My New Blog

    OK, so we are all a little sick and tired of dealing with short sales and the lenders' total incapacity to institute reasonable procedures to move the files through the system. Furthermore, the market is now flooded with so-called short sale negotiators that are really just paper pushers. Granted, every now and then you can get lucky and get a quick acceptance with limited conditions and everyone looks like a genius, but that is certainly not the norm.

    Here's my issue in a nutshell. Consider this scenario that I would describe as a "fake" negotiation of a short sale.

• Short sale negotiator (often an attorney) submits the file including the hardship package and buyer's offer
• Lender conducts broker price opinion with no participation from the negotiator or involved real estate agents
• Lender responds with an "acceptance" letter full of conditions regarding payouts to third parties and increasing their net proceeds.
• Negotiator calls all involved parties with a hardy "Congratulations! The short sale has been approved"

NONSENSE! This is a counteroffer, not an approval. There hasn't been any negotiating at all. In fact, now the agents are expected to negotiate with the buyers and maybe even consider reducing their commissions to keep the deal together.

Here's what's different in a "real" negotiation:

• The lender is seldom allowed to do a BPO without an interior inspection, preferably in the presence of the listing agent.
• Unless the offer is accepted as submitted the lender's response is deemed unacceptable and the battle begins.
• The figures in question are the opinion of value and the lender's net proceeds, NOT the buyer's offer, title expenses, real estate commisions, etc...
• The process is not over until the negotiator is convinced that the offer on the table is the best that can be had.

    Whether you are outsourcing the processing and negotiating of your short sales or conducting them yourself, don't settle for "fake" negotiating. I have found Mark Greene of Short Sale Operations, to be an absolute expert in the field. He has been very accomodating to our Realtor® referral sources and I encourage you to email him at Mark@ShortSaleOps.com or call 561-744-4749 if you need help.

    His system is now so refined that it's possible to have him be responsible for all your negotiations without any expense to you!