The Short Sale Myth
Lenders don’t care about accepting a short sale and would rather foreclose than accept.
Due to the fact tat most agents nationwide only close 10% of their short sales, this myth has spread like wildfire. Now let us be fair and explain why most agents fail 90% of the time; they simply don’t know what they are up against, who to talk to, what to submit to the lender or how/when to follow up on the short sale.
We’ll be the first to admit that short sales nationwide have a low success ratio due to ignorance or apathy. If you were able to login to the local MLS and pull a report, you’ll notice that of all the active listings, 20-30% are short sales and, of all those short sale listings, about 10-15% will eventually close.
Let’s not forget, that has nothing to do with short sales themselves or the banks willingness to accept short sales, but rather it is because the agents handling the short sales are going about it the wrong way and don’t know how to negotiate a short sale properly.
Today’s real estate market is in a downward cycle. If we were back in 2003 and the market was still going up, then more lenders would probably think it would make sense to wait to foreclose, take the property back as an REO, and resell it.
Even in 2003, a bank never really wanted to foreclose. In that time, however they could foreclose in most any part of the country knowing that they would recover most, if not all of the late payments, principal balance and costs to foreclose and sell the REO within 60 days since the market was strong and appreciating.
In today’s market, lenders don’t want to hold on to anything. Know this, it is the philosophy of any major lender that "first loss is best loss".
The problem is this philosophy does not always make it down to the trenches where you and your agent deal with the low-level loss mitigators.
When your agent tells you that the mitigator said they are going to foreclose, even though you have a great offer, you should know that they are talking to an hourly employee, or someone who just doesn’t understand what is best for the bank.
In these cases it is often necessary to Escalate in order to talk to someone who understands the upper managements philosophy.
To connect with an agent who understands the banks upper management’s philosophy and communication styles, connect with 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.
