We promote our short sale listings and don't subscribe to the "the price will sell it don't promote it" theory....we respect that the sellers want to move on with their lives...that the bank needs to get rid of the red ink...that the market doesn't need one more house for sale...and that marketing was my career in another lifetime..that more than one medium is more effective than any one media...
If you list short sales...You have an obligation.....it's called...getting...
As a seller...it's important to you...just as it would be with any kind of transaction that your agent has an active and aggressive....and well monitored marketing plan....the foreclosure clock continues to run...and while as a seller you will not profit from the sale...you do need an agent steering your marketing to the fastest point of closure possible in the market.
As a buyer....writing for half price on an already reduced priced listing will end up killing another tree and wasting the energy required for using the fax....don't go there.
As an agent.....if you aren't comfortable with the process...haven't done it successfully...read about it and not actively and successfully participated...don't experiment with people's futures..refer it and move on to an area in which you excel.
Short Sales are not for everyone....If you list them, buy them, write on them...
Sally K. & David L. Hanson, ABR, CDPE, CSS, e-Pro,ILHM, REDS
Great advice, as usual! The lady that I posted about as having a possible short sale was able to get a loan modification and is sitting tight for now. Although, she still would like to move this summer!! If she does I will let you know. Maybe I can learn along side the best of you guys!
Glad to hear it Kristin...A short sale is not our first "line of defense"....sometimes...with unemployment/under employment etc. it IS the only one....we should tip a couple...come on down !
Hey there Friends!
Timely blog...I forwarded to a Restaino Agent that wont join active rain, and hates reading blogs!
Ahhh...the love of change, and the love of Learning! Funny thing Irony, people on AR are thirsting for knowledge to be better for themselves, and for their customers....THe ones who are not, will not be I think!! :)
Thanks! I am going to reblog this at some point!!
Take care,
Pictures of my trip to Nashville and a story, soon to follow!
Bucky!
Thanks Bucky...glad we didn't lose you to the sunny south...blog on buddy !
GOOD MORNING SALLY AND DAVID! Great post - I believe with anything - highest and best just translate into work at doing it right the first time! -- Gabrielle
Hey Gabrielle...good to see you...highest and best applies to life ...offers...blogging...you bet !
With all due respect, I disagree with you on Highest and Best offer on short sales. It is of my belief that your offer to the bank should be from a well qualified buyer (heavy down payment, great credit, low debt to income ratio, etc.) and below the lowest comps even when they initially come higher.
For example, if the high end of the comps is 210k, with a FMV of 195k and a low comps of 180k and you list it at 210k and get 5 offers and the highest and best is an offer of 210k, you should not submit the 210k offer. Instead I suggest you take the most qualified buyer who was willing to pay the most for the property and have them rewrite the offer at 165k and ask for closing cost even if they didn't. So if the 210k was a FHA buyer with no cash reserves and you have a 195k offer from a 50% down buyer, you approach the 195k offer and ask them to re-write it for 165k.
This will benefit you when you are able to negotiate the short sale at 165k because:
1. It will allow you to find a new buyer if this buyer walks.
2. It will protect you from a long short sale in a declining market.
3. It will motivate the buyer to pay for any expenses the lender didn't. No more petty arguments about $100 here and there. We also like to have the buyer pay us our full commission and pay a "short sale processing fee" on top of our commissions. The sellers like it as well since the buyers are now paying a couple of grand for the stove and they don't have a foreclosure on their records! The buyers, even with all these extra expenses, are still getting the house 10k-15k cheaper than expected. A true win-win-win situation for everyone involved.
I also respectfully disagree with highest and best in marketing the home in the sense of making the owners leave the home and turn on lights while showing the property, pay for carpet cleaning, etc. They are already stressed out as it is. I let them live life without the discomforts and stresses of selling their home. It's fine if you want to spend time, energy and/even money on advertising.
Highest and best in Life???? I wouldn't want it in any other way baby!
With all do repect....the offers we accept ARE from qualified buyers..we never get quibbles about $100...and to date have won every time....Highest and Best is FROM the best buyer...if you are dealing with hundreds of dollars and carpet cleaning subjects...someone or lots of someones don't understand short sales.
Of course all buyers should be qualified. Qualified buyers at what PRICE is the real question. In my example above, would you have submitted at 165k even though your qualified buyer was willing to pay 195k?
I also don't understand how you don't get quibbles about small expenses, especially if the buyer is getting the home at or close to fair market price. Even in deals where there is 80k-100k built in equity they sometimes exists (usually from the buyer's agent as the buyer could care less since he/she is getting the house cheap).
In regards to "if you are dealing with hundreds of dollars and carpet cleaning subjects...someone or lots of someones don't understand short sales." So true, I don't believe in making them clean carpets, make repairs, or do anything that will make them spend time or money in order for them to sell their house. So when you make comments like:
"While price is a serious consideration, so is the visibility of the listing to agents and potential buyers...actively marketing a short sale will help sell the listing...educating agents, buyers and sellers is something every listing agent needs to einforce in every market."
And...
"SELLERS - Have you had your house listed for months and months at the same price with no showings? It may be the price...it could be the condition...and may be a combination of both...If you really want to mooooove that house...take a hard look at both."
And...
"Sellers - Are you putting your BEST HOUSE FORWARD ? Is your home in good repair ? De-cluttered...clean and ready to show ? Is the Price "market competitive" ? Are you pricing based upon RECENT comps ? Or is it still the "price you need, want" and may not get."
What do you exactly mean? So if it has pet stains, needs repairs, needs paint, maybe you just don't take the listing??? Because from these comments, I take it that you have the property's carpets cleaned, repairs made and display the property as close as a retail model as possible. To me, that takes money and time.
Note that this is not an attack on you. I've been reading a lot of blog's from people who state that they know short sales. I do this because I am always looking for ways to improve myself. Your blog about highest and best makes no sense to me logically and I want to know how you have a high success rate where other agents are closing at very low rates using this method. Basically I want to learn from you.
Your other comments about listing short sales seem like a good idea, but I am telling you that I get the same results as you claim, without spending a dime or my client's money or time. I also think by presenting the home in such a manner might hinder the interior BPO. As the BPO is a human too and is influenced by the feeling he/she got when they visited the place. In other words, I want the pet stains, the holes in the walls, the bad smell, the clothes on the floor, the unwashed dishes in the sink, etc. Anything that will help bring down the perceived value of the property so the property can be sold via a short sale and not as a REO.
Our results are not results we claim...they are real...we have not spent anyone's money...and closed 100% whatever we are doing works....we have not had trashed homes to short sale...they are people in distress...not properties in ruin.
"we have not had trashed homes to short sale"
You should be so lucky! By the time I enter the picture, usually the property needs repairs as things have been put off due to lack of money, the carpets are dirty, it smells of cigarette smoke and pets. The financial stress causes arguments which causes damages to both the house and upkeep.
The best short sale I was involved on, was a short sale on a house in which the owner gutted out all the rooms and non-bearing walls in order to grow marijuana inside the house. The house got raided by the police and the owner thrown in jail. One of the best hardship letters I ever made!
"they are people in distress...not properties in ruin."
Well, properties usually get ruined because the owners can't afford to maintain them. (Don't they cover that at your CDPE training??) Maybe in your area, you have a different type of distressed seller than we do in California. Maybe you only deal with Ken and Barbie having to short sale their shiny, clean and upgraded house cause one of them lost their job (or trust fund!). Maybe Barbie sold the Ferrari to fix the plumbing issue????
Anyway, your posts intrigue me. Maybe you should hold a class as to how you get 100% success rate and the perfect listings with the perfect results using highest and best! Even using my strategy, I lose 1 out of 30-35 short sales. But then again, I take on all short sales, regardless of the situation.
Hmmm...Maybe Ken and Barbie moved to Wisconsin...the short sales we have are not in "distressed" conditiom with one exception and that will close next month. We take and have been referrred...what we can close...haven't had any that were trashed...more divorce than distroyed....and close them..yup...every time.