I Know That's Not What You Wanted To Hear

I feel like so much of my time these days is giving bad news to good people! It's tough! Buyers and sellers are getting bad news from me. But honest news.

Short Sale Sellers are hearing:

• The home value is so low that they have to do a short sale
• The Short Sale "might" result in an income tax bill
• There is a sale date scheduled
• The buyer walked

Equity Sellers are hearing:

• The real value of their home, not what they wish it were
• The home down the street is listed 30% less because it is a short sale
• We have an offer, a lowball offer

Short Sale Buyers are hearing:

• It's going to take a few MONTHS to hear back from the bank
• The listing agent just got a higher offer and has sent that ALSO to the bank
• The short sale approval doesn't include temite, or past HOA dues, or Hazard Reports, or title fee, or escrow costs, or, or, or
• The approval is 20% higher than our offer
• The approval is for 15 days and if we don't close there is a per diem charge

Buyers of standard sale properties are hearing:

• Just because the home down the street is listed 30% lower than this one, it's most likely not going to sell for that price....it's a short sale/bank owned.
• The sellers chose not to counter your offer because it was too low
• The sellers countered your offer to include "as-is" language
• The sellers will not pay for termite work

Just some of the many bits of bad news I have to discuss every day. It's not fun....for any of us. And each time I have to deliver this type of information, I worry. People don't like to spend time with "downers" and I feel like one.

But it's the truth....the unvarnished truth.

The current real estate market is complicated. I requires care and attention to navigate the various aspect of writing offers and getting them accepted...and of course closed. My clients are responsible adults who do not need to be babied, certainly cared for, but not lied to. We need to deal with reality as it is.....lies, distortions and omissions do not help anyone. On my part they violate the fiduciary duty I have for my clients. My job is to give the facts to the best of my knowledge and then allow my clients to make decisions......even if that means they want to work with someone who tells them what they want to hear.

I'm never going to tell a buyer or seller what they want to hear.....I'm going to tell them the truth.