Every listing agent has to manage a listing...short or traditional the way they see fit...within the laws of the state they live in....and keeping in mind that the foreclosure clock continues to run during the term of the listing on short sales.
We require, with short sales, that earnest money is deposited and an inspection done with time running from acceptance of the seller(s)....not the lender. For us, it works...more importantly...it works for the seller. Buyers don't run down the street, around the block, to the other side of town when they have some "skin in the game." Just like no money down mortgages in the end (and really since the beginning) were not a good idea....we don't feel it is a good idea for buyers not to have stake in the transaction. The other day, an agent was going to write an offer on one of our short sales...and she confessed that she had never written a short sale offer. I explained to her the way we work with our short sales and why....and that if we got offers that had the buyer using the lender's approval to mark their timeline, it would be countered.
We got the offer...sure enough....no earnest money...no inspection until the lender approval not the sellers'.....true to our word...the counter was sent to the selling agent with exactly what we had told her ...earnest money and inspection now. We are confident based on experience and experience with this particular lender, the transaction will close...and everyone will live happily ever after. The buyer LOVES the house....if we were playing by the "procuring cause rules" he would have been our buyer as he came into an open house, saw a lender we recommended..then his agent called...it was her ex-brother in law...so in the interest of keeping peace....we told her to go ahead and write it...she thanked us a zillion times.
No counter offer returned to us...call to the agent...."I would never allow any buyer to put down earnest money and do an inspections for a transaction that may not close." All right then....Ms Never Wrote a Short Sale Offer....we know your buyer still wants the house...he told the lender....the lender told us....and you...don't get to decide...
Other buyers are interested...there will be another offer...the point is...know what you don't know...and if the buyer wants the house, you don't get to make the rules.
Very well written...who did that agent think he was? I really like the line...know what you don't know. I see agents frequently that still do not understand the short sale process from either side. Keep up the great work!!
If you know you don't know...is the market that bad (it is not here) that you have to practice in an area you should not...that applies to buyers as well as sellers.
Skin in the game! thats strong!! I like it ... Thanks
You bet....play to win..you would demand it in any other transaction...this should not be different because it is a short sale.
Skin in the game keeps the buyers in contract. However we have some that take 6 months for a final approval and closing. Do you update home inspections? Alot can happen in 6 months to a property!
Not that we have magic wands :) but we have never had a final approval take that long...hear me knowcking on wood.....soooo to date,, not a problem !
Sally & David - The agent should not be allowing or dis-allowing! The customer makes the decision.
We have always done it that way...for the seller's protection...it is no different than a traditional sale in that respect...the buyer can decide...and if they don't wish to deposit money or do an inspection....they have no reason to stay,,,and the sellers still have the foreclosure clock running. ...as a result, the only buyers who were ever "lost" were 2 on the same house tgat had structural issues the seller did't realize...we got quotes and shared them with other buyers and it closed.