IN TODAY'S MARKET, MANY REALTORS STILL LACK ONE SKILL
NOT all agents have one tool in their toolbox or know about it yet and even if they have heard about it, don’t have a clue on how to successfully put one together. If you are an agent that has come across a seller that is in distress (loss of job, death of spouse, divorce, major illness, etc…) and owes more on their home than what it is worth, but do not know exactly how to do a successful short-sale, consider referring it out to an agent that has had a tremendous amount of recent experience!
Just to make sure we're on the same page, a short sale is simply when a lender accepts less for a home than is currently owned.
Now a few years ago, doing short sales with banks were almost heard of. These days, things are quite different.
So if short sales are so powerful, why aren't more agents doing them?
Because there's a huge obstacle in the way, and based on my experience, the biggest obstacle to doing short sales is that each one is still somewhat unique so it almost has to become a specialty.
There are certain myths floating around out there that I want to dispel:
Short Sale Myth #1: Banks Won't Do Them...
A few years ago, when the market was hot, this was largely the case. Banks had no financial incentive to do short sales. There was simply no need.
In today’s market, things are different...
Banks are in business to make money. They can't make money when their customers default on their mortgages. When a bank is forced to foreclose on a property, that REO inventory prevents the bank from lending a certain amount of money as they need to have cash in reserve, and a bank can't make money if it can't lend money.
A foreclosure is bad business for a bank. That means there is a huge upside for doing short sales. These days, banks are motivated to minimize risk as much as possible. A properly structured short sale does that for them.
Short Sale Myth #2: Not All Banks Do Them...
This one is simple. ALL major lenders do short sales. In fact, they have entire departments dedicated to that very thing. It's called the loss mitigation department.
It's just that sometimes what they SAY they'll do and what they'll actually do are two different things. Experience in this area helps tremendously.
Short Sale Myth #3: Lenders Won't Pay Commissions...
The bank doesn't care primarily about commission. The bank cares about their bottom line, (NET to them.)
This might sound too good to be true, but I have been successful thus far in getting my usual and normal commission rate for doing short sales.
Short Sale Myth #4: Sellers Facing Pre-Foreclosure Will NOT Be Cooperative...
This is one of the biggest myths out there. Once I have been able to take a seller through the scenario and explain how foreclosure stays on their credit for 10 full years vs. allowing me to help them properly package and dispose of their property for the bank (which may get them out with a 14-24 month ding on their credit) and prevent the foreclosure from actually hitting their credit report, they are all for it!
So sellers are cooperative and this couldn't be further from the truth.
Here are the simple facts:
Doing a short sale keeps the client from losing their home to foreclosure. It keeps them from having the negative mark of a foreclosure on their credit. That's HUGE! Does it really make sense that the client would be "uncooperative" for helping them save their credit?
When you help solve big problems for people, they tend to be VERY cooperative.
Short Sale Myth #5: Short Sales are HARD...
Yes, short sales are a different animal. They do require a lot of work and require patience and persistence. They aren’t rocket science though.
To do short sales, I have had to learn the process. It's a new skill that most Realtors simply don't know.
BEWARE-
Of course, you can't take two steps without tripping over the newest "we'll close your short sale for you" company. They charge a fee for this "service." By the way, it's often non-refundable.
SO REFER IT OUT…
So if you have come across a lead that may qualify for a short sale, contact me. Put together a referral sheet and fax it to me at 248-283-2461 Or call me at 248-283-0181.
