Quit whining about Short Sales. YOU are the problem.

Bryant - patience is key for both the seller and the buyer. I have found that you cannot hurry up the lender, and it will be at their pace.

If it wasn't complaints about short sales, it would be complaints about something else.  Some people just like to complain.  It may be job justification or just plain insatiable people.  Regardless, short sales are a major part of the industry.  Embrace them or move on.  Educate yourself and others.  Be a professional.

Bryant,

Short sales are not complicated. As long as one follows their guidelines and sends in all paperwork requested. Is when I run across unmotivated and poorly trained negotiators at the bank that it becomes a nightmare. And don't get me started on the second lien holders that in 2 occasions kept changing the payoff requested 3 times during the process with the first lender that took too long to even start the negotiation process ( 8 months from BofA as a first lender with a complete file and an offer on the range of the BPO value is not acceptable and is making the 2nd lender write off the loan and sending it to collection   .... asking 10 K then 20 then 36 K as a payoff will not get the transaction closed in a state that has nondeficiency non recourse loans. Period. That is when sellers get sick a tired of the process and I can't blaime them.

You are SOO right that sometimes its the Agent that slows down the Short Sale Process with the lender. Many times the packages are incomplete, but the agent will try to point fingers at the Lender instead of looking at what THEY can do to improve/speed-up the process.

I think when the agents that 'specialize' in short sales should focus on them. Agents should not go back and forth. You are either a Short Sale agent or you are not. Don't go back and forth because chances are pretty good you will get frustrated easily with the process and no provide all of the documents needed to move things along.

Having an agent train on Short Sales who has never completed a short sale transaction is ridiculous. As the saying goes 'you have to walk the walk before you can talk the talk'.

Unfortunately what you write is way too true.

Our MLS has a two hour Short Sale CE course with a local attorney, after which everyone thinks they are an expert. No wonder over 80% of the short sales in our MLS in the first half of the year expired unsold and ended up being foreclosed.

BB - I couldn't agree more. Our broker just sent out a "if you ran the zoo" survey and a fellow agent told me she wants him to halt agents without training from listing short sales. I couldn't agree more. They do a disservice to our seller, and a disservice to the buyer's agent and the buyer. What a mess. If agents don't know what they're doing, why get involved? It's precisely why I waited 2 years before listing one. I wanted to observe and understand the ins and outs before jumping in and making a butt of myself.

You remember the adage "Better to be silent and let people think you're a (insert expletive here) rather than open your mouth and remove all doubt"...or so it goes in my memory!

"Speed up the foreclosure process"  Reminds me of a line from A Christmas Carol when Scrooge is justifying not helping the needy because his taxes support institutions such as prisons and workhouses.  Someone remarks to him that some of the needy would rather die than go to such places he replies,   "If they would rather die they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population"

You're right. If we in the real estate industry corrected problems on our end, we wouldn't have such headaches. I'll admit it's not a quick and easy process to learn, but learn it or don't do it. It's our clients lives in our hands more than ever.

I'm so glad that you read something that riles / inspires you to write a counter-point!  Rick (#40) must have seen A Christmas Carol recently.  I remember that line too!  Remarkable.  I'm glad you're not a SCROOGE!!  I just don't know why the banks -- with their bailouts -- didn't have a moratorium on the ARM's adjusting.  They were happy with the interest rates then . . . why not keep them steady for awhile?  But NO . . . they just let the computer re-adjust them all, and VIOLA . . . meltdowns.

BB, this will be a first for me. Usually I agree with what you write and you do bring up some good and valid points.  Sadly the banks are a large part of the problem.  it isn't really in their best interest to allow a short sale.  They usually come out better on a foreclosure. Money pretty much dictates how things work.  if banks came out ahead on short sales greed would take over and the short sales would start happening.  people and companies tend to do what they are incented to do.  Where is the incentive for a bank to allow a short sale?

Have a happy New Year to you and TLW . . oh and that big baby I saw sitting on your lap in the picture. :)

Bryant, I think you are wasting your time.  160,000+ members of AR and the highest Short Sale Superstars has registered is under BofA and I think that is 163 members.  It is easier to complain than to learn.

Maybe we can speed up the foreclosures on the families with kids, or the elderly who has less income then needed. Some people are so disconnected it is unbelievable. And you raise a good point - if agents were really good at doing these, I think lenders would be much faster. There's a difference between a stack of crap and a stack of meaningful paperwork.

An, I hope Bryant doesn't mind me throwing my two cents in here.  I hold the CDPE designation.  I feel that MOST of the time spent in the class or DVD, whichever route you go, is spent explaining how we got here verses how we deal with the situation and proceed to getting houses sold.

Disclaimer- I have not taken Bryant's course- that being said, Bryant is actively selling short sales.  I would recommend taking Bryant's course before considering the CDPE designation.  The designation in and of itself has not brought me any business.  I do know that when I have needed help, Bryant has helped me even without me having ever taken his class.

All of that being said, I will be taking Bryant's course at some point in the future as I feel that the other class lacked a bit.

Bryant - Most of my time with short sale offers is spent educating the other agent.  Learn from those who *do*.

They're here to stay and we all need to learn how to navigate the waters.  The agents who refuse to "deal" probably won't have the income they would like.

I read that article and was also amazed at the comment about speeding up foreclosures! It certainly was an interesting discussion.

Bryant, is that person serious???? That is so bad for the consumer in most cases. Incompetence can take many forms - agent, negotiator, lender, you name it. Frank just had to take over one that was being mishandled by an attorney's office and was just not getting anywhere. It had been 4 months and we recently closed one with that bank in 52 days, contrat to close. He got permission from the listing agent and the seller and guess what? Things are happening! Duh! It's Wells Fargo and we love working with them.

Interesting comment stream. Good arguements on both sides pro and con.  The reality is in certain areas, short sales are a stop gap or prelude to foreclosure. They become even more convuluted when there is more than one loan involved.  I have closed short sales, as the buyers agent- and if it were not for the hard work of the lsiting agent, tenacity and patience on all sides, they never would have come to fruition.

There are two short sale short comings that I see becoming apparent.

1) "Investor" approval on the part of the lenders seems to be an escape clause to bypass guidelines to streamline the approval process

2) Attorneys pushing distressed sellers towards bankruptcy to halt preceedings.

Either of these will kill a deal on the vine.

Will short sales continue- sure they will. So will foreclosures,  will the economy eventually stabilize? Sure it will.  Not everyone can nor should they do short sales. Agents need to be very certain they are competant, willing to learn, and constantly learning how to do them better.

One thing is for sure, it is a constantly evolving process.