Adriana West

Now is the moment to really understand what is most important in our lives...

In speaking with various people I've found it interesting that for us human beings these moments are going to be a new history in many areas. One of them is changing our idea about pride and what success means. Having to decide between trying to do a Short Sale or lose your house in a foreclosure, many people opt to ignore their situation until it is too late. In their eyes, it is shameful, and their sense of loss of confidence is very high for many of them - ending in depression.

I am not a psychologist, but I can share with you that I am a human being, one that life has taught from a very young age that having pride about the wrong things can lead me to disaster. Over the years, I have understood that the life these things have taught me were not something to be ashamed of. They were to raise me up, learn a lesson, and keep going forward being stronger and smarter. What tough lessons they were....

Two weeks ago, I had an appointment with a young gentleman who wanted to understand his options about Short Sales.

When I met with him in my office, he apologized for not speaking well... At first, I did not understand, it seemed to me that he spoke perfectly (he does not have a thick accent like mine... ? ). After a few minutes more, I understood - that because of the level of stress that he was living with the economic problems and with the thought of losing his house, half his face was paralyzed.

We spoke for several hours, and after a couple of days he called me. He said that he was ready to begin the Short Sale process. When we met again, several days later, he was another person. His face was much better, and he was very optimistic about the future.

For me, it is an honor when a person allows me to walk with them during these difficult times, and show them that there is hope and a new beginning at the end of the Short Sale process. I have no doubt that I will meet all my clients again in a couple of years, and they will be strong again - in their mind, their spirit, and their family.

Once again, I come back to the fact that while these transactions are harder and sometimes less financially rewarding, the personal reward that I get out of helping people more than makes up for it. Share your stories with us about helping people, or about people who could use this kind of help.

A couple of days ago, I was talking with one of my colleagues about Short Sales. I was astonished when my colleague told me the story of one of her clients in Woodstock, GA. The client had a first mortgage and a line of credit with one of the banks that was saved from collapse by being bought out during the crisis. During the Short Sale process, the second lien holder said that the only way the Short Sale could happen was if the client signed a deficiency note - because when they signed the papers for the line of credit, they signed two types of notes: one against the house, the other was a Personal Note. Since the lender had the Personal Note, they felt they had the right to have a deficiency note signed by the home owner, or otherwise the Short Sale would not happen.

The client decided to sign the deficiency note. Three months later, and life has moved on. They now live in a different state. Their son won a scholarship to go to college, and their life was taking a positive turn.

Last week, they found out that their bank accounts had been frozen. They had left their checking and savings accounts with that same bank that had required the deficiency note. The bank froze their accounts and took all the salary earned by the husband - and did not stop there. The son who was going to college also had his account with that bank, and had received his scholarship payment as well. But since he was a cosigner for them..... The bank took all the scholarship money as well.

How far can a bank go with a deficiency note? Far enough to ruin the life of a student waiting to start his college career, certainly, and without a moment's troubled conscience.

This story has helped me fight even harder every day for my clients, and to NEVER accept a deficiency note in any of my transactions. If you end up agreeing to one on behalf of your clients, at least tell them to make sure they don't have any other accounts with that bank - or any of its tangled siblings as the banks buy each other out.

Please share your good and bad experiences with me - we can learn from each other.

Last month, I closed on a property located in Loganville, GA, representing the buyer. The property was brand new construction; the bank had foreclosed on over one-third of the subdivision.

Even though it was a foreclosure, the bank agreed to pay for:

$5,000 in closing costs
$ 480 for a home warranty
$ 330 for HOA transfer and assessment fees
$ 300 to install two new windows that had been broken
$ 400 for a termite bond

As we were closing, the attorney saw those numbers on the HUD and told my client that he might have had a good advocate in the process, and my client agreed with him. When the closing had ended, the attorney turned to my client and told him that he had closed that morning on a house in the same subdivision, with the same floorplan, for a price $35,000 higher than we were paying.

In these times where everyone is counting the pennies, you need to look not just for an agent who will represent you, but for an advisor who will advocate in your favor during the whole process. One who will help you to purchase your dream home while looking out for your best interests.

I would like to earn your business by providing you with that same level of service, and have a client for life. What do you buyers think of this kind of service? Leave us a comment here and tell us what kind of service you are looking for.

An investor called me and told me that he was interested in buying all my Short Sales. I was thrilled, even though I thought it was too good to be truth. I met with him at my office and he gave me a contract that I would have to use to work with him.

In explaining his contract to me, he said that his "idea" to buy all my short sales that I had been working was that he would make an offer from the beginning of the process (with a rather ridiculous amount) and that I had to find another buyer to make an offer (for more than his). Then he would give the other buyer the option to buy the house, but he would keep the difference between the two offers at the end of the transaction.

I talked with my lawyers, and in Georgia it is not illegal to agree to this kind of transaction, but from my point of view it is unfair. Especially when I as a Real Estate Agent am representing a seller in distress, not the bank, not that investor. I understand that every human being needs to make their living, but it is not always the fair way.

Sellers, would you like it when a person is taking advantage of your situation, playing with your financial future. How many of you believe that this investor is going to be fair, if the bank does not accept his offer, or the investor does not allow any competing offers to be presented if he does not make money on the transaction. Even worse, how many of you believe that this investor will buy the house at the end of the day, if he's lucky enough for the bank to accept his offer, but no second buyer has come along to make another offer?

Short Sales are demanding and can also be a source of revenue for lots of investors. Which of these investors will be interested in the seller's financial future? It was good for my sellers that I am interested in their financial future and helping them make a new financial life for themselves. Let me know if I can help you protect yours.

I was working with a client in Kennesaw GA. He was convinced that the honest thing to do was to try to continue paying the mortgage as long as he possibly could, even when his wife had been fired and they need to use what little savings they had to try to make it.... Until a Short Sale was approved.

Eventually we received an offer and waited for over 3 months for an answer, with weekly phone calls to the Lender's Short Sale dept. Finally, I received an answer: This file is not a top priority for the Lender to review. They do not have a time frame for the review process, and the person who gave me this news promptly hung up the phone on me.

How can it be that the lenders in this country are punishing those who are trying to be good citizens, do what they're supposed to do, and "play by the rules"? In this case, my client was continuing to crunch numbers and make huge sacrifices while they were waiting for an answer.

Is this really the time to be trying to teach us all to be bad citizens because this fits the Lender's Guidelines? Please tell me what kind of behavior we should expect and accept from these lenders? They are already more responsible for the problem than is the public. Do we have to give up our moral principles in order to become a priority file for the lender?

Let me know your thoughts. Why do we bail out those who have caused the problem at the expense of those who play by the rules? What can be done to fix it? How do we tell our lawmakers to apply some "common" sense to common problems? Leave a comment here and let us know.