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Numbers are More Important Than Letters

By J. Philip Faranda

Managing Real Estate Broker with Howard Hanna Rand Realty License # 49FA1074963

February 13, 2009 12:33 PM

My BA is in English. I am far more of a man of letters than of numbers. I've always sort of disliked math, unless it was related to money or baseball stats. But there are times when numbers are clearly more imprtant than letters. Take for example a recent conversation I had with an agent on one of my listings:

Me: This is a short sale. It is contingent on price approval from the seller's lender.

Her: Has the short sale been approved yet?

Me: No, we haven't had an offer yet. But when we do, I can assure you that we'll get it done as smoothly as possible. I have done dozens of short sales.

Her: Oh, I am a short sale expert too. I'm a certified pre-foreclosure(or whatever) property expert.

Me: (scratching head, going through metal rolo-dex because I never heard of the person): Oh? How many short sales have you closed?

Her: Well, none yet.

So here we have a person who has paid her money, gone to a class, and gets to put some initials after her name. And the first time she's on hold for 40 minutes with a loss mitigation department she may well decide she'll never do a short sale again. And she'll be cutting her teeth on the file of some poor slob who thinks he's in good (expert) hands.

I don't see how it can possibly be anything other than MISLEADING to bill oneself as an "expert" or "certified" at something one has never done. I think classes are just fine, but many professions require an apprenticeship before giving someone their wings. This is so for appraisers, electricians, plumbers, physicians and many other fields.

Everyone has to start somewhere, but there are right and wrong ways of getting into short sales. And, believe me, the WRONG way is to fly solo on the back of an unsuspecting public. If you want to earn commission in short sales, there are two good ways of doing so if you are a neophyte:

Work for a broker who does a high volume of short sales
Find short sales and refer them to someone who does lots of them in exchange for a referral fee.

I wouldn't want a neophyte performing open heart surgery on me, defending my life in court, or caring for my autistic son. I want the BEST, no matter what the initials after their name are. It should be the same with real estate transactions that must close to avoid a foreclosure. Sadly, the direction our profession is going is to obfuscate who is truly qualified for short sales, to the detriment of our clientele. It also does a disservice to the GRIs, ABRs and CRSs of the world, whose initials DO mean something of value.

To the consumer: Don't count the letters after their name, count the number of successful short sales they've closed.

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Lynda Hester

Prudential Georgia Realty - Rabun County, Ga. - Clayton, GA

Philip,

While I can't disagree that working with an agent who is experienced in closing short sale transactions probably guarantees a smoother transaction, I can't help but wonder if the people you worked with on your first short sale also experienced a smooth transaction? I'd bet they did.

I'm just guessing you did the best you could - even though you weren't experienced in working short sales. That one became two and two became four and on and on until you became expert at working short sales.

While working with short sales is challenging, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to ensure a successful and smooth transaction.

Kudos to the person on the other end of your conversation who went to class to learn how to work short sales. While she may not be an expert, at least she is trying.

While I agree with you about having the best surgeon or doctor, to the best of my knowledge, no one yet has died from a less than perfect real estate transaction.

Good luck to you - you sound like an extremely bright and hard working fellow, but I encourage you to add just a bit more compassion for those new agents who are working hard to learn the best way to succeed in this difficult career path.

Best wishes for continued success.

Feb 13, 2009 12:53 PM

Vickie Nagy

Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate - Palm Springs, CA

Vickie Jean the Palm Springs Condo Queen

The slang I have heard is "Alphabet Soup". I'm guilty as I'm certified in just about everything there is, but I do it for the knowledge and the ability to help my customers.

Feb 13, 2009 12:57 PM

J. Philip Faranda

Howard Hanna Rand Realty - Yorktown Heights, NY

Associate Broker / Office Manager

Linda,

I can't articulate why I have a problem with no fatalities making a less than perfect real estate transaction OK. It just doesn't sound kosher; the bar has to be higher than no deaths.

You are assuming a flew solo on my first short sale. I didn't. I worked for a specialist for 5 years. And while nobody dies in a short sale gone awry, people can have their financial life thrown into turmoil.

Like I said, I applaud anyone who wants to get into short sales. But they should learn from someone who does them before trying them.

This is the problem with real estate more than any other profession; In plumbing, medicine and numerous other endeavors, they make you apprentice before giving you a wrench or scalpel. In real estate we go to class and then have the ability to screw up people's lives a week later. Something is wrong with this picture.

Feb 13, 2009 01:06 PM

Bob Foster

Century 21 Lanthorn R. E. Ltd. Belleville, Ontario - Belleville, ON

Hi Philip,

I think your article is interesting because it reflects on the transition our society has made from qualification through apprenticeship (real experience in the job) to qualifications with academic credentials. My background is in education, and in that career I actually have an earned doctorate, but I need to agree with you. What you can do is more related to actual experience than paper qualifications.

Feb 13, 2009 01:12 PM

Kathy Toth

Ann Arbor Market Center Keller Williams - Ann Arbor, MI

Ann Arbor Real Estate Experts - Kathy Toth Team

I think the problem here is that it is totally acceptable that someone can take a class and thereafter refer to themselves as well as portray to the unsuspecting public that they are an expert. Just as graduating from college doesn't make you more qualified for a job than someone else, taking a class on short sales doesn't make you an expert. Experience is what makes you an expert (see how they sound alike?), not a piece of paper or a class.

You are absolutely right. Even doctors have to shadow before they are allowed to practice. Why not realtors?

Kathy

Feb 13, 2009 01:37 PM

Miriam Bernstei

Rochester, NY

That's interesting Philip because the alphabet soup after my name all required documenting experience and a number of sales before i could use the credential. Of course we all had to start somewhere and learn not just short sales but real estate. I applaud that individual for taking the class and learning some of the basics that is far better that the agent who just muddles through, I would bet that the agent who took the class will have a better idea of what she doesn't know and ask questions.

Feb 13, 2009 02:51 PM

J. Philip Faranda

Howard Hanna Rand Realty - Yorktown Heights, NY

Associate Broker / Office Manager

Miriam,

All things being equal, it is better to have taken a class. No disagreement there.

The initials after your name mean something, because their requirements are high. If I am not mistaken, they are bestowed by the NAR.

But I am solicited by lots of organizations I have never heard of who offer courses that are even sometimes web-based,and, basically, for a fee, people are then "certified" by that mystery organization.

I have listed too many expired listings from these people to give the whole thing a blanket approval.

The loser here isn't me; I don't object to people listing short sales. I have enough of my own (believe me). The loser is the client, who will often feel (rightfully) decieved, whose financial life is often on the line.

We throw "expert" and "specialist" around far too loosely in our industry. A podiatrist is a specialist. That may be extreme, but they did alot more to earn it than a 3 hour class at the airport Hilton or a web class.

Feb 13, 2009 10:22 PM

Miriam Bernstei

Rochester, NY

You should have picked proctologist! Could you name some of those mystery organizations that certify you? I don't see so many of those, the vast majority I see are legitimate. I do agree however that "expert" and "specialist" is thrown around too loosely but then the definitions of those terms are broad.

Feb 13, 2009 10:52 PM

Eileen Hsu

Douglas Elliman Real Estate - Manhattan, NY

LICENSED REAL ESTATE SALESPERSON

This is absolutely true, many real estate agents do become some sort of 'specialist' because this is what they are trained to do... have some sort of fake title so they can 'educate' the consumers...! But those days are coming to an end, nowdays consumers want the authentic experts to service them!

Feb 14, 2009 11:24 AM

Mark MacKenzie

Phoenix, AZ

Amen.

These designation are, well, quite silly.

Experience goes a long way. Any monkey, excuse my analogy, can sleep through a class for several hours to earn some letters.

Feb 15, 2009 03:41 AM

Jim McNinch

Trademark Loss Mitigation - Spring, TX

Short Sale Specialist, Texas

Phillip:

I've read both your article and the following comments. I am in total agreement with you. Our group has done 100s of short sales and have attended multiple training programs - those taking several days - not a few hours. No, we do not market ourselves as "certified".

Does that make us more of or less of an "expert"? The problem here is there are no established standards in what qualifications or experience a "short sale expert" should have. As a result, its fairly easy to establish yourself as one.

The only problem I see here is when the seller, who is about to lose their home, puts their trust into an "Expert" with limited short sale closings under their belt, who fails to close the short sale deal and allows the homeowner to go into foreclosure.

Foreclosure Prevention Network
Providing Short Sale Negotiation, Training and Loan Modification
Address: PO Box 1998 Spring TX 77383
E-Mail: info@shortsalereporter.com
Web Site: http://www.forclosurepreventionnetwork.com
Blog: http://www.shortsalereporter.com

Feb 16, 2009 06:56 AM