I agree with your basic premise of having only good offers on the loss mitagators desk. But what is a realistic offer today is an over- market offer next month when the bank finally gets around to saying ok. Therefore, I advise my buyers to project the offer they make based on at least a 30 day approval. I show them the trends down to the neighborhood and then they make a decision. If the lenders want to see more realistic, market values offered, they should approve faster!

I hvae successfully closed short sales with hard work and saved a few sellers from going into foreclosure, and a few buyers getting good deals in the process and I get certain amount of satisfaction out of that - the helping part!

Sometimes we can't blame everything on the lenders.

I have seen some agents who price the house so low that there is no prayer of the offers getting accepted. They present those offers to the lenders and wondered why the offers are not accepted. They wasted the buyers time, the buyer agents time, their own time and the lenders time.

Not only do they waste the lenders time, they waste the lenders time several times (then they put the house back on market, try to get another low offer to send it in...). I

These kind of pricing practices also gave false hopes and expectations to the prospective buyers who checks on the listings false hope that the housing price can be soooo low......

I think we need to look at this from different angle sometimes... .

One other thing: Above and beyond "confidence", consumers need some money in their pockets. Nuthin' gives ya confidence like havin' a little cold, hard cash on hand. :-)

Kristel,

This is an excellent article. I have not dealt with short sales although I have been tempted by the sheer number of short sales but my broker doesn't want to deal with them at all! I attended a short sale and foreclosure seminar presented by two well-known real estate lawyers and the feed back from the audience was that they were not very positive about their experience with the short sales. I am glad to hear that Sylvia Barry had a good experience with short sales but I would like to Know how many agents really had a positive experience and what their "strategy" is.

Hi Anja: It's not saying that Short Sale is not long, frustrating, and painful, but I am saying that when it works, it's great for all sides! I have some very grateful sellers and buyers. The process is taking longer now with the new bailout plan due to the diverging of lender resource, yes. it is frustrating.

oops, I posted this as a reblog sorry. Here's my comments. Having completed a short sale in December, I can't tell you the amount of time that was wasted in this transaction and for a very small amount of commission. The sellers were grateful and buyer hung in there too. An intermediatary was supposed have done their home work so that we could just present the offer but they dropped the ball as well. Long story short we finally got it too close after 5 months and after much persistance on my part and the buyer's agent chipped in too. There was another transaction that our office was involved in and didn't know it was a short sale so as soon as we knew we involved our attorney who negoitiated with the bank and do you know they let the transaction fall apart for $2500. Now it's going to cost beaucoup bucks in attorney fees cause now it will go to foreclosure. The banks and decision makers in the loss mitigation departments I know have way to many cases but there has to be a better process than we have to deal with now. i've written to congressman and the like but it remains the same with really no light at the end of this tunnel. I know everyone is frustrated with this process and you'd think the bank would be happy with the short sale in comparision with a foreclosure. But I guess it just moves the case load from one area to another.

Kristal, thanks for a succinct description of "bank failure".

In 2008, I nursed my friend's house through the short-sale process. It was a beautiful property, but market value left us with a $12,000 gap. When we received 4 offers, I called for highest & best. Three of the offers exceeded the asking price. The top offer left us with a $5,000 gap.

I called the bank and begged them to "triage" the case. I told them, "She's only one month in arrears with you guys. But she's lost her job and will continue to miss payments. Close quickly on this and you'll only be out $5,000." The bank officer said, "We don't have a triage procedure. It's going to sit in line with the rest of our short sales." FOUR MONTHS PASSED (with constant phone calls on my side). Thankfully, the highest bidder desperately wanted to live near that elementary school and he hung in. Otherwise. all of my efforts would have been wasted.

Every other industry has "triage" procedures written into their department guidelines. I can't imagine why the lending institutions refuse to create streamlined procedures. They'd save a bucket of money ...

Kristal - you make several valid points. It's unfortunate that lenders won't start to determine a price until there's a "valid" offer and I sometimes wonder if agents don't encourage a first very low offer just to get the ball rolling.

Kristal-Short sales are very challenging and time consuming. I sure would welcome some smart changes in procedure by the banks! Best to you~

Kristal, I lost my first short sale today. Had the home on the market for 5 months, with an offer on it in the third month. Took only a few weeks for the bank to counter $30000 higher than market value. They wouldn't do a new appraisal, wouldn't accept my BPO's with the most recent sales being within $1000 of my offer. Today, it sold on the courthouse steps. Starting bid $3000 higher than my offer. Cost to the bank for foreclosure, remarketing, etc.........astronomical!!!

Sylvia,

You are positive and that is good. I am glad to hear some good news on short sales. Have you ever done a quick calculation on the "hourly wage" of your short sale compared to the average sale?

How about this- after three months the lender countered and my buyer accepted then a day later the lender changed their mind and upped the counter by $12,000; take it or leave it. This is in a condo project that is about 30% sold and full of renters. We would be sued if we did that to a buyer!

Hi KK, Unfortunately short sales will be around for a long time. Too many agents dabble at these with no success. Work with a loss mitigation/ss specialist & your odds of completion will be greatly improved.

FEB

2009

Kristel, I agree with you, when doing short sale you waste a lot of time. Banks should hire more people to deal with this matter. I just closed a short sales transaction today after months of hard work to save the seller from going into foreclosure, and believe the buyers got good deal. The entire process toke 13 months; received about 10 offers and got 4 approvals from the lenders, but the buyer's got tired waiting for lender approval. Finitely it's closed and everybody is happy. I am looking forward for my next short sale listing; I have 4 short sale listings, 2 with offers waiting one without and another coming soon. I don't mind working hard, but it could be helpful if the lender takes care of this matter and make a little effort to manage short sale, to make the process a little bit faster. Remember someone have to do the job!

Short sales are clogging the market because banks don't know how to sell real estate.

However, when a buyer sees an interesting listing that has been on the market for 231 days, low offers are inevitable.

Banks are setting the short sale schedule. I submitted one 3 weeks ago that was accepted by the owner within 48 hours. Three weeks later we get a "negotiator".

I expect a counter one of these days, but in the mean time, my buyers continue to look. We're out tomorrow.

If agents managed real estate transactions like that, we'd soon be out of business.

We're doomed.

I closed on a short sale yesterday and I'm closing on 3 more next week. While the system can be frustating it's really the lack of expertise from the agents that's causing most of the problems. I LOVE short sales!!!

what a great word to describe the process however we will all have to ake our medicine and deal with it as they are not going away

I just went through a short sale where the other agent told me right up to the day that another offer was accepted that there were no other offers. My clients offered full price, the house sold for exactly the same. Had a happy ending though, they bought another home. it has not closed yet but it looks like there is at least a chance that it will.

The title of this post says it all....

Short sales can work and sometimes can be painless. But all parties must know the process and how to work them.

Kristal - Great post... I can share 2 items that I think are relevant:

1. Every short sale listing we have taking on this year has gone to settlement. We are batting 1000 percent so I strongly DISAGREE WITH THE QUOTES THAT SHORT SALES ARE A WASTE OF TIME.

2. I think they are a waste of time to the agent who does not properly plan and prepare ahead of time and may not know what they are doing. It is eliminating those crappy offers from the beginning and knowing what documentation is needed so you are not clogging up the process.

I helped my buyers put an offer on a short sale (ONCE in my entire career) this past summer. It took so long ...... after waiting 60 days with no answer we found a much better (normal) property and settled in less than 30 days on it. It is now February and that same short sale property is still on the market. The comments in the listing say "Very CLose to Approval by Bank" (Ha Ha Ha Yeah right) A big waste of time and paper from tons of poor trees! I avoid short sales like the plague.

Kristal, if you have been reading or skimming any of my posts I have had 2 dozy stories on them the last two weeks.

I resisted for many years in Mi, but with over 50% of short sales and foreclosure's selling, I was forced to embrace this part of our market.

The slow response time by the banks forces serious buyers to make simultaneous offers on many homes. All these offers clog the system up even more.

Kristal, this entire process is ripe for an overall. I don't see how this is a win for anyone (banks included) because of the time and money factor involved. Good analysis.

I disagree in many respects.. could the process be streamlined ? Absolutely...are too many realtors doing short sales that don't know how...of course....When you write a "regular" (not short) offer does the seller tell you what THEY will take....of course not...It is part of the market and the negative commentary suggests on many levels that the people doing "them" don't do it well...

Too many cooks in the pot...if they would at least give you some sort of an answer then we would know faster if the offers aren't accepted...the biggest problem isn't the low ball offers...it's the time they wast responding and loss of files and paperwork. All they need to do is treat all the offers as if they were a regular homeowner.

Kristal,

Great post!

I agree...when consumer confidence is down nothing moves. We need the spring weather and some good news to come asap.

Working on my 3rd short sale in 2 years and I finally think I might know how it all works. The most important thing I've learned is how critical it is to educate everyone -- sellers, buyers and agents -- all the way thru the process. Having done that this time, not taking anything for granted, and all the stars and planets having aligned, we have approvals from 1st and 2nd mortgage holders, new lender, buyer, seller, agents, attorneys, and God Almighty Himself for a closing date. So how *does* it all work, you ask? Blood, sweat, tears, phone calls, paperwork, prayers and sheer magic.

Great post, Kristal!

I do work short sales.. Just have to keep in mind that there is nothing short about them except the amount the bank is getting.

I would like to work short sales because it's great for neighorhood stability and home values. My efforts so far have not met with much success. The lenders do not seem to be suffcently staffed to handle the workload and it takes so much time that buyers get frustrated, even when warned of the amount of time it can take, and leave the deal.

I know the banks are under pressure to hold down costs so they do not want to staff up to meet the demand for assets on which they are taking losses anyway. The sad thing is, their lack of support in trying to work out loan modifications and short sales just make the value of the asset even less.

Great post. Thanks.

There are some banks that move the process a long fast and some agents that have mastered the process.

I think the results vary dramatically, by lender and by owner. Let's not forget that the seller is often asked to sign a promissory note for a portion of the shortfall...and some won't.

It sure would be nice if part of this federal stimulus package was money to go specifically to bank loss mitigation departments for the purpose of hiring more staff in order to expedite this whole process. Instead of spending money on all sorts of wasteful garbage, let's get to the root of the problem.

I haven't done a short sale, but appreciate your post and all the comments.

Kristal,

We had a short sale listed for sale and received an offer in from a buyer who subsequently backed out. Meanwhile, with the offer submitted to us, we submitted it to the bank who got moving on their end. After they approved it (which took 2 weeks), we let them know that buyer had backed out. When the next offer came along at a lower number, we had a lender approval in 2 days! Long story short, the seller kept hearing the news about banks possibly putting a moratorium on foreclosures & started to rethink his course of action. Seller backed out at the last minute & now the bank is continuing with their foreclosure action.

This would have worked to everyone's satisfaction had the seller not backed out. We suspect that this was done by design & we walked away feeling used.

it is such a difficult situation as banks need to hire more people, but in fact are having to lay off people - it will get better

Wouldn't this post and its comments be a great insight for a banking congressional oversight committee? Oh, wait. They'd just find ways to make the entire process go slower with new layers of regulation.

Kristal... we definitely need consumer confidence back more than ever. And sure, short sales can be a waste of time, because the banks are so secretive when it comes to what they will sell it for. But also because many are so unorganized when accepting these offers. But I also know a few realtors that are very successful with selling these for some banks. Good awareness here.

Jeff Belonger

Short sales are definitely not for the faint of heart. I'd like to avoid them, but I'd be eliminating a lot of the market. If you're a listing agent, be prepared to spend a lot of time on hold and be firmly tenacious. My partner Karen Campbell has it down to a fine science, whereas I'd like to reach through the phone and do damage to the person on the other end!

If your the buyer's agent, I counsel them to be patient with the process and continue to show them other properties and write offers so our time is not wasted.

Kristal:

The humour in the title of your post is brilliant and really strikes a chord. I think part of the problem is with the expectations of the public that it is easy now to get a great bargain on foreclosures and short sales. Perhaps this is due to infomercials and late-night TV. The truth of the matter is that the process is far from easy. It takes patience and knowledge of the process. As far as brokers who specialize in this niche - God bless them! One previous response to your post said it all - someone has to do it and I'm glad there are brokers out there who have the patience to specialize in this market and learn how to do it correctly. Now, if only the people at the banks would get some knowledge...

KK - Excellent read. The stories we keep hearing about short sales are nothing short of incredible. Pun intended. I am finding more and more buyers will not even consinder them, but they will go after REOs. Makes sense to me. I certainly will show them and help my buyers with them (along with explaining how they work, or don't, the need to be very patient, etc.), but I do not have a keen desire to list them. Your graphic is great!

Jeff

One problem I see, and you alluded to it, is the unrealistic offer actually being sent into the bank by the listing agent. A short sale listing agent needs to understand enough to realize that if an offer is "unrealistic" it is not worth sending into the bank in the first place. In a normal transaction, if a buyer puts in an unrealistic low offer, what happens? The seller & listing agent, if they are smart, counter offers. Use the counter offer in short sales too. Listing agents, make sure the offer is high enough to have a chance. The bank needs to net more than they they think they will if they foreclose. Many banks are reported to just park the unrealistic offers, & guess what, you never hear anything. This is not to say that the offer needs to be full current market value, but lets discount in a realistic amount.

Do the homework, go to short sale classes, read every on-line article you can find on short sales, start a short sale info file. Talk to other agents who have successfully done short sales. There is a wealth of info out there. Some info changes over time, keep up to date, as much as possible. Short sales are & will be a significant part of our market for some time. Learning how to make them work for you will not only make you more money, it will help some homeowners out of a bad situation headed for foreclosure. Who will those people come to for future business in a couple years if you have saved them? Think about it. We have an opportunity to work while many are out of work. Lets roll up our shirtsleves & get busy.

Craig Chapman / Solutions Real Estate / www.MesaHouseListings.com

When Short Sale bacame part of our market place, I kept hearing agents say "I won't take a short sale". I just saw business being turned away. Educating myself on Short Sales, I jumped right in. I gave referrals fees to fellow agents who couldn't waste their time and have developed a great nitch for myself.

I've had my best year ever. I have a 90% success rate of closing.

Sure they are hard and they are frustrating, but that is our business right now.

If you have someone in the north San Diego county area who needs to sell their property, and you don't want to waste your time, send them to me.

Kristal - Low offers we know will not be accepted should NOT be presented to the banks. There is a group of people who play this game to "find out' what the bank will take, or who don't know what they are doing. This is clogging up the system, as well as the huge inefficiency of the short sale lenders/processors. Yesterday I wrote a letter to Florida Senator Martinez about why we need to force the banks to speed up their processing time to slow the decline in home prices. I am also writing my congressman and the Treasure Secretary. Take action, all.

Some banks will work with you in a timely manner and others don't have a good procedure in place to deal with them. We had one close in 34 days from start to finish but the package was complete when sent to the bank as it should be. Others take a long time but everyone involved has to know what they are doing and the buyers need to be informed as to what it takes to get the deal done.

Many short sales are a complete waste of time though I have closed two lately

a lot of banks don't want to give you an upfront number because they that is how much we will list it for. They know that ever offer they receive will never be higher that that bottom line figure.

Kristal,

This has been an interesting blog. I am glad to see that there are good and positive comments in this thread. A few shared their success stories. Thanks.

www.mylivesignature.com.png

Wow, no lack of response here! Great to read everyone's comments. I agree education is the key with the buyers on short sales. I explain the process to them and also always tell them that the list price is not necessarily indicative of where the number needs to be for the bank to accept an offer-in fact MANY TIMES if the property is listed by an agent not experienced with them it is way below where it should be and really like a teaser price. Generally speaking the first lien holder is looking to recover 75-80% of what is owed. It is easy enough to see what the owner paid and owes to run the numbers. I had someone in from New York yesterday that was dying to look at this waterfront condo listed for $74,900. Well the current owner paid $235K, owes $223K and 75% of that is $167,000. Even though the last recent closed sale was under $100K, I explained to him that even at full price $74,900 the numbers don't work. And he still wanted me to show it to him, we really need to help each other out by only listing short sales where the numbers work, at a realistic price or turn them down.

I didn't realize how complicated and time consuming short sales are. It seems that even the buyers' agents get caught up in this slow festering swamp and lose valuable clients and referrals in the process. If I see one coming my way, I'll be sure to educate myself and talk to another Realtor who has been through the gristmill.

I have experience with hundreds of short sales and the key is to know what the bank wants and present it to them. When you do that you can increase your close ratio tremendously. While each short sale is different, there are some things that are consistent from short sale to short sale. The decision is always made based on the numbers to the bank. Will they loose more with a foreclosure or a short sale. Not every short sale will be successfully closed.

Kristel -

As long as there is what seems to be an opportunity to save money, there are going to be those who want to see if they can save even more.

As Listing Agents, it is not within our perview to "screen out" low offers. Even defensible "reasonable" offers, however, often get hung up in the bank bureaucracy, and too often don't go to the closing table.

Logic doesn't always play out in a bureaucracy. Often times, it's political expediency. Or presentation. Or some other intangible.

Banks are already taxed. Short staffed. They are applying 2004 strategies (low volume, screen out that simply want to see if they can save a few bucks - the distressed homeowners) to a 2009 problem.

It all takes patience on all sides, and eventually successfully-closed deals can happen.

But I still see the bank approval system as the weak link here. If they don't change, the process will not change.

Sorry to say - and I've done a bunch of them!

DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO

I have found that short sales have actually been a little harder to get through than they were 5 or 10 years ago. This amazes me because you would think in these difficult times for the banking industry they would be better at getting rid of their dead weight. I just don't think they have the resources to deal with all the foreclosures right now. However, I'm sure it depends on the circumstances and lender involved. Thanks for the post. I am glad someone is sending this out from the other side. All I have been hearing about lately from some agents is how much money agents that they know are making by specializing in short sales and foreclosures. I am happy for them but I hope that they don't lose sight of their clients that are not in financial distress.

Krystal, Congrats on your feature. Short Sales are a pain and for me, a total waste of time. I would rather deal with a motivatee seller that is competing with a short sale.

In My Opinion-- Short sales are NEVER a waste of time, unless you let them be!!

Short sales, when leveraged correctly, can be very rewarding.Sign Calls!!! Remember, we still get to put our sign up and let people know who we are. With a short sale there are always opportunities to get leads...remember, we need leads in our business!!! Of course, we have to pick and chose our battles...the process can certainly be frustrating, however it is up to all of us to pre-screen and make sure that there are other opportunities with these sales. We have to take into consideration, the number of liens on the property, the location, etc....

Buyers agents---education is key!! we have to tell our buyers what to expect...we should not lose a buyer just because it's a 'short sale'...I have picked up buyers who said they had agents who would not show them short sales---and the funny thing is they ended up buying REPOs....funny how that worked out!!

Susan ~ I agree the lack of communication beginning with either the listing agent or the bank makes for a very difficult transaction.

Bill ~ So true. Many homes are priced exactly where they need to be priced. That might even be the 50 cents on the dollar from original value.

Maureen ~ Yes being proactive would be nice. Consumer confidence might occur if we as professionals could speak difinitively with confidence.

CJ Brasiel ~ You have a good point there. Most offers are taking so long the properties have lost value by the time the offer gets reviewed. That is scary.

Sylvia ~ Perhaps I didn't make my point clear enough. I'm all for helping the consumer by selling a home short if need be. What I am not for is the lack of professionalism caused by many involved. I want to be able to tell a consumer in good faith what is going to happen. Right now all I can do is paint a very gloomy picture based on the reality in the market. Doing otherwise is misrepresentation on my part.

Cheryl. Amen my friend.

Anja ~ I think if you follow the comments here you will learn some strategy points. There are obvously many agents getting a short sale completed, but the numbers of success do not out weigh the failures. It is distressing to me how poorly handled the system is currently.

Sylvia ~ Obviously there is significant gratification when you prevail over the odds.

Jackie ~ Good for you to take it upon yourself to inform your Congressman. I don't think they have a clue at how difficult this process is for the consumer.

Kathy ~ Such a sad but representative story. As my Title friend Wendi says, "Remember they are Cubicle People." (And the banks want to get into real estate? Please!)

Sharon ~ Of course they do. I've seen listing agents go for the "auction effect." To me that is just plain bait and switch.

Mary ~ Don't you wish they (the banks) would just come to us for advice? We could fix it quick.

Kay ~ Sorry to hear of you being a causality. The end result makes you question what else is going on there. If they lose more money will they be blessed with bonus bail out bucks?

Eric ~ OMG! You are right. There is no standard of practice, I wonder what the consumer thinks?

Marian ~ You are so right, too many agents dabble in real estate and are totally clueless about many very important aspects of the business.

Mayra ~ You certainly earned your closing. I suspect in the end if you had put in the same time at McDonalds your paycheck would have been better. The feeling of success certainly must be euphoric if you are actually looking for addtional punishment in the form of more short sales! What are you smoking? :)

Lenn ~ amen.

Bryant ~ Congrats to you!

Randall ~ It won't go away until we make it go away.

T ~ I've got my fingers crossed for you.

Mike & Cindy ~ :)

Gabe ~ True, but I've found the process has a tendency to change...frequently.

Christopher & Stephanie ~ Interesting comment. In Colorado we are obligated to PRESENT all offers, even the crappy ones that clog the system.

Debbie ~ Ahhh, I love those comments in the MLS. Sorta like the year old listing with remarks..."will not last!" I often wonder if the listing agent is talking about themselves or the house.

Missy ~ I agree we have to work together to move these properties, They are going to be here forever if we don't do something. Short sales and REO's are not new to me. I majored in them in the 1980's, times are different now. Brokers have less respect. The cubical people look at us a disposable. We've done that to ourselves.

Tim ~ Simultaneous offers are time wasters on steroids.

Kelly ~ I do feel for the cubical people who are saddled with the mountains of work. I'm sure they have higher up cubical people who don't understand real estate either, but continue make rules.

Sally & David ~ Sounds like you have a "How to" blog in you! Let's here it!!

Neal ~ So well stated. How do we get to that point?

Shuki ~ We do need good news and a huge dose of consumer confidence.

Sherry ~ You are so correct about the education of consumers. Trouble is how often when you are explaining the process do consumers look at you in disbelief? This method of doing business hardly makes sense so why should they even believe us?

Roland ~ Thus the name "short." :)

Wayne ~ Yes, there are problems on all sides of the transaction. Certainly there must be a way to streamline the process for the benefit of the consumer, agents, banks and the neighborhoods effected by it all.

Chuck ~ This is true. Some banks truly have their acts together. I hope others can follow suit.

Vickie ~ Yes, you are correct, the situation does vary vasty amoung the various lenders. That is yet another part of the problem, the uncertainty of what to tell the consumer in terms of response.

Rob ~ Oh Rob, please don't get me started on the Economic Stimulous package that our fearless Congressional leaders have been packing pork into. They haven't even read the damn thing, much less take into consideration a practical business-like approach to solving the issues.

Rebecca ~ Often times being a virgin is a good thing. :)

Bob and R ichelle ~ That "used" feeling is all too common in our business. Sorry for your bad experience.

James ~ Yes, this too will pass.

Dan ~ May I nominate you?

Jeff ~ I pray for consumer confidence many times a day.

Lynn ~ LOL I like your style! Yes, we have to be very detached when working with a short sale. I find being detached is difficult, particularly when you are working with a consumer (buyer or seller) who has a vested interest in the deal. You have to buy into believing you can get it done. Detached just doesn't get it for me. I can see it won't work for you either.

Claudette ~ I suspect the liquidators at the bank are plenty smart. They and we just have opposite methods of doing business. They don't care about the seller losing the house, they resent the fact the seller is delinquent, so doing something on the seller's behalf is difficult. I suspect if the end result was tied to their income, they would behave differently.

Jeff ~ Oh yes! Give me a nice diffinate REO sale any day of the week. I like the graphic too. Thanks!

Craig ~ I really like your helpful suggestions. We do have to roll up our sleeves and get to work getting rid of this mess. Countering the sale from the seller's perspective is a very good point. So few agents are thinking like that. Thanks for sharing it.

Barbara ~ So you found a niche and filled it. You Rock lady!

Wendy ~ I love your take action approach. Perhaps we should adopt it and get our state associations involved. If enough voices speak loud enough perhaps someone will hear.

Cameron ~ Yes you are right some banks are more efficient in dealing with the issues than others. Trouble is you never know which are and which aren't.

Russ ~ Congrats on your success.

Michael ~ Most of the time that is correct.

Anja ~ I agree, the comments usually make the blog!

Jon ~ We can't blame people who really want to find a "deal." Trouble is their expectations are usually way out of kilter with reality.

Lydia ~ I like your analogy. We often forget how much more effective we can be if we focus on building parts of our business that don't engage inordinate amounts of our time.

Josh ~ OK that makes sense. Usually the bank wants what is owed but that's not going to happen.

Dean ~ As a listing agent I am bound to present all offers. Yes, I can screen them out with the seller, but most seller's when faced with presenting an offer or not will present. The decision is theirs to make, not mine. Thanks for your comments!

Lou ~ Yes, you are correct, most banks are short-staffed and over-worked. We are dealing now with a whole new generation of processors that have to learn the ropes. I suspect we killed off the last generation who handled that mess!

Christine ~ LOL, I hear you! Motivated (regular no pun intended) are a tad harder to find these days.

Yuri ~ Using signs to generate business is good, but what about your fiduciary to the seller? Are you promising him a rose garden? Yes, you will be successful when you learn to do the things others refuse to do. Congrats there!

Kristal- I do quite a few short sales, and you are correct. The process needs to be streamlined. We don't go into battle with unrealistic, lowball offers. If there is one thing buyers need to realize, it is that the bank will sell for about the appraised value. In a falling market, that is a good thing.

On the lender's side, the banks should hang their heads in shame for such an agonizing, clanky, poorly managed process. Lost faxes, week waits to return phone calls, and rude negotiators are the order of the day. It should take as much time to approve a short sale as it does to underwrite a mortgage. Anhything above that highlights the inefficiency and disorganization of the lenders.

Great post, Kristal... in this season where the housing and real estate markets are clogged up:), we, the advisers, truly earn our paychecks. We owe it to our clients to be patient and to be educators. Especially in these short sale and foreclosure situations. A voice of reason in the storm, if you will. The best thing you said is that consumer confidence is the thing we need.

I am working on two short sales right now (representing the buyer) and it is an absolute nightmare. Thankfully, my clients are investors and do not NEED to purchase the properties, but even if it does work out, the time that the listing agent and I have spent on the transactions, I probably could have sold three other houses.

I really can't figure out why the banks can't get it together. Short sales have been commonplace for more than 18 months, so they should have a process and people in place to get the job done.

Hi Kristal,

First I'd like to say that is a brilliant title and very accurate indeed. We are seeing numerous short sales creeping into our area and even were involved in one. The Seller eventually went bankrupt and the transaction died a slow death. Very painful to the buyers particularly but the Seller certainly didn't walk away a happy fellow either. It wasn't a low ball offer either. Oh well, next......

Krystal, I read all the comments on your blog and I noticed that probably 10% of those comments were positive and a few people doing short sales have their share of success. In short sales you can not be successful 100%. Probably, and I am not an expert on the field, if you can close 60% of them you certainly can be called a "champion".

Because I got back into Real Estate recently from other business, I need clients. I believe people take short sales, mostly because they need the business; the rest, because their market is saturated with short sales and it is certainly a very good source of income. Hard working agents that are not busy need to spend their time doing something productive and I feel this is the reason why agents will take short sales. Writing offers, even if they are difficult is being productive.

Finally, in my assessment of short sales, I believe that if you want to be successful, you have to be a listing agent of short sales. You are going to need a team. Short sales are not a walk in the park. Your team should be thoroughly trained to talk to the people that they know are in charge of the loan mitigation department of every bank. You need to talk to the bosses. Also, you need thoroughly trained people to talk to the short sale Seller. They should know what to expect. And ending it, if I was going to do short sales, I would print a document for every Buyer explaining the process that I would be going through in order to get their offer accepted, and would let them know short sales take time so I would urge them to be patient.

I buy short sales. In some areas 50% will get the sale and in other areas, 70% may get it. As an investor I try to calculate what the area will hold up. Sometimes what may seem like a bottom feeder bid is a strong offer.

I thought that I was logged in. Now I am official. Here is my "bottom feeder" version of the story:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/933935/Real-jobs

I'm with you on this one. And when those wacky offers do get accepted, the new comp is set so low, the entire neighborhood is even more blighted...and what I haven't seen is how local governments will then respond when the assessed values go down and tax revenue takes an even bigger hit. Local governments already aren't getting the transfer taxes they used to, and now they'll make less on each home in their community because property tax assessed values will go into the toilet. This is a much worse problem and I anticipate it will be much longer in duration.

I hate short sales! I had a cash buyer who made a full price offer . . . never heard from the bank in over two weeks. They walked away, and we never have to go through that agony again. Full price!! All cash!! What are the banks thinking? Hey, it's their fault for loaning money to people who are/were high risk, paid little to nothing down, and walked away. What did they expect? Really?!?

Short sales are indeed a challenge - like the expression that we would be better off doing our laundry -- ha ha ... LOL

The banks are taking a long time because they are working with a lot of mortgages that have been packaged and sold in great numbers to Wallstreet investors. In essence, a mortgage might have been sold to 10 different investors around the Globe, and the servicers, in some cases need to attain an approval from every single investor before they can actually approve a short sale and avoid investor lawsuits, so they claim.

In a market such as South Florida, where we saw huge increases in value over a short period, we cannot help but only deal with short sales, or get out of the business altogether, because non-short sales are not the norm, but simply the exception. I often see properties not listed as short sales, and they are way overpriced and destined for failure, as they will not ever sell. Of course, if someone owns a house with a low mortgage or no mortgage, then that is just icing on the cake and I will be all over it!

The biggest problem I am encountering in short sales are the great number of Realtors who do not know what they are doing, and they are making the process quite difficult, and often impossible.

If I am working with Buyers, I make sure they understands the property is a short sale, and it can take up to 120 days to get an approval. Additionally, I ensure they understand the process and are willing to wait as long as it may take, based on their situation. Moreover, they must also know there are no guarantees in attaining an approval for their offer, and they must have some pricing flexibility if the lender counters their offer; however, I do a CMA and present the info to my Buyers so we can submit a reasonable offer that has a high probability of getting an approval. Of course, we have to submit an offer based on the time value of real estate. If working with investors, for them it is just a numbers game, and they will submit aggressive offers and wait: some will stick and some will not. Now a days, a lot of investors are looking to cash flow on a monthly basis from the rental proterties they've purchased, so they have to be sure they are getting the best possible price.

We should all take the time and effort to learn short sales, if we are working with them. I do not bug the listing agents right from the beginning, or give threats that the buyers are going to walk if they do not get me the short sale approval immediately. This is simply ridiculous, and agents should start educating the consumers and cooperating with each other for successful transactions!

If I am working as the Listing Agent on the short sale, not only is my Seller well aware of the process, but also the Selling Agent. I make sure I only submit one contract at a time, place other offers as backup, and I do not play games. I often see Realtors submitting multiple offers to the lenders for approval, and the hair on my neck stands up....what an idiotic thing to do!!! Are they crazy...do they understand short sales...do they realize they are only slowing down and overwhelming the lenders, at the same time creating a nightmare situation for Buyers, and overall ruining the entire process for everyone else??? The Golden Rule applies to Short Sales perfectly, or any transaction for that matter: Do Unto Others As You Would Want Them To Do Unto You!

I understand short sales are a double edged sword for both Buyers and Sellers, but let's start working together and doing things that will benefit all parties involved. Let's start by educating ourselves, each other and our customers, then let's do the right thing, so everyone walks away feeling good about the transaction, given the difficult situation for Sellers, the lengthy and frustrating approval process for Buyers and Realtors, and the hard work entailed in each transaction by everyone involved.

I got into this business to get into short sales. Am I crazy or crazy smart? Nice meeting you at the Bigger Pockets mixer.

Krystal---thanks ;) for this being the first blog conversation I join, it certainly is an interesting one

as far as my fiduciary duty to the seller....of course that is a crucial crucial part of the determining whether or not to take on a short sale....everyone of my sellers know that a short sale is NEVER guaranteed but this brings me to the last post I read from Mike...

Mike i do think ur smart....very smart for entering something that is now, at least in my area,a inevitable sector of the real estate market..

...however..for those who know nothing or not enough about short sales, get educated and never take on one unless you are aware of everything they entail...until then, get help or refer them out to someone who knows what they are doing...i agree with those who think short sales are frustrating and take a lot of time, but it is sometimes due to the fact that people who dont know what they're doing take them on!! as far as as the banks and their systems go...wachovia is one of the few banks that I have delt with that really has it down! Here in this area they have a local short sales manager who is able to understand pricing, and why a short sale sometimes makes more sense than a foreclosure....ok i could write a whole other post on this...im done 4 now ;)

I have as yet never done a short sale, but if one came my way, I'd do what I have to do to work it. Kristal, thanks for the post. The post together with all the comments was an insight and education into the process.

Lenders should be paying bonuses to agents who deal with short sellers.

FEB

2009

If the banks would tell us up front what they would accept, it would make the process a lot quicker, but most won't even look at the client's financials and hardship until an offer is made which results in low ball offers being sent in so that the ball can get rolling.

Hi Kristal,

I agree, I think the public needs to better understand what a short sale is and what how it's viewed and processed by the bank. Many buyers (and agents) think you can simply low-ball and win. As the listing broker, we need to be strong on our pricing and explain that offers below "X" will not be considered.

Best regards,
Mike

How about the banks spend a day or two coming up with a viable and streamlined policy and procedure for dealing with short sales, train a team of good employees and start implementing it immediately? This might take what, a week? There should be a "formula" for pre-determining their bottom line. How about employee incentives for successfully closing a certain number of short sales per month or something along those lines? My two cents.

Hi Mike,

I do not think we can be the code enforcers of home pricing, as Buyers determine price in any given market.

Whether we have hit bottom or not in home prices, is yet to be determined. Often, what we thought was a really low-ball offer 6 months ago, might now be fair market price. Of course, it is also market specific, so I can only comment on my market in South Florida. I would hate to tell my Buyers to pay fair market value today, and then 6 months down the road they are upside down on their mortgage as prices have continued to decline, and we still do not know to what extent they will decline, if at all in the future. My job is to assist people with a real estate transaction ethically, responsibly, accurately and honestly. I can only educate and provide information, but I DO NOT SET PRICING.

I have been hearing other Realtors say for the past 2 years that we have hit bottom or we are close to it. I refuse to be the one to insist to my Buyers that we are at bottom and they should send an offer close to listing price. If they want to submit aggressive offers, I try to point out the pros and cons, but ultimately I make sure they know based on the info I provided, it was their decision. I do not think there is anything else I can do, and I certainly do not want to end up with egg on my face a few months down the road because I insisted on a particular price range.

Listing agents have to be more open minded, regardless of what you think market value is today, as it is not your call to decide. The bank will perform their due diligence and determine what they are willing to take as a loss, and they will either reject or counter the offer. I have seen some off the wall and outrageous offers being accepted by certain lenders, so who am I to judge. Recently, my Buyer received a counter from the Listing Agent on a short sale, and I thought that was completely outrageous. By the way, as it turned out, the Sellers never received the offer, and the Listing Agent was either protecting his commission or farm area. Buyers sometimes will go to the Sellers directly if they are really interested in a particular property. In either case, not presenting an offer and trying to set pricing in a market is unethical and illegal.

Best Regards,

Tony

Your absolutely right about the need for consumer confidence! I know of short sales that are still not closed that a buyer was interested in 6 months ago. Out of curiosity I called to ask when it would close and the listing agent's answer was 'well I hope soon'. 6 months? The offer was not a low-ball either but a great fair price. The banks don't know what they are doing, the sellers don't know what they are doing. It's sad. When the blood is running in the streets that's when the hyenas come out - that's how markets work.

J. Philip ~ You are so right. The inefficiency effects more than just the bank. Something should be done and done soon to correct this process.

JB Brookman ~ Glad you agree. The lack of consumer confidence is our biggest problem.

Kerry ~ You are right about short sales sapping the productivity out of your and your team. We can only do so much and when we waste time it effects many other things.

Lisa and Robert ~ LOL gal you like the title. It came to mind quickly!

Isaac ~ It makes sense that you go where the business is. Of course I hope as you are pursuing this "dead end" form of business you are culivating other niches for the future.

Kevin ~ There are so many aspects that go into deciding what a "bottom feeder" bid is. We want to assume the list price is an accurate value according to the market, but that is a HUGE assuption. Many agents aren't able or aren't using proper methods in valuing a property. Some sellers won't be realistic either, so you are right about the bids. It's really up to you to research the market and determine what the right value is. If you are the only bidder on the horizon that certainly speaks something too.

Christianne ~ We were just discussing this very point last night. Our property values and taxes are going to decline as will the governmental budgets.

Carla ~ You have a good point there. The financial crisis stemmed from the fact the lenders wanted to gain that extra point or two of profit. Giving loans to people who are high risk was not a good idea. Nope, not even close.

Bob & Carolin ~ LOL at least clean laundry has a positive result. One you can see, feel and touch!

Tony ~ You are right we need to learn how to deal with short sales efficiently or get out of the business. Of course my point still stands and you even confirmed it, they take a long time. So long in fact prudent people find it hard to believe the inefficiency of the system.

Yuri ~ Glad to see you came back to participate in the conversation!

Leah ~ The comments always end up being more interesting than the post!

Chris ~ I like that! They certainly are the cause of extra work and aggravation for us!

Christine ~ They themselves probably don't have a clear idea of what they will accept. But you are right it would be helpful to have a MEANINGFUL figure.

Mike ~ Whew! I can be strong on pricing, but it's my job to encourage offers, any offer to get the ball rolling. Standing in the way of a potential offer would not be representing my seller's best interests.

Lyn ~ LOL I like your hyenas analogy. Actually I can't blame the hyenas for coming out. There's food on the table!

Kristal, couldn't have said it better. I personally will not list short sales, but depending on the buyer, SOME have worked. Typically the agent listing the short sale is not acquainted with the process...making it even more difficult. ;-)

My experience is that short sale contract written brings different obstacles to the table. Each bank and lender negotiate and react differently. I have, right now, 3 offers turned in on one of my listings and for 3 weeks we still don't have a response from the lender. Luckily the buyers have been counselled to be patient by the REALTORS®. I have 2 others that are Thankfully headed to closing this week.

I've seen wildly successful short sales and well, the other extreme too. They certainly can be frustrating.

Hi Kristel. I would disagree with those who say short sales are a waste of time. I would agree however that they are very trying. We just received approvals on two short sales we've been working on just this past week. One where we represent the buyers, the other where we are the listing agents.

We have completed about a lot of short sales over the past couple of years. You just have to inform the buyers that it is a long, grueling process. If they're not in a hurry to move in short sales could be a good choice.

And you're right. The banks do need to streamline the process. I've been writing about that myself for the past two years. Once they get the approval process down to a 15 day period we will really see the market take off.

Good post and best of luck.

Short sales certainly are challenging. I have been involved with several short sale deals all of which have fallen apart before closing. Interesting enought the bank wasn't the problem in those cases.

Wow,

I am a fairly new realtor of a couple of years, I seem to have had to work really hard for all my sales. I have looked to short sales as my niche market. As anything else I have tried to learn as much as I can, but the first few were a bit exhausting. Now I have a process and strategy and the learning curve seems to have gone away. With all the opportunities short sales offer, I'm shocked they have not been more embraced. Anyone in the North Texas market that feels short sales are not worth the time......PLEASE get ahold of me!

Mark Smith

Teri ~ You are right about the agents not being experienced with short sales. I also get the feeling neither are many of the banks!

Scott ~ As a broker, not knowing what to expect is also an issue. It's hard to explain the uncertainty to consumers. They think we are nuts!

Diane ~ When they work it is most gratifing.

Jerry ~ If they are the only game in town then we don't really have a choice as to where we waste our time. I just wish the system were better.

Marian ~ It takes more than one to tango. Sorry to hear you didn't score on at least one!

Mark ~ Good for you to find a niche market you can work. I'd love to hear what your process is. Are you blogging about it?

Way to go Mark, and maybe we can exchange some ideas! I wish you the best!

Best Regards,

Tony

Short sales are tough to get done but it's fortunate that some people get it done. Unfortunatley, the hassle of short sales invites fraud - I know of one agent who openly admits to writing false offers to obtain a price the bank is willing to accept. The banks need to get their acts together - they are the reason for the backlog.

If only it were so simple. I worked in mortgage servicing, including REO, for several years before entering real estate. Whenever you are talking about a short sale, you are inevitably dealing with large bureaucracies in the form of mortgage servicers and institutional investors. To complicate things further, each borrower's circumstances are different. It is virtually impossible to say that one set of guidelines would work for all of the parties involved.

Having said that, I too would like to see guidelines established and made public so that we as real estate practitioners can better counsel our buyers and sellers. That way, even though we may be obligated to pass on ridiculous offers, we can at least try and discourage them if we know they don't meet the guidelines.

Chad & Sara ~ Oh my. I've heard of all kinds of things like that happening. IN fact the newpaper reported how some agents are being investigated because they over-priced a short sale that is now in foreclosure. Their partner was on the court house steps buying it.

Jack ~ Knowing what the guidelines are would be very helpful. Thanks for your input, it's nice to hear from someone who has been on the "other side." :_

FEB

2009

Yes, Short Sale is a challenge. I started working on a short sale 2006 and that was the hardest year because Servicing agencies and Investors does not know what to do. 2007 was getting better and 2008. Summer of 2008 when Loan modification was created as an option to home owners Short sale seems too long and really a waste of time especially in California homeowners need to have a HUD counseling before working on a short sale. I have lenders taking too long because of a big loss and when the BPO's are too high and appraisals. Sometimes lenders hire BPO that are out of area and that cause chaos to the Short sales. You better meet the BPO on the property and give a copy of the comparables in that area for a better understanding.

Leonora- Lakami Professional Realty San Jose, Ca

Great post. Short sales are (unfortunately) going to continue to be a major force in the market for some time to come. I am only working on one now where the offer was first submitted in Sept 2008... and we are still working on it. Thank goodness both my seller and the buyer are patient and committed. Knowing the process of course helps as an agent, but usually it is still an insane waiting game. Patience, patience, patience...

Get the useless crappy offers off the desk! Totally agree. Some LAs list outrageously low purposely to get any offer, so the process can at least get started. I understand the thinking, but agree with you that it wastes a lot of time unless it's a realistic buyer who understands the probability of a counter from the bank, and approx. what $ range that counter will be.

I also would prefer not to do short sales because of the time wasted, but I believe they are beneficial to the seller, and I just can't say no to helping these people - at least giving it a try. (I'm coming up to nearly a year on the market for a short sale, under contract for the second time - first buyer walked day of inspection. Now, negotiator is saying they can't accept certain documentation that the first set of negotiators did accept!)

If the listing agents would narrow down the offers before sending them onto the bank it would certainly help. I know my short sale buyers are much more apt to wait out the process if they know they are 1 in 5 offers rather than 1 in 50 offers and have no idea where they stand.

It is completely insane that Realtors are submitting multiple offers to the Lenders on Short Sales. I feel this just creates chaos for the buyers and confusion for the lenders, not too mention a considerable amount of time is lost.

Just submit the highest and best offer and be done! Subsequent offers should go on Backup, period! Realtors who are doing that, do not know what the heck they are doing...I cannot believe it is happening, but I have seen it. These realtors think they are doing the right thing, and they are completely clueless.

I hope more Realtors DO NOT follow suit and start submitting multiple offers, as Buyers will become very frustrated and the term "short Sale" will become synonymous with Frustrating. I think this also creates a major disservice for Sellers, as Buyers will get very discouraged with this insane process, that God only knows who invented.

Remember, the contract is still between Buyer and Seller, and the bank is only agreeing to receive less than what is owed to them per the Hud-1, so they have nothing to do with executing the contract/offer.

FEB

2009

KK, I'm not here to say that all banks and all asset managers are the same but I can talk from experience with IndyMac Bank. THEY SUCK!

10/08/08 took listing
10/12/08 received full price offer
10/14/08 sent to IndyMac Bank along with all the other required paperwork
Called weekly through December 2008
12/120/08 Assigned to Asst. to Negotiator but given only email address
Sent emails daily
1/9/09 Selling Agent calls ... Buyer's backing out...found better deal
1/12/09 Receive Email from IndyMac Bank with Additional papers for Buyers to sign
No further communication to my emails once I tell them buyers are gone
2/13/09 Homeowners receive Notice of Trustee Substitution

INDYMAC Bank sucks...had they acted in a timely fashion they would have made more money than they will now!

And the sad part is that I have another one with them and the second buyer is now gone...still no word from IndyMac Bank.

No bailout money for this damn bank!! Just a little passionate especially when it comes to this bank.

WOW, The article you wrote was great as are the responses. I specialize in short sales etc. and believe me I feel your pain. I will agree the comment thought that we are able to the home owner in distress from foreclosure when it does work. I've had many many people come to me that I have been able to help work it out with the bank to accept a short sale rather than just walk away and they've been very grateful. It's the reason I got into this in the first place although I've been asked recently from another agent frustrated w/ a bank deal "You intentionally do this "??

One thing that has helped me get my deals accepted and closing (because I've done it the long and painful way on my own,dealing with the bank and the endless phone calls going nowhere when I started) is that recently I started working w/ an attorney who specialized and did just short sales. Believe me it's made ALL the difference in the world,the client needs an attorney either way why not have someone on your team who knows what their doing who can deal with the bank and compile an offer with all it needs to close. This frees me up to to do MY business. However the new problem I have is I'm giving him too much business and that's never good,too many eggs in one basket! I'll be interviewing more attorney's this week.

Good Luck!

Dianna

AUG

Well sometimes i dont know what to think of short sales. They are getting better and then they are not!

Leave a response…

Name:

Email:
(optional)

Comment:

What does the graphic say?

Kristal Kraft ~Denver Real Estate~720-279-4599

Denver, CO

More about me…

The Berkshire Group Realtors

Address: 3801 E. Florida Avenue Suite 400, Denver, CO, 80210

Office Phone: (720) 279-4599

Cell Phone: (720) 279-4599

Email Me

Soapbox musings for and about Denver relocation and real estate.

Click here to check out
The Metro Denver REBarCamp!

Denver Real Estate
The /Berkshire Group, REALTORS
Kristal Kraft, ABR, CRS, PMN
Denver Photo Blog
KK on Google
Denver Dwellings ala blog!
KrisTalks
Denver Relocation

Listings

Links

Archives

Find CO real estate agents and Denver real estate on ActiveRain.

Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.