Banks Giving Agents Short Sale Leads!?

        Yesterday I read an article at floridarealtors.org entitled “Banks Giving agents short sale leads”. When I read I thought to myself “WOW… This is great news!”

        It means banks are starting to realize that short sales are a win win situation for everyone. The lenders contact the borrowers first and then pass on information of those willing to cooperate in a short sale to local real estate professionals. They are actually providing brokers with pre-screened “warm leads” for short sales! I don’t know about you but I think this is great news. What could be a better referral source than the short sale lender itself? Also, when you contact that seller and tell them that their lender recommended you to help them out, do you think that you’ll get that deal?... If you don’t, then you’re in the wrong business. I don’t know how they go about choosing which agent to send the lead to but I’m pretty sure that agents with the best track record in closing short sales for them would be at the top of the list. I know that’s how I would choose.

       Lenders are doing this in order boost the number of successful workouts and it’s working… Banks that are participating in this have reported a twenty percent increase in short sale closings. Although the article didn’t mention what banks are doing this, I really hope that this becomes a growing trend in our industry. How do I get them to send me some leads? You may be asking. Well... It couldn’t hurt to ask the negotiators that you are currently working with especially if you've already closed a few with them. We’ve actually received several REO listings just by creating some rapport with the negotiator and asking questions.

       At the end of the day, we’re not working with big banks we’re just working with regular people that work inside of big buildings and the stronger the relationship that you can build with them, the better off you’ll be.

Designations are no Substitute for Experience

      Just because someone has Short Sale designations and endorsements it doesn’t mean that they are experts. I believe that experience makes you an expert. It doesn’t matter how many designations or how many short sale classes someone takes. Having a designation means that at least that agent knows how to put together a short sale package to send to the lender. They sat through a class or a webinar and learned how to put together a short sale package. I mean let’s face it… It’s not rocket science!

      It’s important to know that none of these designations require experience. That's where the problem is. An agent can have numerous Short Sale designations and market themselves as: "expert", "specialist", "professional", "genius", "certified", "consultant" and so forth. When the reality is they have never listed and closed on one successful Short Sale. This is very misleading for people.

       My designation is real life experience. I don't have any Short Sale designations or endorsements. At the same time I coach agents on how to do successful short sales all of the time. For me short sales were never difficult. They are just a process. It didn’t take me very long to figure out what was included in a short sale package to the lender. All I did was ask them. From there short sales involve negotiating and I’ve been a negotiator most of my life. I even have to negotiate with my own kids on a daily basis! A deal is a deal is a deal.

      As far as ever changing rules, regs and laws. You stay on top of these by being in the Short Sale business, listening, asking questions and researching. A designation class may get you started but it certainly won't make you an expert. Only experience will do that. Even after negotiating over 400 successful short sales I still don’t consider myself an expert. Even though that’s what it says on my business card.

     I’m constantly updating my website with testimonials from real clients as well as proof of everything else we’re doing. Once I send a potential client to my website they’re able to see what we’ve done and what we’re about through testimonials, videos, press releases, blogs, etc. So if you are looking to hire a Short Sale company or agent, don't ask for their designations. Instead ask to see proof of their track record.

Short Sale Processing fees… Illegal or not illegal?

        There is a tremendous amount of buzz around whether it’s legal or not to charge an upfront processing fee to do someone’s short sale for them. My understanding is that the only people that are allowed to charge upfront fees to do a short sale or a loan modification are attorneys. That’s why I’ve developed a great relationship with my real estate attorney. As a matter of fact I made him a partner on everything that I do with him. Although I personally don’t charge an upfront fee to my clients for my services, I make sure to charge the short sale lender a significant processing fee payable to my attorney on the HUD [everytime]. I found out that once the bank sees the words “law firm” attached to that fee, they never argue. If you can’t beat them then why not find a way to join them. Unfortunately, because of all the bad press that’s been going around about real estate investors, agents, etc. in the past couple of years… when it comes to short sales, more and more people are turning to attorneys to get the job done. If you’re wondering why sellers aren’t responding to your marketing pieces like they used to…now you know. 

        Let’s face it, those of us that do short sales for a living are facing more challenges than ever before. Especially with all these Bankruptcy attorneys and their “free consultations”. Once people step into that big fancy office… it’s over! They start talking to sellers about deficiency judgments, tax repercussions, promissory notes, etc.

BK attorneys won’t mention the fact that all those things can be eliminated through negotiating with the lender.  Also, I’m sure that they leave out the bad stuff about doing a BK like your credit being toast for 7 to 10 years. Oh, and what about how you can do a bankruptcy on the day before the sale after you’ve exhausted all other options?! Nope, they don’t tell them that either.

        So I’ll say it again, if you can’t beat them then find a way to join them. If you’re a real estate professional, you probably know several real estate attorneys that may or may not be happy with their short sale processing company. Ask… you never know until you ask the question. That’s what I did and once I proved to them that I can deliver on my promises, they started sending me files.

        By the way, If you happen to be a real estate attorney in Central Florida with more short sales than you know what to do with or if you’re not happy with your current processors…contact me so we can talk. I have a full service staff of expert negotiators who know the short sale business inside and out. Just turn the file over to us and we’ll take it from there. Starting with putting together the package complete with listing agreement, submitting it to the bank, negotiating and following up with the bank, meeting the BPO agent, getting the approval letter and then finding the end buyer and delivering to you the complete package so you can close it. We do it all and we do it well.

407-855-4940