After this last week of trying to help short sale sellers unload their upside-down properties, I’ve experienced a whole range of assistance. Or not.
1. Seller will not return four phone calls and two emails asking if they can do a $1000 cash contribution to dispose of a $150,000 mortgage. Not even an acknowledgment.
2. Seller will not upload info into Equator, after being under contract for four weeks
3. Seller finally faxes listing agreement and short sale documents to us sent to him six weeks ago.
4. Seller has not sent us the last two paystubs, after being under contract a month
5. Seller contacts us with a foreclosure sale date in five weeks, has never even listed the house
6. Seller, who is an attorney, finally faxes us listing paperwork one week before foreclosure. Too late.
And it goes on. In return, these sellers expect from their short sale listing agent:
1. Sell their house—quick!
2. Take care of all their lender requests
3. Call their lender and stay on hold for hours a day, every day
4. Repeatedly fax hundreds of documents on their behalf
5. Keep the buyers waiting for six months
6. Negotiate the best terms for a short sale approval
7. Call and email them to continually ask for cooperation
Sellers – if you are serious about doing a short sale instead of a foreclosure, be
prepared to do some work on your own behalf. Your work will include gathering all requested financial documents in a timely manner. (Timely manner means with a few days, not weeks. ) This will include gathering bank statements, pay stubs, profit and loss statements, tax returns and more. This may also include filling out your specific bank’s forms. You may have to do this multiple times.
Consider paying $1000 or more on your own behalf to dispose of $100,000 or more debt. Consider paying a promissory note of $5000 over several years at no interest, to do the same. Be honest. Roll up your sleeves. Return your real estate agent’s phone calls. Participate. Avoid foreclosure. Get your short sale approved.
It may not be convenient, but it’s your credit, and your financial future. Take responsibility for it.
It's Wendy! Wendy Rulnick, Broker, Rulnick Realty, Inc. Call toll-free 1-877-ITS-WNDY (1-877-487-9639) or local 850-650-7883 ext 204 Email Wendy: itswendy@rulnickrealty.com Destin Short Sales & Pre Foreclosure Help. www.ShortSaleSuperstars.com for agents. Wendy is a short sale and pre-foreclosure specialist and has been featured in "Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine" and "Florida Realtor Magazine". Call Wendy Rulnick, Broker/Owner,to list and sell your home or condo on the Emerald Coast of Florida in Walton, Okaloosa and Santa Rosa County- Destin, Santa Rosa Beach, Fort Walton Beach, Niceville, Bluewater Bay, Navarre, Seagrove Beach, Watercolor, Sandestin, Seaside, Crestview, Rosemary Beach, Mary Esther, Shalimar, Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field.
Wendy, I learned the hard way to NEVER list the home UNTIL I have EVERYTHING.
Not wasting my time. So far it has worked.
Wendy - I couldn't agree more! A willing seller is such an instrumental part of the short sale process.
Wendy, Our job is to live up to clients expectations, their job is to complete our requirements...It is always tough when we perform our tasks better than our clients.
Wendy ~ I have had a little trouble myself, trying to get one of my sellers to respond to Equator's request for an email address and password. Frustrating!
Hey Wendy,
Maybe their spirit is just gone at some point, who knows. Nice blog!
Hi Wendy... Sucessfully completing Short Sales is most definitely a team sport! Great post!
Wendy!
You are right on point! This was a perfect post!
Wendy
Wendy,
Educating client up front and setting the expectation is the key. After first meeting you would pretty much have a good feeling if seller is on cooperating site.
Good info.
Boy did you hit the nail on the head with this blog. I learned the hard way but I learned quickly when it comes to homeowners participating. I now have no problem walking away from the potential listing
Good job on this post -- you hit it on the head.
Hi Wendy,
Te team lechture is the most important part of the shot salse listing presentation. Size up two things, "Is this a real hardship sitaution", and does the person understand the rewards enough to play on the team. The Together Everyone Achieves More" accronim is brought up oftet in my Fort Lauderdale Short Sale presentation. The list of needs is sent to them one week before the meeting, a reminder is sent the night prior. "Before we go over the whole process we go over the checklist. If antyhing is missing we cut the presentation short, As a busy Fort Lauderdale RealEstate Team I take all the paperwork and make copies, and reset one more appointment. With the Team Reminder, if that appointment arrives and they are not on time and ready, I thank them for interest in my services and wish them the best of luck with their home. I assure you I wll work so hard at getting their shot sale approved, I simply can't get the energy together for someone who is not willing to partcipate.
Great Post Wendy - I almost thought of letting my clients enter into Equator themselves but then decided it committed me too far to the process whiie I still wanted to be able to say no. I do not live and die by short sales. I am real good at them, but do have two addtional qaulifications, I do not take them under a certain price point ( we should each establish this based on our own business ). Qualification #2 is that Really nice people and true hardship sitautions allow us make exceptions to all our rules:) becaue we think they deserve our help.
FYI - 2009 #1 Agent in the Fort Lauderdale Office
2010 - #1 First Quarter
As long as short sales stay on the scene we will be here to help Fort Lauderdale area short sellers.
Thanks again for the post it help to know we are not the only one who fight for participation in the pprocess.
The content of this post is great...and spot on. But what I really like is the graphic.
What a nightmare! Sounds like the owner wasn't very motivated in avoiding foreclosure. You did your best & I hope the next one will be more cooperating!
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AMEN!!!!!! Boy when my partner read this he will smile.... I don't know why it is so hard for people to wake up in the morning and just do what they are supposed to do....
It is hard to imagine that people don't want to help themselves..but when that happens...you realize that as much as you know it's good for them...they have to know and do and get done...or the foreclosure runs them over.
Wendy, doesn't it just want to make you tear your hair out. I want to thank you for this post. I now realize it's not only my clients that act like this.
But people think we make too much money!!??!!
It really is just seller motivation. The seller will be involved in the process if they want a deal!
Wendy, I don't want to list the property on the market unless seller has everything the bank needs for the short sale package. Good post hope your sellers & many other sellers like yours read this post.
I guess I have been lucky so far! All of my sellers are eager as heck to do what they need to.
Until your homework is done, I can not help you and we can not move on to the next phase of the process. - a script that works.
A short sale seller is a bit more beholden to their agent than a regular seller. I have no problems urging my short sale sellers to be prompt. In fact, I have no problems badgering them if necessary! A short sale is a unique animal. A times I feel I have to drag the seller kicking and screaming to the finish line, but that's what short sales take!
Wendy would have to say treat a short sale seller like any other client if they are not accommodating in the process. In my case, there is only so much effort I would put forth with a client who is not an active participant or lacks cooperation.
Steve Lloynd - You summed it up with that comment.
Robert Earl - Another possibility might be to put it in the purchase and sale agreement - "Contract is terminated should seller not respond to bank request in x days"....
I've been working with a potential new client on a upcoming short sale listing They have a hard time understanding why I won't list the house until I have all of the documentation in hand before I'll put the house on the market. You summed it up well. If I don't have the documentation when we start what is going to happen when I have an offer and can't send the package to the lender for weeks while I wait for you to get it together? No either have your ducks in a row up front or I'm going to pass on listing your home.
I am uploading everything myself onto Equator. If you don't do it, it aint gonna happen.
In other words, help me help you. Proactive sellers get far better results. Ironic, isn't it, that if we don't follow up like a champion we get raked over the coals.
Thank you for this posting. I thought it was just me. One of my sellers had a trustee sale yesterday after being repeatedly reminded and hounded to return his income docs. He finally returned everything the day of the sale and then acted suprised when the sale was not postponed.
Just be careful what you do "on behalf" of your seller. There are A LOT of lines being drawn in the sand right now about what agents can and CANNOT do in the short sale process.
I AM NOT A SHORT SALE EXPERT!
My favorite was the seller that called me a couple days after his foreclosure sale to finally list his home as a short sale.
This post is so right on. Thanks for taking the time to put it together.
Some have said that they do not take the listing until they have ALL the necessary paperwork for the SS package. Others objected because, depending on when an offer is ratified and ready to send to the bank, the bank statements, paystubs etc may have expired. I agree that the paperwork may have to be replaced, but having them do it upfront educates them on what to do, so if it has to be updated they have done it before and know what to do.
Just my thoughts!!
Wendy - There's so much truth in this post. It's important that the seller participate as you can't get the short sale done without their cooperation.
Count me in as one of those who doesn't take the listing without the required short sale package at my disposal. I generally bring along my laptop and mobile scanner, so while I'm talking with the clients, I am scanning their short sale package to my desktop. If they aren't motivated enough to give me all the required documentation upfront, they're not motivated enough to do a short sale and I don't take the listing.
I also have that "talk" upfront about a seller contribution. I explain I try to avoid it but it could come up. If they aren't open to it and flexible, then I don't list the short sale. Nine times out of 10, they won't have to pay anything, but if they do, I'm not about to spend 6 months of my life going through short sale hell for a person who won't cooperate. Every once in a while I get a seller who changes his or her mind about contributing, even though they say they will at inception, but that doesn't happen very often, thank goodness.
Wendy, I typically divorce sellers that are unwilling to cooperate and try to get the house sold.
That's for sure! The seller has to participate and help himself! You are the facilitator not the sellers babysitter. I reblogged a post recently about the sellers state of mind in this process and their lack of function. It's a sad story, every story, but they have to help you, help them.
Hey Wendy!! Great Post!! Sellers need to sleep with this blog post under their pillow, have a copy on their desk at work and one in their car!! It is so imporant to establish level of expectation on the front end!!
Wendy - Isn't it amazing how many problems could be solved if people just got out of their own way.
Good for you telling it like it is!
Wendy: I just taught a workshop on Wednesday where I discussed only taking listings for sellers that actually want to participate in a short sales. I actually reviewed the clues that the seller is not on board (no paperwork prepared, not returning phone calls, etc) I love your blogs, but know that you are preaching to my choir. The sellers that need to read this probably are not! (Such a shame, huh?)
Wendy I'm with Missy. Get all paperwork at time of listing. I know you'll have to update but in my opinion it helps to gauge the sellers motivation. Not only do I get all docs upfront but I ask them to send statements to me as they get new ones. That way my file is fresh and ready to go at any time.
But I do agree about sellers calling 5 days before foreclosure expecting us to be bale to help them. We're brokers/ Not miracle workers.
It sounds like you have bveen very busy. Good for you.
Wendy....I too stumble on sellers who are somewhat disconnected from reality. In addition to selling it quickly I love it when they ask me if I've been able to "stop" the foreclosure process or when I'm told to "make sure" that there's no deficiency at the end. They immediately are brought down to reality!!
Wendy,
It can be very frustrating because short sellers are already under a lot of stress and generally don't know much about the process. Extensive communication with them can predictably bring some decent results.
Wendy, your post highlights why it is so important to do your best to pre-qualify the homeowner as well as the property before taking the listing. Can they mentally deal with the process, are they willing to fill out the necessary paperwork, will they keep the home in showing condition and make it available to show, etc... Sadly you can't help everyone, and you can't always tell upfront who will make your job impossible. My hats off to all who do their best to help who they can in these situations.
Great post, I will re-blog, thank you.
Wendy, I work tirelessly for my sellers, including short sales. If they do not cooperate I use the Buffini phrase "bye, bye now." ;)
Wendy - I love co-operating sellers. But when you are faced with something like this, it is time to withdraw the listing and move on. We try to be miracle workers and help in any way we possibly can, but if the seller is not co-operating it is time to say, "You're fired"!
I always give a list of the needed documentation that needs to be handed over at the time of meeting the homeowners. Homeowners need to know what is expected of them and that for the short sale to be successful they need to fulfill their part. As I know that I will work as hard as I can to get an accepted offer for them. I also inform them of the work that is necessary for me to do, just so there is an understanding.
The sad thing is when you have a seller that fully cooporates, but the bank doesn't. If you had any deals with BofA you know what I mean.