Well from listening to several buyer agents and many of our own if anything comes out of this foreclosure, short sale boom for the real estate industry maybe it will have something to do with a standardized system for dealing with short sales.
I have heard and experienced many nightmares for agents but more importantly buyers who actually do want to buy but are unable to do or just don't understand the process when making an offer on a property which is tagged with "short sale" or "bank approval required" as a label in mls. I don't blame them, many times I don't understand the process either.
For the most part many banks have similar needs and requirements for instance the need for the property owners participation and cooperation as well as hardship letters and other explanations. I think where the majority of the problems exist is the time frames 2-3 month approvals for an offer really aren't right and if the answer is no and the buyers rate lock expires is that at all fair!
My favorite short sale stories are the ones where I have watched our agents do very detailed due diligence and go over and above the call of duty to help the seller out of a jamb. I have had agents who have prepared masterful and detailed cma's that not only detail the property, neighborhood trends but the entire market area with numerous comps, photos, graphs and blood types of the family. In an attempt to send in the most complete short sale package as possible (knowing that one minor mistake will cost weeks) they have over documented their case, sent in all of the property owners documents, financial info, hardship letters and other proof of the clients desire to cooperate and plead for assistance. They have checked their details twice had others review the same and received written confirmation from the short selling lender that all was in order.
Guess what.... two weeks our agent is told NO to the short sale because the lender received a $50 drive by saying the property was worth more than what the seller owes and a short sale is not necessary. Why... because the agent doing the drive by had visions of a listing! Doesn't matter that the lender has our agents cma which is far better than the ten minute drive by. Doesn't matter that the seller previous had the property on the market for nine months at a lower than drive by price and it didn't sell.
This is just one of many I am speaking of but my favorites are when there has been a buyer patiently waiting for the answer. I have many other stories that have arisen from this market and these conditions but it always amazes me how foolish institutions can be. No wonder!!
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