Human nature aways leads us to look for the path of least resistance. Sadly enough some real estate professionals choose the path of least resistance when deciding which listings to show to prospective buyers. Let me explain myself.
We are all concerned about the huge rise in foreclosures and quite a few of us have rushed in to fill a void to provide a much needed service without truly understanding of what is at stake. Lives are being shattered, people are walking away from the homes after putting their life savings into to them, some are even taking their own lives under the tremendous stress that the mortgage crisis has created in this country.
We owe it to the home owners in our communities, yes, we owe it to our neighbors and friends that we serve to make sure that we not only understand their pain but, more importantly, that we understand how to help them. There has been a flood of seminars regarding foreclosures, pre-foreclosures or short sales, loan modifications, and forbearance mainly geared to the real estate professionals to help them work a market niche which is rapidly becoming a way to survival. Unfortunately, there are so many inconsistencies in the lending industry, the credit reporting industry, the IRS, and the legal profession that it is difficult at best to find anything resembling a standard to help the professional offering a solution and, more importantly, to assure that the distressed home owner is getting the much needed relief they desperately seek.
Yet, even in the midst of all this turmoil and confusion there are those in our profession that do see the greater good and do pride themselves on continually striving to gain the knowledge required to be successful in providing viable solutions to distressed home owners. It has always been about our customers. So before we shy away from showing a short sale listing to our prospective buyers because we aren't sure if our listing colleagues know how to handle a short sale, PLEASE take the time to ask the listing agents to give you information regarding the short sale process. Some of us do know how to handle short sales and have invested time and money in resources geared to greater success because we want the home owner to walk away satisfied that he and his family will be able to own a home again in the not to distant future.
If you walk away from or, don't show a short sale listing, you are not only doing your prospective buyer a disservice but are adding to the foreclosure problem. Lets discuss the possibilities so that we can all make a difference. We do understand that some buyers will not wait but when considering the deals that are available, most buyers, if properly appraised of the situation, would be willing to wait a little more to close to get a better home. It always comes down to how well we communicate!
Comments(2)