by Atlanta Short Sale Agent on February 5, 2010
This happens quite a bit. I get a call from someone about their short sale and they are frantically wanting to get the home on the market. In some cases, they want to get their home on the market but they can’t make time to meet with our team or make the home available for photos, etc.
Selling your home as a short sale is more than just putting it on the market. ANYONE CAN LIST A HOME (as long as they have a real estate license). Not everyone can navigate through a short sale and have it completed successfully.
When you are interviewing agents, ask them how many short sale SELLERs have they represented. There’s nothing more disheartening to find out that a seller got anxious and decided to list with whoever would show up first without any due diligence on either parts.
If you haven’t seen this video on selecting a Short Sale Agent, head over to the About us page.
Here’s a few questions to eliminate the wheat from the chaffe:
- How do you handle a Mortgage Insurance company’s involvement in the short sale?
- How much to 2nd Lien holders typically get?
- How many sellers have you successfully represented in a short sale?
- Who does the negotiation with the bank? Are they local?
- Will I receive a 1099 for the difference? (I’m going to post the answer in another post, but the short version is ALWAYS yes, the difference is that if the home is your primary residence – that is you bought the home to live in – then you will not be liable)
by Atlanta Short Sale Agent on January 4, 2010
I read this on a forum post the other day and thought, this is the perfect example of an agent who does not understand the short sale process. Before you read on, please be aware that a short sale involves getting all the parties to agree, so it’s more than a simple negotiation with the bank, there is the seller, the buyer, the agents, the buyer’s lender, the seller’s lender sometimes you have their attorneys, you have taxes, hoa’s and more. So it’s definitely not easy, but it’s not this either:
“Banks say they’ve hired staff, set up processes for handling a flood of troubled borrowers, but consumers are not filling out the paperwork. JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, two of Florida’s largest lenders, say they make dozens of phone calls, send letters and even knock on borrowers’ doors to get documents. But both banks say few borrowers respond. [this is true! I actually do assignments for banks in some cases to try to contact these homeowners. Most homeowners do not know that the banks would like to help them stay until it's too late!]”
BULL! WHY won’t these banks just be honest and tell us that it is more financially beneficial to them to foreclose? [For small banks, this is actually true, but for larger banks, it can cost them upwards of $50,000 per foreclosure, PLUS the losses they take on the home.] THEN, we get Congress to IMMEDIATELY draft and put into place an ‘ACT’ FORCING the banks to do the short sales or loan modifications, or face even more tax and losses. I just don’t see any end in sight for the continued decline in home values ( mainly in AZ, FL, NV and CA) [Note that GA is in this mix of states too! Also note, This agent is not licensed but in one of these states]. We are DROWNING in these states. Our states are BROKE, and will need Federal rescue. The banks and their greedy, selfish behavior is what is causing this mess to continue. We need an ‘Act of Congress’ to force banks to stop the bleeding. ‘We The People’ MUST do something!
The sentiments are understood, even if misplaced. The truth or facts here is that the Government is doing a lot to “prod” banks into complying. Do a search on HAMP or HAFA and you’ll see that there are guidelines to follow for short sales and loan modifications for all government backed loans.
In fact, we’d love to help you if you have an FHA loan, thanks to the government, it’s a streamlined process…. SORT OF.
If this agent had been working on any number of short sales, then she’d know that there are a ton of things in place to help consumers. Unfortunately, 60% of foreclosures have former homeowners that never called the bank.
