A prospective short sale seller told me yesterday that everywhere she goes online to read about short sales, she finds this Sacramento short sale agent. She asked if I was too busy to work with her. Then she answered her own question. She said, "Well, you've been talking to me for 45 minutes, so I guess you have time."
The thing is I make time. I weave it out of thin air. Not really. But I am selective as to which short sales I accept. I prefer to list those that will close. Call me silly, but that approach seems to make the most sense. It's good for the sellers, and it's good for me.
I closed a couple more short sales yesterday and immediately replaced them with new listings. I find if I can maintain about 50 or 60 listings at any given time in inventory, that's a very manageable number. If my inventory falls below that number, well, I have more time to screw off. Besides, I enjoy wonderful support. I really lucked out with my team members, transaction coordinator, mortgage broker and escrow / title team. They are tops in the field.
Part of the reason I can handle such volume is because I am very organized. I used to be an escrow officer in the 1970s -- back in the days of typewriters and carbon paper -- and I handled a caseload of 60 files then. Imagine how easy 2011 is for me.
I am NOT too busy to handle your Sacramento short sale.
Although, I did have to cancel a short sale listing yesterday. The seller filed for bankruptcy after listing that short sale with me. Fortunately, we did not yet have an offer. Most buyers do not want to wait through a bankruptcy, and a bank won't approve a short sale while a BK is pending. But if a seller is leaning toward bankruptcy, it makes more sense to do it before the short sale is approved. Otherwise, a seller's liabilities might not exceed one's assets.
In this particular case, the seller and I had discussed lowering the list price. I sent a modification to adjust the price to that of the last sold comparable. At that point, the seller thought it was a good idea to try to renegotiate the commission the seller had already agreed to pay. The commission that is paid from the proceeds of sale -- it doesn't come out of the seller's pocket, and it is not an abnormal or unusual commission. The seller also decided that, from 10 states away, the seller knew more about the market value in that neighborhood than I.
There's a place somewhere for these kinds of people, but it's not in my inventory. In my inventory are short sales that have an excellent chance of closing. I don't argue losing battles. I gave that up a long time ago. It's probably what makes me a good Sacramento short sale agent today. Focus.
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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.
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Hi Elizabeth, I know from watching closers in the carbon paper and typewriter days that 60 files was a ton -- excellent training for being organized and focused!
My life back then was sort of a blur, Mary. I recall being on the phone, pretty much from 8 AM to 5 PM. I got my work done after 5 PM.