Short Sale Tips for Real Estate Agents and Sellers

Mark Stark, CEO of Prudential Americana Group Realtors in Las Vegas has just posted some excellent tips and strategies for short sales.  This post is a summary of the major points he covered at a recent seminar attended by over 120 people in Las Vegas (consumers and real estate agents alike).

Mark includes valuable information geared to the consumer about:

• Why consider a short sale?
• The decision-making process and mindset of the seller
• Positioning yourself for the future
• Options and Solutions

More articles on REO, Short Sales, Foreclosures

Here are links to more great blog resources on short sales, REOs and foreclosures from the legal blog of Prudential Americana Group's in-house attorney, Darren Welsh:

REOs:

http://ameglegal.wordpress.com/2007/11/09/tgif-legal-tip-resale-packages-for-nevada-reo-sales/

Foreclosures:

http://ameglegal.wordpress.com/2007/04/27/tgif-legal-tip-foreclosuredeficiency/

Short Sales:

Listing Agent Perspective: http://ameglegal.wordpress.com/2008/02/08/tgif-short-sales-from-the-listing-agents-perspective/

Seller's Perspective:  http://ameglegal.wordpress.com/2007/05/04/tgif-legal-tip-short-sale-seller-perspective/#more-40

Mortgage Debt Relief for Foreclosures and Short Sales:  http://ameglegal.wordpress.com/2007/12/21/tgif-legal-tip-mortgage-debt-relief-for-foreclosures-short-sales/

Comments

[julie]

great information, thank you. As an agent these days, doing short sales is alot of work.

http://www.agentbrokerforum.com

[Steven Kitnick]

Is it in your client's best interest to open escrow immediately following an accepted offer that is contingent upon the Seller's lienholders approval to the Seller's satisfaction? If not, try this Short Sale Contract Clause - "Upon Seller receiving written notification of their lienholder(s) approval of the short sale to the Seller's satisfaction, Seller or their authorized agent shall provide Buyer or Buyer's authorized agent written notification of said approval within ___ business day(s). Escrow shall then be opened within ____ business day(s) upon Buyer or Buyer's authorized agent receiving said notice."

[Steven Kitnick]

An unqualified Buyer, in any transaction or market, should never be permitted to tie up a Seller's property. This maxim has never been more true! Experts agree, in most cases, the Seller and the Seller's agent should not believe the Buyer, the Buyer's agent, or the Buyer's lender/mortgage broker as to the loan qualification of a prospective Buyer/Borrower. The Seller, the Seller's lender/mortgage broker, and their agent, should qualify the prospective Buyer/Borrower themselves. Consider the following contract clause in a potential short sale or any sale! "Within ___ business days from acceptance of this offer, Buyer or Buyer's authorized agent shall provide Seller, Seller's lender/mortgage broker, or Seller's authorized agent with a written letter from Buyer's lender/mortgage broker stating that based upon a loan application and credit report, that the Buyer is pre-approved for the loan outlined in this Agreement. Buyer or Buyer's authorized agent shall also provide the Seller, Seller's lender/mortgage broker or Seller's authorized agent with written and verifiable documentation showing that the Buyer has the necessary funds to close escrow. Within ___ business days from Seller, Seller's lender/mortgage broker, or Seller's authorized agent receipt of Buyer's financial and credit information stated herein, the Seller, at Seller's sole discretion, may terminate this Agreement if in the Seller's opinion the Buyer does not have the creditworthiness to qualify for a loan from a third party. In that event, Buyer's Earnest Money Deposit, if any, shall be returned to the Buyer."