Comment

Comment by Robin M. Willis on October 16, 2012 at 7:03am

I love this post.  This is exactly what I have been emphasizing to my team lately.  You can do EVERYTHING RIGHT, but if you can't prove that you did, it could be the same as not doing it if you end up in court.  I think it is important to document each and every one; you never know when a bank will elect to foreclose and you will need to show your clients you have been diligent in your efforts and that the bank's decision was due to internal factors or decision-making and not due to negligence on the agent's part.

I also use Short Sale Commander.  You have a permanent record of what happened, it is great for team collaboration, and you can give your clients access to view your progress. I highly recommend this program.

Comment by Jeff Payne on October 11, 2012 at 5:13am

I am with Bryant.  I know alot of agents who use attorneys to handle their short sales and it can be hit or miss.  When it is miss more than hit, I tell those agents that they really need a new group of friends :).    Most of those agents do a fraction of the business I do in my area so I dont buy the realtors need to use a third party so they can go out and get more business.  

I handle my own short sales too and protect my time and leverage myself with my team, not outsiders, and can say that I also do not buy into the inflated "time" that alot of third party companies claim it takes to do a short sale.  As a matter of fact I interviewed a third party company and their value proposition was that I should be doing more productive things than spending all day on the phone. Not a good value prop because  if they are spending all day on the phone, why would I want to send them 30 or 40 short sales to handle.

When I am ready for a third party there are two that I will be interviewing and they are great contributors to this site.

As far a the original post!  thanks Bryant, great post!

Comment by Bryant Tutas on October 11, 2012 at 3:06am

Hi Elliot. I disagree. I have taken many short sales where the sellers were using attorneys. The attorneys failed and did nothing but charge the sellers $1,000s of dollars. I much prefer to handle the short sales myself and have the sellers seek legal advice when needed. Handling short sales is only a time waster of the agent is not organized. I can easily handle 30-40 short sales at a time. Attorneys don't handle short sales. Their staff does and unfortunately most are not available after hours to deal with lenders when needed.

Comment by Steven Angelil on October 11, 2012 at 2:26am

Great post Broker Bryant!  I always try and get things in email rather than phone to avoid the "he never told me that" syndrome.  Sometimes you can just tell in advance that you need something in writing because you know your client is about to make a bad decision.

Comment by Donte Tribble on October 10, 2012 at 4:53am

Anyone familiar with Sharefax Credit Union, and has ever completed a shortsale deal with that institution?

 

Comment by Elliott Levine on October 10, 2012 at 2:45am

The answer is to allow the negotiations to be handled by a nationwide law firm that specializes in short sales and loss mitigation negotiation. Realtors should not have to be concerned with the liability attached to negotiating a short sale. Realtors should also be spending their time doing what they do best: obtain listings, and sell homes. They should not be wasting their valuable time on the phone with the incompetent employees within these lenders.