The English Team has been handling (and selling) a lot of short sale listings lately. This brutal real estate market has put a lot of home owners under water on their home mortgage. They owe more money to the bank than their home is worth and the only way they can sell, and avoid foreclosure, is have the bank agree to take a payoff that is less than the amount they are owed (ie a "short" sale).
Short sales can be a tough ride emotionally, and they take time to finalize. It is not a slam dunk process. My Active Rain Associate Mike Cooper helps home owners understand the process in this excellent article.
So, a short sale means that the Realtor has to be under 5' 3" tall? No, not really,
but there are a lot of scammers out there that are trying to convince people in distress that they are short sale experts. In the process, the home goes into foreclosure and the homeowner's life is wrecked. So, let me give a few simple guidelines when hiring a short sale agent.
- Ignore every TV commercial that promises short sale success. If the originators are not connected to a local broker you may have trouble verifying their credentials and their success.
- Don't pay someone up front to short sale your house. Going further under water will not ensure short sale success.
- Ask the person you're considering to short sale your house if they've ever conducted a short sale before. There are a lot of short sale experts out there that have never conducted a short sale.
- Call the agent's broker and confirm they are qualified and backed up with a talented brokerage staff in the event something goes sideways.
- Ask about short sale training. Does the agent have a CDPE or SFR certification. There are other good ones out there too. If they do, you know they've been through the process of learning, even if they haven't conducted a short sale. Good certifications are not totally necessary, but they do give the agent a broader understanding of the process. An experienced, uncertified agent can be just as good. Interview, interview, interview.
- Ask the agent to give you a full rundown of the process. Every experienced agent should be able to explain the process with the caveat that each lender may have some minor differences in procedure which may vary a little bit.
- If you can afford it, have your attorney review all documents before signing up with a short sale agent.
- Can they guarantee success? Drop them if they do, because no agent can guarantee success in this area of real estate, but they can guarantee they will give it 100% of their efforts. That's much more important.
Doing a short sale is a difficult process under the best conditions. You'll want to make sure you are ready to comply with the lender's requirements, and you will want to find an agent who is there to support you through the process.
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Give me a call for all your real estate needs, and let's make something amazing happen.
Mike Cooper @ Cornerstone Business Group, Inc., 888-722-6029
Real Estate Sales and Property Management
(Disclaimer: All grammatical mistakes, punctuation breakdowns and misspellings are purely for your amusement and entertainment. Feel free to cackle.)
Sally English and The English Team. Atlanta real estate agents.
Realty Associates of Atlanta LLC; 3350 Northlake Parkway Atlanta, Georgia 30345 |770-939-3174
View more of SALLY'S BLOG: Sallys Atlanta Real Estate Updates
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All content copyright © 2009-2012 by Sarah Bryant English DBA Sally English and The English Team, Atlanta Georgia. This sale offering is made subject to errors, ommissions, change of price, prior sale and withdrawal without notice. Potential purchasers should make a physical inspection to verify all features independently. EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY. Sally English is not an attorney or CPA and ALL legal or tax advice should be rendered by a professional. Sally English is an Atlanta real estate agent specializing in homes and neighborhoods convenient to Emory University and The CDC. Thanks for visiting my BLOG!
Look before you leap....especially at a time when your financial/credit life depends on it !
Short sales are not easy for anybody: sellers, buyers, real esate agents etc. Great advice from Sally, David, Jane and Garry. Thanks for stopping by and keep on pushing those short sales along!
Short sale is really an unfortunate phrase created by the banks or whoever. It adds confusion to an arena that needs clarity.