I do short sales and my fellow agents think I am crazy. I have to tell you there are times I start questioning my own sanity.
I do not judge my customer. I hear other agents talking about oh they can't make their payment but did you see that television or furniture or whatever the item they are talking about. I know that some times bad things happen to good people. You don't know their situation medical, job related or just really things have gone bad.
Do I have stories oh I absolutely am shocked when I hear someone talk about how can they get away with having someone else buy the property and they live in it. I calmly explain to them about the arms length transaction and the fact that I will not be party to fraud. I realize they are desperate to stay in their home and for the most part you see that they are genuinely sorry for even saying it. Of course there is that small percentage that asks if I think they will get caught.
i have a short sale that I am working on right now that the home owner has done everything possible including paying an attorney to help with a modification. She lost her job and has been struggling her home is neat and clean and no damage. She had to move across the U.S. to be near her relatives so that they can help her out. The house was not left in shambles and the original paperwork on the builder, the home, the extra paint can colors are all left neatly on the shelf.
When doing one of these short sales the agent should know ahead of time that there could possibly be costs involved. For example she could not afford to keep the electric and heat on. If heat is not on the pipes can freeze. So I am putting out the money hoping we can get this closed. Now we have a great buyer and the bpo that was done by a local agent that we all know bumps up the bpo's hoping for the reo is so far off that we can't even get this buyer approved at a reasonable amount. Guess what that does yup I pay for a professional appraisal still not knowing whether this will close of not. That was after I has to email everyone in the company to stop the property file from being closed so that I have time to get this done.
On other homes I have had them cleaned out the home after bank approval but before the loan appraisal. I have paid liens out of my own money to get them off the title. I have even had the exterior of a peeling home painted to get it to close.
Some times people don't realize what it takes to get these distressed homes to close. Yes I realize that if the home owner wants it to go to close they should do a lot of these things their selves however some times they are so discouraged by losing their home its just one more thing that they can not bear. Have I been burnt by a home that doesn't close not yet but I am sure that will happen. So far my average is 100%. Am I making any money on these homes barely but I feel great when I can tell that home owner that I helped them through this difficult situation. Plus the other side of that you do get some leads for buyer so you might be able to get a win win situation!
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