SHORT SALE ITS NOT A SCARY THING!
About three years ago when the word SHORT SALE came into prevelant view it really sounded scary. What does that even mean. Is the house actually shorter. Is the escrow period shorter (yeah right) does the agent have to be shorter? It was a mysteryto most of us.
Then the reality of what a short sale hit us and what it entailed hit us. They started showing up as MLS listings. Those who did not understand them did not want to show them. Then we realized that clients thought that purchasing a Short Sale was comparable to winning the lotto. SO they started showing up on our showing lists. The fun really started then as we saw homes without stoves, homes without doorknobs, homes without DOORS, and homes without toilets. The best one ever was the house without a FLOOR. What you do with pulled up carpet and pulled up wood planks would be a mystery except for one thing – these sellers were TICKED OFF and like children throwing tantrums this was the only way they had of GETTING back at that bad bad bank that had given them a loan so they could live in a home they couln’t AFFORD. I know we are all adults – but seriously it can be dauting to have to look in the mirror and take responsibility for ones actions. Buyers started NOT wanting to see these listings and it became apparent that agents needed to start taking control in advising these clients on how to leave their properties. Some even listen!
ANYWAY at first I turned down Short Sale listings simply because the agents who were doing them in my office always looked like they were close to a mental breakdown. Spending hours and hours on the phone talking to some poor person sitting in an office in Omaha with about ten thousand files in front of themwasjust not my idea of a good time. I could not offer a service that I was not familiar with in all fairness to my clients who I treasure above all. I simply referred them out.
I then got a call from a client who has become a friend and decided I needed to take this project on. Fortunately I got a referral from my favorite escrow officer for a professional negotiator…I did NOT really know that existed as my only experience was on the short sale buying side where the other agents pat weekly statement when asked for updates was – I DON”T KNOW. Hiring this person was the best thing ever – yes they need to be PAID- but you know the Greedy become the Needy in my book and to have clients taken care of well is the most important thing. I NOW can take a Short Sale and can treat it exactly like a TALL SALE. It can be staged, it can be promoted, it can be photographed professionally, it can be marketed and shown off just like a regular house because IT IS. There is no more stigma in selling your home this way. The economy has decided to stabilize our home prices devaluating their worth, and it is what it is. Short Selling is the same business decision as many others made daily by businessmen. Short Sale if you need to – make sure your house is treated with the same care and respect as any other house the agent is listing. Leave the toilet in place – it makes for much better photographs and in a couple of years your credit will be clean as a whistle and you can buy a house that you will love even better at a much better price!
