You May Wonder Why Buyers Are Having a Tough Time Buying a Sacramento Short Sale

I've been closing short sales for many years. In fact, I close a huge volume of short sales. Even so, as a Sacramento short sale agent, I still haven't seen it all. I know this to be true because every single day I seem to learn something new. That's part of what keeps my profession interesting. I freely share what I learn in this blog and with other real estate agents. But lately there seems to be a lot of aggression and hostility among agents in Sacramento. I don't know if it's because sales for them have dwindled or maybe it's tree pollen eating their brains.

For example, I received a call yesterday from a buyer's agent who was really abrasive. You could hear it in her voice. It was shrill, sharp, almost as though she regretted having to pick up the phone to call me but perhaps lacked the energy to send an email. She complained about her buyer's offer not being accepted. She wanted to know what I thought she had to do to get it accepted. I told her.

She then wanted to know if my seller knew that I suggested buyers pay a price the bank is willing to accept. How dare I demand a market value offer! Did my seller know that I was telling buyers not to send a lowball offer? I informed her that my sellers and I are on the same page. They trust me implicitly to do what is best for them. That's why they call it a fiduciary relationship.

Another agent decided after the sellers accepted an offer that she wanted to renegotiate. It wasn't her buyers who wanted to renegotiate, it was her. She told me she wants the sellers to move out 10 days before closing. That is her policy for all 3 short sales she has recently closed. Whoop-dee-do. She should have put that in her buyer's offer, but she didn't. And, even if she had, the sellers would have most likely countered it out.

See, this is the thing. Sellers of a short sale are not second-class citizens. They are under no obligation to sell their home as a short sale. It's a voluntary action. You don't treat sellers like criminals, demanding they vacate the premises weeks before closing. They are not tenants. They are homeowners who deserve respect and to be treated like any other seller of a real estate transaction.

No wonder some buyers are having a tough time.