The Short Sale Myth
All agents are trained to properly sell and negotiate short sales
This is probably the biggest myth of them all. It blows my mind the reasons I have been given by sellers when asked why they hired a particular agent. Many times it’s something like, "They’ve lived in my neighborhood forever", "They seem to be real nice", and my favorite, "They remind me of my grandpa". None of which establish any kind of experience in dealing with your specific situation.
Yet on the other hand, as a home seller, if you lined up a hundred agents and asked if they do short sales, 99% of them would respond absolutely yes even though they don’t have a clue. Why would they respond that way? Simple, it’s because they have to since Short Sales are such a big part of the marketplace right now.
Yet when you take it one step further and ask how many successful short sales they closed in the last 12 months most of them (being truthful) would have to respond between 0 and 3. And if you take it it even further and asked what percentage of all the listings they have taken actually resulted in a successful short sale closing you would find that number to be only 10 to 15 percent.
Let’s clarify. In 12 months an agent takes 20 short sale listings and successfully closes only 15 percent, that is only 3 closed. What about the other 17 listings. Unfortunately the mentality is that those 17 listings are just casualties of war. Most agents believe that they have to list more properties in order to sell and get paid on just a few.
We also hear all the time that home sellers say, "Well, the agent sounded like they knew what they were talking about." And I’m sure they did. Agents are being invited all the time to attend seminars and other functions where elements of the Short Sale process are discussed. Attend enough of these seminars and anyone can sound like an expert. It’s when action is required is where they usually fall apart. Most agents often don’t know proper paperwork handling, who to talk to and they believe everything the bank tells them.
You can connect today with an agent who has experience in closing short sales, who knows who to talk to and doesn’t fall for the banks tricks significantly increasing your odds of a successful short sale. Contact us at OCForeclosureOptions.com and we’ll connect you with an agent in your area with the right amount of knowledge, the right amount of experience and the right tools to get your short sale closed the right way.
