My New Blog

Whether I am listing properties or representing a purchaser, short sales have become a very large part of my business.  My desire is to represent all of my clients in the most professional way and I look forward to educating everyone with a realistic view of what a short sale looks like.

First off, if you are not sure what a short sale is, please check out my video at www.loudoun2winchester.com/shortsales.

I listed a property for sale last week.  Great town house in Shenandoah County built by Richmond American Homes with a 1 car garage.  The seller paid approximately $250,000 for this house and the home is beautifully appointed.  When I interviewed this seller, I collected important information.  One thing that I know will make this process move a bit more quickly is that he applied for a loan modification and was declined.  Although not a good situation for the seller, it does encourage the bank to move forward.

We listed the home and had 4 offers within 4 days.  Note to all sellers:  Pricing is Everything!  One of the advantages for listing a short sale on the Listing Agent's side is that I price the home aggressively and appropriately.  The last short sale that closed in this subdivision closed for $138,000, traditional sales are selling for about $155,000 - we priced the home at $139,000.

When I represent a seller and I am in the seat of a multiple offer situation, many of you would think that the highest offer is always king... not true.  In this case there are two banks, Citi Mortgage and Countrywide.  As a Realtor, my job is to look at the total package - financing, cash down, and contingencies.  The purchaser that we picked had nearly a cash offer, no contingencies, and had realistic expectations.  The buyer's agent made it clear that this buyer is purchasing for investment purposes and has all the time in the world.  This home has 2 mortgages (or trusts) and we anticipate receiving bank approval in a mimum of 4 months.  When both the buyer and seller have proper perspective, this ensures a smoother transaction.

We ratified the contract today.  While waiting for those final signatures we had the seller provide the following:  a hardship letter (written like a good country song), pay check stubs, bank statements, 2 years of W-2's and bank statements, mortgage account statements, proof of any assets - 401k, keogh, etc., authorization to release information (2 of them), financial worksheet. 

The way I handle short sales is that I have a professional full time mitigator handle dealing with the banks.  This is the most time consuming and frustrating part of the transaction.  Every great short sale agent should have a great mitigator in their back pocket.  This mitigator should not charge the client nor the bank exorbitant fees.  The company that I use charges $500.00 to the seller, at closing, if it closes.  They try to collect the fees from the bank first, It's a fantastic set up.  I bow at the feet of my fabulous mitigator and treat her very well.  She has a very difficult job and she does an amazing job at communicating with me, my clients, and the cooperating agents.  I have worked with Realtors who have tried mitigating the short sales themselves and really flubbed up the transactions.  It is always best to have a professional handle the mitigation... I'm in the selling business and that's where I prefer to spend my energy.

All information has been submitted to the mitigator.  The next step in the process is to submit all paperwork to the bank (the mitigator's job).  Let's see how long it takes for them to confirm they have our file.  And now, the hard work really begins!