Today's real estate market has become a battle with Hydra the five headed dragon of ancient mythology. Government regulators, mortgage brokers, lender underwriters, asset managers and even listing agents present a snarling mass of potentially lethal decision makers. Any one of which can crush a sale or purchase of a home on a whim or stroke of a pen.
As service providers, it is no longer their mission to expedite an activity with the target being a positive outcome. It is the beasts only mission to protect itself from any potential risks it may face.
The sale and purchase of a home has become a nightmarish exercise with many traps and pitfalls. The consumer and sometimes a well intentioned real estate broker face an ever increasingly difficult gauntlet of ifs, ands, and buts.
To be successful in a market that is dominated by egos, and power bullies, a buyer or seller has to find experienced professionals who can anticipate and out maneuver the hurdles. Professionals who are willing to invest their own time and effort and not pass their clients off to a "team" of clericals. The buyer has to come to the table with "cash" in hand and the seller must have a property priced and presented in a manner to standout from the clutter of foreclosures and short sale trashed properties.
The market has put many sellers financially upside down with their homes. Short selling has proven to be more of a pain than a benefit to the seller and "walk away" foreclosures will soon become the norm. Even when a seller is in a positive value position they have to compete with wholesale price points. Buyers have to be prepared to wait for undetermined amounts of time and answer more and more invasive questions in order to qualify for the purchase a physical asset that no longer is adequate collateral to consummate a normal sale.
The author is a licensed real estate broker and has personally faced the dragon, some of his clients have suffered mortal wounds from the encounter.
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