Short Sale Pricing...Bait and Switch Deception

Well, I am sure this is probably a worn out topic and it is still rearing it's ugly head higher and higher here in Brevard County Florida. As we all know the new buzz words in real estate are Short Sales and REO's.

Short sales pose a special problem in our area due to the fact that we (the realtor) are allowed to put any price we desire in the MLS to generate an offer for the lender, with no restrictions on how we price it. Of course the seller has to approve the price. The problem is that the seller does not have control over what price will be accepted in a short sale and it is entirely up to the lender as to what they agree to let the home sell for. Unfortunately the lenders are not dong their due diligence and giving us the selling price they will agree to, based on a REAL appraisal from a local appraiser. This is leading to literally hundreds of homes being entered in the MLS with prices that are NOT Deliverable. So when potential buyers want to see these homes we are forced to explain to them the lender may counter back higher than the asking price and may even reject a full price offer.(bait and switch?) In my humble opinion we are misleading and deceiving the public with this pricing practice and are a just short of lawsuit...I know we have disclosures and all sorts of things we use to cover up the fact we are misleading them, the fact remains the price we are asking (in most cases) is not the price the property will sell for unless of course you did get lender approval on the price. We all know the lenders want to see if they can get the highest offer on the home, don't we all.

I say it is time to stop deciving the public and only allow diliverable prices listed in the MLS.

Ok, now I will ask the question: Does anyone know a viable solution to this Short Sale dilemma? I can't wait to hear your response!

Warm regards,
Larry Fleckinger
Re/Max Aerospace Realty
Brevard County Florida
http://www.BrevardHomeSource.com