Are Short Sales Really A Nightmare?

I read a blog post by another agent the other day. He had a long story about a short sale that he worked on that was so difficult. He said the lender sent him a form on Friday.

On Friday afternoon they demanded that he send them back a form signed and
notarized by the sellers. He sent it back to them on Saturday.

On Monday they closed the short sale file because they hadn't received the form
within 24 hours. Apparently they didn't check their faxes over the weekend.

According to the story the agent just resubmitted the short sale file and
waited another 60 days for the short sale file to be processed. It appears that
this agent let the short sale lender push him around.

But, why waste 60 days because of the short sale lender's unreasonable demands? Why put your home sellers at further risk of losing their home to foreclosure?

The short sale lender should have re-opened that file right away. And they
would have if the agent had held them accountable for their actions.

The bottom line is that this agent let the short sale lender dictate everything
to him. He allowed them to have all the power. He never stood up for himself.

Now, I'm sure you are wondering how this agent could have stood up for
themselves. Here is the simple way to do it. It all goes back to who owns the
loan. A little known fact is that 80% of all loans are not owned by the banks
themselves.

Most of them are owned by Uncle Sam or an unknown third party. In this
situation you find out who owns the loan and contact them directly. I've posted
on this blog instructions on how to find the owner of the loan.

Then, you tell the owner what is happening. But, you have to make your case.
Remember, these loan owners only care about the economics.

They don't care about a sob story about how the lenders are mean and your
feelings go hurt. They only care about how it affects their bottom line. That
is how you make your case.

Here is an example of what you say to them."In October we received an offer on this short sale for $356,000. We submitted it to the ABC Bank, who is handling the loan. They were very difficult to work with.

They would not give us an answer on the offer for 68 days. In that time, the
buyer canceled their offer. We put the home back on the market. Another buyer
made an offer for $347,000.

We submitted that offer to the short sale lender. It's been the same
problem." Next I would go into detail on how they canceled the short sale
process for no reason.

Then, I would detail how much money I estimated this loan owner lost as a result
of the lender's actions. In this example, it is probably $11,000. That is the
reduction in the sales price and lost interest income and other costs.

After you inform the loan owner of what is happening, then they will contact
the lender and ask them to do a better job. There are more things you can do,
but this is a start.

Tomorrow I'll explain what to do when the loan is owned by the actual lender.
The strategy is a little different. Thinking about a short sale?

If you have any questions about a Short Sale, Please feel free to contact me by email at bion@bionsellshomes.com or, if you prefer, you can call me at 770-875-4268.

Thanks for reading this, Bion Grady.

Bion is a Real Estate Agent at Maximum One Realty.

Bion Grady specializes in loan modification assistance and short sales in
Georgia. Loan Modification Help, Short Sales. Short Sale Realtor.

Copyright 2012 SFI Marketing Institute, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Important Notice

This is not intended as legal, technical, or tax advice. Please speak with a
licensed professional before making any decision. Information is deemed
reliable but not guaranteed as of the date of writing.

The views expressed here are Bion's personal views and do not reflect the views
of Maximum One Realty.

(Bion Grady, Maximum One Realty, cell:770-875-4268, bion@bionsellshomes.com, search properties at www.bionsellshomes.com)