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SHORT SALES

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Real Estate Agent with Realty Executives, Coastal Empire

We are hearing a lot from some of the top Real Estate "Gurus" about market conditions and where our efforts will pay off.  This market is SHORT SALES.  We are advised that it is a big market and we can do well.  That may have an element of truth, but Agents MUST BE VERY CAREFUL IN DEALING WITH SHORT SALES.

In my office we conduct training on a weekly basis and try to keep up with the latest trends.  Recently we had a guest speaker who is a closing attorney and he was quite straight forward about the legalities involved in short sales.  The bottom line is that it is seemingly a simple procedure to take care of the paperwork on a short sale, but in reality there is much more to it than meets the eye.  There are areas in a short sale that borders on having to be an attorney, not a Real Estate Agent.  If I have a situation where the seller will consider a short sale, I will refer the seller to this attorney to that he can handle all the legal matters and eventually the closing.  This way he has all the headaches and is paid out of the closing costs, and I will still get my commission.

I am not by any means an attorney and have not yet done a short sale.  Agents in our office that have done short sales agree that this is the best route to take.  I would advise all agents who are involved in short sales to investigate this procedure to avoid possible legal problems with the contract and other issues with the bank or financial institution.  Just my 2 cents worth.  (after taxes and not including inflation)!   HOUSE FOR SALE

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Patrick Johnson
Windermere - Bellingham, WA

Stanley, Great post. We are also learning about the short sale process with several classes being offered at our office. One nice thing we have here in Bellingham Wa. is a Escrow service that will take over the entire process regarding dealing with the lenders. It is still lots of work and time put in with buyers/sellers explaining the possible difficulties in pursuing a short sale, but not having to deal with the lenders makes it a whole lot easier for us as agents.

Dec 23, 2008 12:13 PM
Eileen Begley
Coldwell Banker, DelMonte - Carmel, CA
Monterey Real Estate

Good point about sending them to an attorney and probably also to their accountant!  I have stayed away from them so far, but there's more and more of them so may have to reconsider.

Dec 27, 2008 02:32 PM