Shortsale FAQ for Realtors

Why should a Realtor learn short sales?

Simple, it's a much needed service that will make you a lot of money! As a Realtor proficient in Short Sales, you are amoung the elite. In addition short sale homes sell due to being priced right, seller's work with you on not only price but are extemely thankfull. Homeowners don't push you to do open houses and all the other time wasters as traditional listings. Get tons of unrepresented buyer calls, because in this market well priced homes is what they are looking for. In an ever changing market as with any profession, one must be willing to adapt and learn new methods to thrive and grwo in your chosen field. A beautiful side benefit to doing short sales are; your seller wins, the buyer wins, the bank wins, the Realtor wins, and our overall economy wins. What better way to make a great income, help change peoples lives, and help the economy at the same time.

Who is Get Shortsale Results?

Since 2001 the founders have been working as real estate investors and brokers. In that time we have always changed with the demands of the market. Having vast experience with unconventional transactions we have built solid expertise in short sales. We have contacts with top experts throughout the country. Simply said we get results.

I heard Short Sales are hard work.

Short Sales are hard work only if you don’t understand how to use the process. Once you’ve been trained properly, a successful Short Sale will take about two hours of your time. Our system uses a step by step flow chart that walks you through the entire process.

Do Short Sales take a long time?

Depending on the situation they can take as little as one week and as long as twelve weeks. In most cases once a buyer puts a contract on the property, most of the preliminary work has been completed, so the transaction can close within the standard time frames. In slow markets a few extra weeks allows you to locate a buyer.

How do I find short sale Candidates that need help selling their home?

One of the topics we cover in our training is how to find people in need. Keep in mind, when a homeowner has 10 letters on their coffee table saying "we can help" 9 of them will be from investors. The one letter out of ten from a Realtor will be chosen every time. It's because there is a code of ethics, professionalism.

What if the bank will only allow a 5% commission to be paid?

In many cases the banks will be glad to be working with someone who knows what they are doing and will adjust the commission. Keep in mind that these types of transactions are only going to be a piece of your portfolio. Unless you have so many listings that you can’t handle any more, getting paid $15,000 to sell a $300,000 house isn’t a bad day’s work.

What kind of discount will the banks take?

Banks and other lending institutions will always take some type of discount if the numbers work. The type of existing mortgage is always a factor. I’ve had payoffs reduced by over $100,000. Being able to obtain discounts of 15% to 20% is common with certain loans.

What about clients with multiple mortgages?

In most cases that is where you can obtain the largest discounts! More liens can be a good thing.

My client wants to get money back at closing.

Sometimes there is money left on the table. One of the requirements of the foreclosing lenders approval letter will be that no proceeds go to the seller. They can however sell appliances & fixtures.

What about the foreclosing lender paying some of the new buyers closing costs.

The out of control foreclosure rate has caused lenders to operate far outside of the parameters they used to. The trend is to do what ever it takes to get the deal done and not take the home through the foreclosure process. If that means paying a percentage of the buyer's costs, and their bottom line can still be met, then they will likely do it.

Will River City Home Solutions walk me through the process?

Yes, simply provide us the paperword needed & we will do the rest. Focus on growing your book of business.

Get the junior lien holder to accept $1000 as full settlement when both liens are with the same lender.

Before beginning your negotiation with the mitigator on the first lien, ask what there company policy is concerning the amount allowed to junior liens when accepting a short sale. They will tell you $1000 is all they allow. Now when you begin negotiating with the second position (same lender different department) remind them of their own company policy. They can’t dispute your $1000 offer since they are following policy.

Save your ammo.

When submitting your initial short sale package, give just enough information in your cover letter to give them an overview of the situation justifying your offer. Don’t send all your comps, neighborhood data, repair estimates, pictures, etc. Once negotiations begin you can use pieces of your reserved ammo to help your case.

Borrowers/debtors will be required to sign a personal note for the balance due.

The borrowers/debtors are not in a position to do this. (Explain to the mitigator the hardship that has caused this situation, use the proper tone and emotion to appeal to their sense of humanity). They are excellent candidates for bankruptcy, since they have other debt that's overwhelming their lives. Their preference would be to sell the home prior to foreclosure .Being forced to sign a note on the deficiency will not be possible.

Loss mit says your offer is too low.

Tell them your job is to help facilitate a win win outcome for everyone including your investors. What is the purchase price, the bank would be willing to accept? (Ask the loss mitigator, what the BPO or appraised value came in at in order to help determine what the bank expects as a purchase price).
In most cases, the lender will tell you, the agent, what their opinion of value is. In the event, the mitigator will not disclose what they're BPO value is, appeal once again to their sense of fair play. Let them know what price you have the home listed at and ask if that is close to their value. (If that don’t work, get the homeowner to call for the value)

The lender won’t accept less than their BPO amount

Run through the expected costs that will be associated with the foreclosure process. REO costs, eviction, transfer taxes, lost interest, etc. You can also explain the total days on market will have a huge impact on their net. You will be saving them money when they accept your offer.

The lender will only allow 4% commissions

Tell them you appreciate what they are saying, however. I have had this property listed now for ex-number of days. I have already incurred substantial out of pocket expenses for promotion and advertising of the property. I am also cooperating with a selling agent on this transaction. My goal is to make this a win-win for all parties involved, short sale commissions have risen due to the number of foreclosures we are seeing. By working with a professional in the short sale arena, you can expect a quick and smooth process from start to finish. That will allow you to clear this non performing asset from your books as quickly as possible.

Items that really get the lender to reconsider the value they have

• Dry rot.
• Electrical code issues. Upgrades, re--wiring
• underground storage tank/environmental threats.
• Septic issues.
• Well water issues.
• Home additions, not to code or permitted.
• Mold issues. This is huge!
• Window replacements.
• Roof replacements.
• Foundation or settling issues.