Can You Really Claim to Be a Short Sale Agent if You've Got Someone Else Handling the Short Sale Negotiations?
I received a call last week on a Short Sale listing that had been withdrawn from the MLS. It was an ambulance chasing Short Sale Agent that was ready to pick up the deal and resuscitate it. You see, he had made the assumption that the sale was somehow rejected by the banks. It wasn't. It was accepted, but the Sellers had decided to ditch the Short Sale and go for loan modification.
He went on to extoll his glories to me and was begging for a shot to sell the home that the Sellers didn't want to sell. He knows Short Sales inside and out. And he has an attorney negotiate them for him.
Excuse me? How can someone know something inside and out if they aren't even working on them? Never mind the fact that he is missing the obvious. The Sellers have decided NOT to sell.
Well, I can assure you that he doesn't know Northern Virginia Short Sales very well. That came through loud and clear. We had a spirited back and forth on the fact that the bank wanted more now that the market value in the neighborhood had increased. And since this was a rare Short Sale that actually took five months to get approved, the values had changed.
This guy told me how all Short Sales take at least six months to get approved. And banks are letting them go for 80% of market value. Really? Try it and see what happens. Oh wait. I forgot. You don't do the heavy lifting. Have your attorney try. That's probably why his Short Sales are taking a minimum of six months.
True Short Sale Agents know two things. 1) Short Sales don't take as long these days. Mine average 60 days for approval, 90 days to get to closing. 2) Banks want every penny of market value. Why should they settle for less than a regular seller? That's the purpose of a BPO after all is to make sure the banks know they are getting fair market value for the property securing the loan.
I'm still shaking my head over the fact that this agent had the nerve to label himself a Short Sale Agent. Passing the paperwork to an attorney does not make you a Short Sale Agent. It makes you an agent who is unable to do the heavy lifting.
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