You're Never too Old to Learn~Especially with Short Sales

Helping Seattle home owners with their short sales in 2010 was truly the highlight of my year. That might sound strange, finding satisfaction in a tough, unfortunate situation, but right now, helping an owner complete a short sale is the best feeling in real estate When a short sale finally reaches closing day, the sellers are relieved, appreciative and full of thanks. It's always a great day!

I'm proud of the success my team and I have had negotiating and closing short sales throughout the greater Seattle area. Our success rate is high but not perfect.

Do we know everything?

No.

Are we wiser than we were two years ago?

Absolutely!

Dennis Waitley, one of my favorite motivational speakers of all time, once said "There are no mistakes or failures, only lessons learned."

Here are the top 6 Lessons I Learned from Negotiating Short Sales last year: 

1. WE CAN'T HELP EVERYONE

Not everyone will qualify for a short sale. There are any number of reasons. Some agents will just take a short sale listing (notch in the belt thinking) without every pre-screening the seller. I don't believe in giving clients false hope. If it's not going to work, they need to know that now rather than later so they can look into other alternatives. Also, even though everything looks right, some lenders will just stubbornly remain unfathomably stupid and deny a short sale even though everything is in place (including the buyer) and the package makes sense (See #3) Fortunately, this is very rare.

2. WE CAN'T WANT IT MORE THAN THE CLIENT~ ALSO KNOWN AS 'YOU CAN LEAD A HORSE TO WATER BUT..."

The process of selling a house is tough enough in this market. You have to not only keep the house clean, put pets away for showings and allow strangers to walk through your personal space, but when you throw in the additional effort of gathering paperwork, writing the hardship letter(s) and the need to occasionally bend and jump a little to make the bank happy and it all adds up to effort. What's the seller's motivation? If the client is not as motivated as I am to see the process through to completion, then everyone's time is going to be wasted.

3. WHAT LENDERS SAY AND DO OFTEN FLIES IN THE FACE OF COMMON SENSE

This is one of the hardest things for new short sale "specialists" to figure out. Reasoning with someone on the other end of the phone rarely works. They have a process to follow. If it's flawed, they have to be shown the problem and if they aren't at the level to make the change, then you have to get to a person at a higher pay grade.Sometimes though, even raising the flag to the highest level possible doesn't work. (See Lesson #1)

4. IF THE BUYER'S AGENT DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS, HOW IS THE BUYER SUPPOSED TO?

I can usually tell from a buyer's agent's initial questions whether he/she has had any experience selling short sales. If not, I do my best to help them understand so they can in turn set their client's expectations. If they still aren't "getting it", I will let my seller know it's their choice...we can move forward with this buyer, but the sale will most likely close with buyer #2 because buyer #1 will back out based on ignorance of the process.

5. Never Take No For an Answer (Except when dealing with a company without any common sense-See Lesson #3 or a company which is morally bankrupt see Lesson #1)

A few months ago I had a short sale negotiator working for a small credit union that they "always, always get what they want" and that we could either give them what they wanted, or they wouldn't release the lien. After some back and forth, they not only released the lien but accepted far less than what they insisted they would "never" accept. Never say never

6. SQUEAKY WHEELS ARE A THING OF THE PAST.

Back before short sales were so common, about 4 or 5 years ago, the agent who was able and willing to persistently keep knocking at the lender's door was usually able to get a favorable response. Not so much anymore. Lenders are now more familiar with the process and simply barraging them with phone calls isn't going to help anything. By getting a clear understanding of a lender's short sale process, I can better help them help me and thereby my client. Coming from a position of knowledge, strength and confidence is much easier and ultimately more successful than huffing and puffing and blowing the door down

 

I've been in real estate for 21 years and am still learning on a regular basis. If you come across an agent, who knows it all (or claims to), that should be a red flag.

Personally, I look forward to all the new wisdom the New Year will bring my way!

 

To learn more about selling your home as a short sale, visit our short sale website here

Or contact me for a complimentary phone assessment of your situation to see if a short sale may be an option for you

photo credit: Merec0

 

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Colleen Fischesser is the Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Select Real Estate. She has been successfully helping clients buy and sell real estate in the greater Seattle Washington area since 1990 and specializes in South East King County including the communities of Covington, Renton, Auburn, Kent, Ravensdale, Black Diamond &  Maple Valley. Voted by clients and industry professionals as one of Seattle Magazine's 5 Star, Best in Client Satisfaction for 4 years running, she and her team rank in the top 50 of RE/MAX teams in the entire Northwest region. Colleen is  committed to remaining on the cutting edge of real estate marketing and technology while providing value-added, personalized service.

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