Testing 123 Testing: Can You Hear Me Now?

Unless you have been in outer space for the past 2 years you already know many folks in Murrieta, Temecula, Menifee and surrounding communities in California are selling their properties via Short Sale. I will not go into the details of a Short Sale other than to say you need to sell your property for less than is owed to your current lender. The reasons can be varied, job loss, illness, divorce etc but the property needs to be sold. Choosing the right Agent is critical for your success and this little story will show you why it's so true in today's Real Estate Market.

Recently I received a Real Estate Owned (REO) listing ,that is a foreclosure property, from one of my banks. As usual the first thing I did with this assignment was to look into the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for my area and see if the property had been on the market. It showed it was currently on the market in Pending status (in escrow) as a short sale.

When I went to check if anyone was living in the house I found it to be empty but there was a For sale sign and a lockbox on the door. Nothing unusual about my findings and after reporting to my Asset Manager who double checked the foreclosure I had my locksmith change the locks so I could gain access. Normal procedure with REOs and the house was in terrific condition.

Here is the ultimate tragedy for the previous owner of this home as they lost it to foreclosure. I called the previous listing agent,out of area, to let her know I would store her sign and lock box for her to pick up at her convenience. She immediately wanted to know when the foreclosure took place and why did the bank do a foreclosure since she had a Short Sale offer in to them.

When I asked when her offer was sent into the bank her response was approximately 120 days prior to my call. When I asked when was the last time she had spoken to the bank and had a Short Sale Negotiator been assigned to the file her answer was: I called when I received the offer and obtained a fax number to send the offer to the bank and I don't know about a Negotiator.

After a few more questions from me she admitted she never called the bank ever again to get this file through the Short Sale process. It was her belief it was up to the bank to contact her to get the process started and completed. This is total ignorance of the short sale process as Agents must stay on top of these files on a Daily basis to get them completed. The lack of knowledge in this case brought about the foreclosure that will stay on the sellers credit for many years.

Moral of the story is if you need to sell your property via Short Sale find a Realtor who knows the procedure and will get it done.