Perhaps it's time to clear up a misperception about short sales and agents who undertake them. Why would an agent list a short sale that won't close? There are dozens of reasons why an agent would, but I'm not in a position to describe them to you because as a Sacramento short sale agent, that is not a practice to which I subscribe. When I list a short sale in Sacramento, I do so because I believe it will close escrow.
There are 2 situations I look for when I'm talking to a potential client. Either the seller qualifies for a short sale due to a financial hardship or the seller has an extremely good story that I can sell to the bank. If the seller has no hardship and no story, sorry, no can do.
For example, if a seller is trying to do a GSE HAFA short sale but the seller has more than 3 times a PITI payment in the bank or $5,000, whichever is greater, that HAFA short sale will be denied. I have all sorts of little tidbits like this tucked away in my brain. Just because the HAFA is rejected, though, doesn't mean the sellers can't do a short sale. They probably can. But they will pay for the privilege. It's called a seller contribution. If a contribution could be required and a seller won't consider it, I'm not listing that short sale.
A seller recently called to talk about a potential short sale in Elk Grove. When I asked about the balance in his savings account, the seller said some of that money belonged to his mother. Why was his mother's money in the seller's savings account? Because his mother had applied for financial assistance from the government.
Yeah, that's a good thing to tell your short sale bank. Tell the bank you're defrauding the government.
I work with sellers who really need my help. Because that's the type of sellers the bank will approve. And if the bank approves the short sale, it will close. I am in the business of closing Sacramento short sales. Why? Because I'm a Sacramento short sale agent, that's why. It's my business to identify short sales that will close and close them. It's as simple as that.
See, here's the secret: If you don't have a story or you don't have a financial hardship, your short sale is probably not going to close, and you're wasting your time and your Sacramento short sale agent's time messing around with it. But if you qualify for a short sale, I will fight tooth and nail to get your short sale accepted by the bank with minimum, if any, contribution.
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