There are two kinds of listing agents for short sales: those who can and those who can't.
When I am representing a buyer in a short sale transaction, I am certainly hoping that the short sale listing agent falls into the first category: those who can. Those who can have successfully closed a fair number of short sales, have significant experience in real estate, and know real estate contract law better than the back of their hand. I'm hoping for a tenacious soul who is detail-oriented and will do anything necessary to get the deal closed.
Why are all of these character traits so important to me? Well, I've got my buyer sitting patiently (or impatiently) waiting on this particular property. If s/he waits three to six months and the deal goes south, my buyer is going to be very angry and perhaps I will pay the price.
Unfortunately, I do come across a fair amount of listing agents in the those who can't category. Usually, and I do not mean to generalize, those agents reveal themselves by their answers to a few questions:
- Have you submitted the short sale package to the bank? (If the answer is yes, this means that they already have an offer in play. If offers are still being accepted, then my buyer will probably not be in first position. Time to move on.)
- Who are the lien holders? (If the listing agent does not know and cannot find out the answer quickly, then the short sale package-the nuts and bolts of the transaction-has probably not even been collected yet from the seller. This is not good because you want to work with someone who is ready to send a complete package to the bank.)
- How many short sales have you successfully negotiated? (If this question is met with some hemming and hawing, this may indicate that the listing agent has not closed too many short sales and is a little bit uncomfortable with that line of questioning.)
I'm not ashamed to admit that last year I successfully obtained approximately 300 approval letters for short sales. There are many experienced agents who can get the job done who have not closed nearly as many. The key is to ask questions of the listing agent prior to submitting an offer on the property. The answers to those questions will alert you as to whether or not this will be a viable short sale for your buyers.
Good Luck!
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