Relocate to Wisconsin : Short Sales are Not for Agents Who are Upside Down...

  Yesterday we had a specific request from a buyer for a short sale...anxious for a good value at a good price, didn't have a house to sell....was well qualified financially...so off we went to find a listing that would work for this anxious home buyer....

          WHOOPS !  The first listing we came across seemed to meet the criteria...short sale, good condition..price a little high but we can work with that....and then we studied it further...the agent listing the house was the seller.  That cannot happen...not because we say...not because very obviously the agent was not trained in short sales...but because no lender will allow it.  The seller cannot benefit from the sale, cannot be related to the seller, cannot appear in any way to have a "conflict of interest" in benefit supplied to the seller.  Every lender we have seen requires the seller to sign an arm's length statement.  The agent has an "arm's length" relationship from the seller...he is not the seller.

                If you a real estate agent and you are upside down for a reason of hardship...divorce, illness, financial, etc....You CANNOT list your own house, sell it and minimize or attempt to minimize your loss with the commission.

Shame on the agent for not learning about the rules...and a bigger blame goes to the broker who reviews or should review the contracts....and we know with other agents in the same company has had this called to their attention and chooses to ignore it...Know the rules...play by the rules of you may find the foreclosure bus running you over before you can say "closing table."