I remember the good old days -- like a couple of years ago -- when having 10 listings meant I was doing pretty well in real estate. Now I have 40 listings. And I tend to obsess over each and every one of them, too. You'd think that's a lot of information to carry around in your head, but it's not. What I find interesting is 80% of those listings are short sales. There are agents running around Sacramento who wouldn't touch a short sale listing with a 10-foot pole. And there are other agents who are mesmerized by them, walking around like zombies with their arms outstretched and mumbling, Oooooo, short sales, where can I go to a seminar to learn about short sales?
I didn't have a plan to specialize in Sacramento short sales. Back in August of 2005, when the phones stopped ringing, I looked around at what was happening and thought to myself, what's next? Prices are falling. What's going to happen to those people who bought a home with 100% financing when it's time to sell? The answer was short sales. I like to be on top of the curve, so I called an agent I knew who had handled a few short sales and asked if over the years anything had changed. After all, I've been in this business since the 1970s. Far out, what's your bag, man?
So, I wrote an article about how to do a short sale for About.com. It jumped to the top of Google. Now, almost 5 years later, Wikipedia slipped in front of me, so my article dropped to rank at #2. Since then, I've written a bunch of articles about short sales. I've also closed a bunch of short sales. A publisher called a few years ago to ask if I would like to write a book about short sales. I told him: Nope; I've said everything I have to say about short sales and there is nothing left to talk about.
Well, I was wrong; I wrote the book. There was and is a lot to talk about. And there's more every day. I look at The Short Sale Savior and what I see is the tip of the iceberg. It's a good starting point and the information is still relevant, but there's so much more to successfully closing a short sale. For me, it's where experience in real estate pays off. Because if an agent can't sell a regular listing, the agent certainly can't sell a short sale. It's going a few steps beyond where other agents tread.
Here is a partial list of what Sacramento short sale sellers need from an agent:
- An explanation of the short sale process
- A network of short sale resources, including legal and tax experts
- History of the seller's bank's response from other short sale negotiations
- Analyzation of the seller's financial situation
- An example of a successful hardship letter
- The bank's short sale package
- Estimated time line to closing
- Criterion for selecting the right buyer who will wait for short sale approval
- Ways to anticipate pitfalls and having systems in place to avoid bank rejection of the short sale
- Ability to price the short sale correctly
- Experience dealing with title and escrow problems
- Home staging assistance
- Virtual tour and professional photography skills, including Photoshop software
- A strong online presence and listing distribution system
- An ability to read people, including mastering the fine art of offer negotiation
Agents don't get that from a seminar. Agents get it from closing short sales. They pay the price. The learning curve is a steep price, don't let anybody fool ya. Ask any Sacramento short sale agent. But it pays off. Here, I'll give you an example. Last week, as I walked through a seller's home in Elk Grove, I noticed the windows looked fairly new and asked when they were installed. Oh, the sellers put in dual pane a year ago. Aha. Did the sellers happen to finance those dual pane windows through SMUD? Well, yes, they did.
Uh, oh. SMUD records a lien as evidence for the debt as a UCC filing. Most sellers are completely unaware. This means the SMUD lien will follow the seller wherever the seller goes. It also means it will survive foreclosure. It takes priority over existing mortgages and the first lender will not pay it off. It also takes a while to get the reconveyance, which can hold up closing if you deal with it at the last minute. If closing is held up, it means going back to the banks and obtaining extensions for closing, which an agent may or may not receive. The time to deal with this is now.
Photo: Big Stock Photo
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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 Sacramento. 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 through bookstores everywhere and at Amazon.com.
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.
This is good information. There is a lot that agents don't get at seminars that they need to know to help them and their clients get through and have success. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing and I always learn something new from your posts. (I had to google SMUD...I didn't realize the impact that program had on sellers!)
Learning by experience is the key. No class can prepare you for what you'll face. Every short sale is different, just like every regular listing.
...and yet I had a guy call me recently to ask if he could keep his current listing agent while I negotiated the short sale.
This is really great information. First congrats on your book. There are so many things that are hidden in various scenarios and the seller feels that once done with the short sale they are free and clear. Not so...I personally have had many experiences with short sales but never have I had any hiccups in the process. I have been LUCKY. :)
I have not heard of SMUD before. Sounds like a mechanics lien. In Florida any tradesman doing work on your property can file a lien. It takes the first position over every other lien. We had a huge issue with these after the hurricanes of "04. Roofing companies swarmed down on my area and were placing liens on properties as soon as they gave an ESTIMATE for work to be done!! These companies ended up going out of business but the mechanic's liens survived. They are a pain in the rear to get removed.
Hi Elizabeth... You ARE Short Sales in Sacramento as far as I am concerned. You have demonstrated time and again that you know your stuff and know it well. Anyone who is looking to sell as a short sale in Sacramento would be crazy not to use you as their agent.
Elizabeth - You were ahead of the curve and clients will benefit from your expertise. As I always mention each and every short sale is a different animal and needs to be handled by experienced agents you understand the process and represent their client well during a very trying time. ~ Doug
Did I hear sequel to your book in that blog? I'll buy it. One of my agents just listed another short sale listing.
No, no, no, I am not writing a sequel, Tammy. :) But I am blabbing about short sales in my blog. That's about all I have time for these days.
40 lisitngs? WOW! Do you negotiate your short sales too?
Hi Debbie: I negotiate some of my short sales personally, believe it or not. Others might be handled by a law firm or an associate. It all depends on the lender and the set of circumstances as each is different. I do whatever is best for the client.