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  Patty Da Silva March 15, 2010 at 1:02pm

  Hi Ruth,
  
  You are welcome. I use a short sale disclosure. You should check with your local and State boards, they should have come up with one by now.
  
  Short sales are not simple transactions, they can take time and they require a lot of work, but with a lot of persistence and experience they do close.
  
  In my market, South Florida - Davie, Plantation and Cooper City, short sales and REOs are more than 60% of all transactions.
  
  Help lots of people and have a great day!
  
  Patty Da Silva, CDPE©, RESS®, AHWD®, e-PRO®, GREEN, CFS, GRI (Candidate)
  Member of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing
  BROKER - Owner REALTOR® & Licensed Mortgage Broker
  Florida RE License BK 3175566 - Green Realty Properties
  
  Visit www.pattydasilva.com for SouthEast Florida's best properties.
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  Ruth A Bruestle March 15, 2010 at 8:23am

  Thanks Patty, what is happening in your state really does not surprise me. I believe that the more short sales we see the greater the impact government entities are going to have on our industry. The agent is spending all kinds of time on these and no one wants to pay them for their time and the more help we give, the liability we receive increases. What paperwork are you using that gives you that protection and if we do this in house, I still think we are in a bad spot. Maybe I am just becoming paranoid!
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  Patty Da Silva March 15, 2010 at 1:36am

  Hi Ruth,
  
  In Florida (I know you are not in FL so check with your State) Real Estate Agents are not allowed to charge more for short sale transactions than the standard commission for the area. The legislature made that very clear on Fl Senate Bill 2226.
  
  I agree with Bryant 100%... I process ALL my short sales myself, and like Bryant, I enjoy a closing ratio higher than 98%.. I believe that no one is going to care about about your seller more than you. Attorneys can no longer get paid to process short sales in Florida. A company that facilitates a short sale transaction in Florida (exception - real estate professionals who are only going to receive the standard commission for the sales) must be licensed as a mortgage broker under Section 494.
  
  All compensation belongs to the broker, agents are not to be paid any more directly, short sales or not.
  
  Again, Bryant and I agree.. a escrow deposit is required when making an offer on my listing.
  
  Ruth, lenders do not sign off or executes anything. The lender only agrees to receive less than what is owed to them in a short mortgage payoff statement, a/k/a demand letter.
  
  Help lots of people and have a great day!
  
  Patty Da Silva, CDPE©, RESS®, AHWD®, e-PRO®, GREEN, CFS, GRI (Candidate)
  Member of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing
  BROKER - Owner REALTOR® & Licensed Mortgage Broker
  Florida RE License BK 3175566 - Green Realty Properties
  
  Visit www.pattydasilva.com for SouthEast Florida's best properties.
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  Bryant Tutas March 14, 2010 at 10:56am

  Ruth. There are many companies that will handle short sale negotiations. Personally I prefer to do it myself because I need to be in control.
  
  If you have a good size office and short sales are going to be common then you may want to consider hiring an employee to handle the short sale paper work and negotiations. This could be an add on service for your agents. That way they could concentrate on listing and selling and you could control the negotiation process through an employee. Charge a fee to the agents to offset the salary.
  
  Other than that I would only use a 3rd party negotiator if they are Attorneys.
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  Ruth A Bruestle March 14, 2010 at 8:13am

  Thanks very much Bryant, I must admit I never thought of it that way. Point well taken... the mortgage company just needs to remove the lien! We see too many short sales in my area never closing at all and the buyer tired of waiting and wants their money back. And, after a long conversation with my E&O attorney, he is not at all for the agents doing this negotiation themselves..opens up a lot of liability..I guess if we can find a company that does the job we might be better off...your thoughts?
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  Bryant Tutas March 12, 2010 at 1:19pm

  As a Broker myself I would certainly want all fees and commissions to come through me. I would think an agreement between you as Broker and the seller would suffice since the extra fee/commission is coming from the seller. This doesn't concern the buyer unless the fee is being placed on the buyer side of the HUD. In that case the agreement would be between the buyer and the broker getting paid.
  
  Buyers of my short sale listings are required to place the deposit at time of contract. The lender is not signing off on the contract. They are just agreeing to remove the lien so the deal can close.