Sacramento Expert Short Sale Real Estate Agent

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There are many issues that some agents take into consideration when obtaining or doing Short Sales. One of them is that some agents have never done them so they dont know how to. This comes with changing times in the economy and agents now have to take listings anyway they can. Some agents refuse to do them at all and this includes showing short sales to buyers because of the length of time and effort that goes into them.

This is an example of what I have seen in this market with other agents and the handling of Short Sales.

• I personally have learned to handle them myself because I want to know everything about the discussions with the lien holders. I want to be involved to the point that I know everything is getting done exactly to their demand.  I have learned how to communicate with the banks and know exactly what they require upfront so that when the package and offer is submitted to them it is complete.  This makes the transaction push through the banks hands more efficiently.

• Now do not get me wrong on this point, but there are companies out there that offer a service at a price to handle the paperwork and to do the negotiations with the banks for agents, in order to free them up giving them more time to handle more business.  But sometimes you need to be careful with these companies as they charge a price for this service to the Listing Agent at 20% - 30% of their commission.  I hope that the agents do their clients a good service when choosing these companies, and I can only speak from my own experience on this matter.

When I started doing Short Sales I decided to outsource to a company claiming that they had a 99% acceptance rate with negotiations with the banks.  They made me sign an agreement to to pay them 25% of my commission upon the completion of the transaction.  I decided at this point allow this and provided them with the whole package reequired by the bank to them.  After I had tried to contact them after the offer was submitted to them, they would just state that they were in process of working with the bank.  This went on for months.  Sometimes I could not get a phone call back from them with any updates on my file.  Other times they would say that they were doing all they could and the bank was not cooperating with them.  I told them that I wanted more information as to what the bank (lien holder) was really wanting and that I had concerns as the foreclosure process had already been started on this home.  Needless to say, they did nothing on this file. The home ended up going to foreclosure and I had lost the listing.  The bank ended up getting less than the offer I had submitted at the beginning.

• Now there are other independent people out there that are not even agents doing these negotiations for agents also.  They do not have a license and really do not know real estate at all.  They learn also as they go.  Here is the difference. Again from my own experience of seeing this happen first hand.  It is somewhat similar the the loan modification scams that were and still are going on out there.  Seller Beware.  These independent people would sent out flyer’s offering to help you on a short sale and you would call in and make an appointment to talk with them.  When you get to the appointment to meet with them they also have a Real Estate Agent there to discuss what it is they are offering you.  This independent person states that they charge a fee to YOU the Seller for this service that is to be paid UPFRONT and NON REFUNDABLE for them to handle the paperwork and work with the banks for you.  This money would be about $1500.00 out of your pocket and the agent there would list your home as the short sale. This independent person would then work the paperwork through because they were also working for the agent that listed the property and the agent would also give them money upon the sale of the property.  I believe this is illegal from the agents standpoint as an under the table kickback.

I am not saying that agents do not work well with outsourcing to legitimate companies specializing in working these files, I am  just saying that I myself rather work harder for the seller that is in trouble and needs to sell the home, than to pay someone else to do it for me and not know what is going on.  This is my decision only as I feel I am giving my seller the best possible service I can provide.  Make your decisions to sell your home as a short sale based on what is offered to you by the agent to ensure that everything will be carried out the way that will benefit you.

If I can be any kind of kind of assistance to you by answering any questions, please  feel free to contact me at anytime.

Terri Wisecarver

REALTOR

Sacramento Real Estate

REALTOR

Well this was one of the easiest short sale yet.  Nice and smooth.  The buyers staying in the game, the bank was easy to work with, seller wanting to close and agents great to work with. This home was located in desired area in Sacramento, Ca.

I was the Short Sale Negotiator for a broker friend of mine on this one. I do this for him as a side job. I worked the file until acceptance, needed an extra 2 day extension on closing, emailed the bank and poof there was the extension.  Done deal.  Happy Buyers, Agents and of course Seller.

On my previous blog about my short sale listing, I received 3 offers in 2 days. I already submitted to the bank the whole package and asked the other 2 agents if they wanted to remain in back up position. Of course they said yes!!

The bank called me on Saturday ( 4 days after submission) to tell me they received the whole package and needed nothing else at this time.  They have already ordered the BPO and assigned a workout specialist to the file. I have heard that this bank is moving faster than they did a year ago, but this is really fast. Awesome is the word. This will really boost Short Sales in the market if the banks can all move this fast. Maybe buyers and their agents will not be so afraid to look at short sale homes.

If you need any help with doing a Short Sale, in Sacramento, Placer, or El Dorado County, please contact me. I am eager to help you in any way possible.

Terri Wisecarver

REALTOR/Short Sales

Well I have to say that in over the last year I have learned a bunch in regards to short sales by trial and error.  That said, it seems to be getting easier to get them accepted if  everyone in the transaction is fully educated and willing to do their part.

I have been doing short sales in Sacramento on my own as well as handling them for 2 other REALTORS at the same time for quite some time.  There are others that say they would not touch a short sale as far as showing them or listing them. Why is the question I would ask!  My last buyer I was working with looked at so many homes and then decided to look at a short sale listing.  They fell in love with the home and it had all 5 things that they were looking for in a home.  The other homes they would of settled for but why?  Holding out for what you really want should be the way to go.  Whom would settle for less?  After months it was finally accepted and they are so happy.

The banks are starting to get easier to work with, faster in turn around times, and better communication.  This of course is from my experience with them.  I have had nightmare’s on some don’t get me wrong but walking away from helping buyers or sellers is also not the way to go. 

I believe that agents should change with the times and care a bit more about their clients and not the money they will make.  Change is good for all people in one way or another. It just takes time to see the good.

I received an acceptance on a short sale I was working on for another REALTOR last Monday to find out the buyer had walked.  The listing agent changed the status in the MLS and here came the next offer.  I submitted the new offer thinking it would take another 2 couples to get another acceptance and to much surprise I had the acceptance by Thursday of the same week.

I ended up listing 2 homes over the weekend with one of them being a Short Sale.  Now no one is to say that anything is easy but how do you grow and learn if you do not try.

I offer my services to work  short sales for other agents at no charge up front and work them until the end.  There are a lot of companies that offer the same service for a non-refundable fee upfront.  Do you really know if they are working your deal?  I offer the best service (to agents)and do not ask for a dime until it closes and this is the best service I can provide. FREE until the end. No closing, No costs.

Feel free  to contact me at anytime if you should have any questions.  If I do not have an answer then I will do my best to obtain one.

Terri Wisecarver

Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado County Real Estate

How much is a home really worth to you and the desire to purchase it?  It  is very important to go out and look at the area around the properties you are considering to make offers on in order to place value on them.  So representing buyers and selling homes in Sacramento you really need to know the areas you are showing homes in. Representing a buyer, you should take into consideration other factors that can place a price on the home.  The desirability for the buyer is the true value here.  I have been in the position where I had found a home for a buyer that they fell in love  in Sacramento, Ca. but after visiting the home many times during different hours of the day is when we all really began to see the issues that the buyers would have problems with.

We have all heard of Location Location Location!!!!  Well this stands true for many reasons.  The first showing of the home was great and the buyers were wanting to right an offer.  I then showed them other homes around the same vicinity with the same amenities, but they kept wanting to compare them to the first home.  We later in the day returned back to the first home they were considering.  This time they noticed that there was a very large family home next door.  The neighbor said hello to myself and the buyers and proceeded to ask my buyers if they were interested in buying the home.  Of course they said yes and this is when the neighbor stated this. Did you know that someone died in the home?

Now of course we did not know this and this did get the brain action working as you could imagine. And of course this should be disclosed to any buyer from the seller if the death occured within the last 3 years.  But we proceeded to look again.  As it seems after returning to the home 3 more times over 2 days my buyers noticed these other factors that played a part in them deciding to not write an offer on the property.

They were a single couple that wanted not so much noise around the home.  Big family next door with about 5 kids played the part.

They noticed the amount of traffic that was going through the neighborhood throughout the times of our viewing.

They noticed the loud music and band set-up in the open garage across the street.

But most of all there was 3 dogs on the other side of the home that would not stop barking at anytime when we were there previewing the home.

So the bottom line is that the buyers decided to go with another home 2 blocks down and walk away from the one they really loved in order to get the piecefull and quietness that they desired.  Of course in this market in Sacramento, we do not usually have the time to waste on purchasing homes in this fashion as the homes seem to go quickly, but the other option would be to do your homework ahead of time. Do some research for the buyers purchasing areas and get to know them before showing homes.  Investigate all that you can for the buyers, which are now your clients.

Desirability is not just the home itself, it also is the location and what surrounds the home that makes it worth purchasing to the buyer.

Desirability is the value and in the eyes of the buyers and not yours.  This sets the price the buyer will be willing to pay. Remember that this holds true to no matter the area or the look of the homes. These things do play a part in the buyers eyes no matter how nice the house is

From high price to low price homes these factors play a part in the buyers price range (payment) and desirability.

Terri Wisecarver

Whitman Metropolitan Inc.

Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado Counties