Marketing a short sale in Sacramento is different than marketing a home that is not a short sale. The reason is a home that is not a short sale is an attractive option to almost 100% of the buying public. Not everybody wants to buy a short sale. The number of buyers who will consider buying a short sale dramatically dwindle when compared to the number of all home buyers.
Price is typically what drives a short sale. Banks will give a discount because a buyer needs an incentive to go through short sale sale hell. It is hell. No way around it. No way to sugarcoat it. Bank of America, for example, has been trying to get involved on the front end to lower this discount, but it's not working. That's because in order for it to work, the bank needs to approve short sales faster. Like in the 10 days they promise. But no, it's like the siren song of a mermaid. You're gonna bang into the rocks and die before that will happen.
On the one hand, you've got the bank demanding a higher price. On the other, you've got the buyer demanding a lower price. The trick for the Sacramento short sale agent is to gently tug these two forces together. One way to do that is to clearly show the property's drawbacks to the BPO agent without turning off the potential buyer. And that requires a bit of finesse.
I ordinarily would never show a home that was a mess, even if it's a fixer. Oh, there was that one home with the pile of dead rats swept into a tidy little heap that I did shoot, but for the most part, I try to show the home in its best light. I don't always show a short sale in its best light. That's because I know it's possible the BPO agent might never go inside. They're gonna look at those MLS photos. If they do an interior inspection, well, they are not paid enough to do more than quickly sprint through the house.
The buyer is another story. I do want the buyer to feel enticed enough to want to go inside. I'm not trying to sell a home online. My purpose is to motivate the buyer to grab her agent and go view the home. I'm trying to get that buyer's foot in the door. It's a lot of work to study potential photographs from a buyer's point of view and also from a BPO agent's perspective. But if you want to sell a Sacramento short sale, that's precisely what you've gotta do. You've gotta walk that fine line.
Photo: Black Dragon Canyon, Utah, by Adam Weintraub, who is on his way home
---
Certified HAFA Specialist
My Sacramento Real Estate Listings
Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.
The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available at Amazon.com.
Lyon Real Estate is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.
Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.
The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.
Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice. It could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.
