I once put a hole in my eardrum by diving into a pool too quickly. So much for SCUBA lessons when I was younger. Never even made it into the ocean. Nope, I managed to mess up in 8 feet of water. That's what happens when you don't equalize -- which made me a little bit concerned about diving 100 feet to the ocean floor in a submarine. I wasn't sure how my eardrum would react. Turns out, though, that was not a problem at all.
There were other things to think about. Like, once they closed the hatch and the submarine began to submerge, there was no way to get out. Not only was there no way out, but what if a small leak happened and it quickly mushroomed into a flood, filling the room with water -- like Sigourney Weaver in Alien -- and I drowned? Or what if a tsunami hit Hawaii, like the one from last March, and spun the sub like a toy, eventually smashing it into the coral reef?
A normal person who was not a Sacramento short sale agent would have sat in the 48-person submarine and quietly looked at fish through the glass window. But not me. I know horror intimately. I close short sales. My imagination kicked into overdrive. Soon as I realized it was happening, I stopped those thoughts from continuing. My stomach immediately calmed. My fingers unclenched. I acquiesced to the circumstances at hand. There are worse ways to kick the bucket; I concluded, I was not going to die in a submarine.
But that episode reminded me of how some of my clients react. I don't blame them. I sent each client who is closing this week a long list that explains each procedure that leads to a successful closing in a short sale. I didn't want them to worry that their files would not close with me on vacation in Hawaii. One of them worried anyway. He emailed a member of my team, asking how was it possible to close on time when we were scheduled to close in 5 days and he hadn't yet signed docs. It sounded like he was freaking out.
Sometimes I explain too much, I suspect. I realize to a person outside of the short sale process, it can appear as though it's impossible to close. However, much of the action happens in the last 2 to 3 days, and it happens quickly. We have some files that fund and record on the same day. Once the short sale HUD is approved in California, closing escrow is dependant on the buyer's lender.
I reassured the seller that we will close on time. In fact, we're closing a day early. I hope he feels better. What made me feel better was learning that our submarine, at a 100-foot depth, can ascend to the top in less than 40 seconds.
Photos by Elizabeth Weintraub and Adam Weintraub
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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.
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The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.
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Great analogy and pics too, short sales can be real nightmares and when they are over I wish I never had to do another, but...
Looks like we all need to get to grips with the fact that Short Sales are going to be around for quite some time to come. Thanks for yet another great Blog. Happy NY to you and yours..
That's me going down the hatch. The evil thoughts did not begin until I was down below.
I think nightmares are just part of the package. It's a fine line to walk at times -- to try to get the seller the most solid buyer possible while not alienating or losing a buyer for the seller. A good buyer is essential because a good buyer can prevent many nightmares for sellers, and a bad buyer can cause nightmares.