[Scott456]

I spoke to a couple realtors so far, they both express negative attitudes toward making offers to short sales.
I know short sales take longer, and are likely to fall through. But there must be some realtors who are happy to work with clients on all type of sales.
Does anyboy here know realtors who are willing to work with short sales.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by Scott456

I spoke to a couple realtors so far, they both express negative attitudes toward making offers to short sales.
I know short sales take longer, and are likely to fall through. But there must be some realtors who are happy to work with clients on all type of sales.
Does anyboy here know realtors who are willing to work with short sales.

Nothing wrong with doing short sales as long as you understand they still mostly fail...and after a long delay.

My strategy is generally to suggest that the client make three or four or even more offers and really make a decision when one turns real.

I don't "like" shorts...but I don't like FHA loans or HUD homes or anything that is not quick and efficient. You live with them however. Sometimes the best deal for your clients.

[ft_chief]

Originally Posted by Scott456

I spoke to a couple realtors so far, they both express negative attitudes toward making offers to short sales.
I know short sales take longer, and are likely to fall through. But there must be some realtors who are happy to work with clients on all type of sales.
Does anyboy here know realtors who are willing to work with short sales.

I just dealt with realtors when trying to see short sales. My impression is that realtors don't like to deal with them. I looked at several short sale houses after 1 of 4 realtors showed up for appt. The houses we inspected were all filthy inside. Makes me wonder if the homeowners really wanted to sell their house?

FT Chief

[svt4cobra6]

I sold my house as a short sale, had a bunch of upgrades but took about 3 months get the bank to agree. The person that bought the house got a good deal at market value. Even with the short sale I lost 50k in just 2 years (down payment, upgrades and payment to the bank on the short sale).

[Exaday]

Originally Posted by ft_chief

I just dealt with realtors when trying to see short sales. My impression is that realtors don't like to deal with them. I looked at several short sale houses after 1 of 4 realtors showed up for appt. The houses we inspected were all filthy inside. Makes me wonder if the homeowners really wanted to sell their house?

FT Chief

I don't think they want to sell the house. Most of them are pretty distraught about it if anything.

When I about my house we were looking to buy a short. House after house had the families living in them. Stupid me thought it was like they were showing their house. I thought why don't they have cookies and kool aid waiting for us?

Most of the time the families would seem to just ignore us, Sometimes I'd talk to them and ask them questions. Finally I came to understand that for many of them losing their home was like losing their dreams in a way. It was like selling a piece of their heart. I felt horrible about it and did not look at anymore short sales after that.

On the other side of the coin I was able to size up a lot of the families and many of them clearly seemed to be living outside of their means. They were trailer park people with caviar dreams. I worked myself up from nothing to something, so I know what poor folk look and act like.

Looking back on it, short sales are not for me. I want to stay out of that mess. New Homes are not that expensive. Short sales are not as awesome as they sound. People will say that you are buying a house for far less then it sold for a few years ago. Why do I care? You don't know what you're getting with a short sale. Some bitter former home owner might still have the gate code and a garage door opener and decide to trash the place right after you move some stuff in.

If you ask me it's an investors game and I did not even get into the loan process.

[von949]

Originally Posted by olecapt

Nothing wrong with doing short sales as long as you understand they still mostly fail...and after a long delay.

My strategy is generally to suggest that the client make three or four or even more offers and really make a decision when one turns real.

I don't "like" shorts...but I don't like FHA loans or HUD homes or anything that is not quick and efficient. You live with them however. Sometimes the best deal for your clients.

What are your feelings on VA loans. Arent those a lot more of a hassle compared to FHA loans? At leats thats what my first realtor told me. He was really trying to push for me to do a conventional loan.

Originally Posted by svt4cobra6

I sold my house as a short sale, had a bunch of upgrades but took about 3 months get the bank to agree. The person that bought the house got a good deal at market value. Even with the short sale I lost 50k in just 2 years (down payment, upgrades and payment to the bank on the short sale).

I just recently short sold my wife's house. It was kind of a hassle but I knew what to expect. I went with Team Carver who specializes in doing shorts. I did some of the leg work as well. Posting on Craigslist, Zillow, Updating pictures, putting up signs, more craigslist, Backpage, Facebook...etc. Only took about 6 months from start to finish. Had about an average of 2 showings a day. Very annoying but well worth it.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by von949

What are your feelings on VA loans. Arent those a lot more of a hassle compared to FHA loans? At leats thats what my first realtor told me. He was really trying to push for me to do a conventional loan.

the problem is that the back office people have been "empowered" by recent events.

So we have very powerful underwriters in charge of the process. They are just covering every nuance as only a good bureaucrat can. It is not illegal or irrational..but it is deliberately uncooperative.

I now pick lenders based on their ability to manage their back office rather than knowledge of product or the ability to get the client a good deal. If you can't control the back office you are no help.

Specifically VA and FHA are not different and the appraisal...a big part of the probem...is basically the same.

Both will come out OK if you stick to it and the appraisal is not outrageous.

Conventional is easier but not by enough that I would push a client to it.

[gregoo]

[quote=Exaday;19551483]I don't think they want to sell the house. Most of them are pretty distraught about it if anything.

When I about my house we were looking to buy a short. House after house had the families living in them. Stupid me thought it was like they were showing their house. I thought why don't they have cookies and kool aid waiting for us?

Most of the time the families would seem to just ignore us, Sometimes I'd talk to them and ask them questions. Finally I came to understand that for many of them losing their home was like losing their dreams in a way. It was like selling a piece of their heart. I felt horrible about it and did not look at anymore short sales after that.

On the other side of the coin I was able to size up a lot of the families and many of them clearly seemed to be living outside of their means. They were trailer park people with caviar dreams. I worked myself up from nothing to something, so I know what poor folk look and act like.

Looking back on it, short sales are not for me. I want to stay out of that mess. New Homes are not that expensive. Short sales are not as awesome as they sound. People will say that you are buying a house for far less then it sold for a few years ago. Why do I care? You don't know what you're getting with a short sale. Some bitter former home owner might still have the gate code and a garage door opener and decide to trash the place right after you move some stuff in.

If you ask me it's an investors game and I did not even get into the loan process.[/quoteThey are not trailer park people. The homes sold for more than they were worth. They were given the loan so they thought they could afford them. We just brought a new home after looking for 2 1/2 years because we were tried of the games. We love are new home and it was cheap. My heart goes out to the people that lost there homes. It is the America dream. How dare you say bad things about these people. Years ago you could trust the banks. You couldn"t get a loan if they knew you couldn't afford it. They trusted the banks. How sad. I'm one of the lucky one. I didn't loose my home.

[Exaday]

They are not trailer park people. The homes sold for more than they were worth. They were given the loan so they thought they could afford them. We just brought a new home after looking for 2 1/2 years because we were tried of the games. We love are new home and it was cheap. My heart goes out to the people that lost there homes. It is the America dream. How dare you say bad things about these people. Years ago you could trust the banks. You couldn"t get a loan if they knew you couldn't afford it. They trusted the banks. How sad. I'm one of the lucky one. I didn't loose my home.

You clearly did not read my post. It's like you pecked out a one-liner from what I wrote and took it completely out of context. Do you work for Fox News?

You're preaching to the choir.

You are wrong to think that a lot of people were not living outside their means though. My initial reaction was to blame the evil banks, but after meeting meaning of the people and knowing lots of people that lost their homes I can say that a great many of them had their credit maxed out.

I'm a proud Union Member and that's all I need to say.

[olecapt]

I have seen a few hundred short sales. Probably not a thousand...but more than 500.

They look mostly like other sellers. And the houses run the gamut from awful to quite nice. The middle is pretty good. Better than REOs by a lot and pretty much the same or close to non distressed.

They show no over bought property that I can detect. In fact most that I look at indicate bad timing rather than bad finances.