Chris Ann Cleland, GRI

Northern Virginia is subject to an epidemic of an ugly plague. That plague is the case of vanishing buyers. It strikes short sale sellers from seemingly out of nowhere. There are no cures for this plague, but an ounce of prevention can go a long way.

The cause of this plague is two fold:

Short Sale Listing Agents Submitting Multiple Offers to a Third Party

Buyer's Agents Advising Their Clients to Submit Multiple Offers on Multiple Short Sales

It's a chicken and egg problem. Who knows what started first, but you can see the thought process in what both sides are doing. However, this plague of vanishing buyers is what is now crippling short sale sellers in Northern Virginia.

Short sale sellers are often times facing foreclosure. Buyers who are advised to "throw an offer and see if it sticks" before the other two, three, five or ten they've written, are being advised to intentionally hurt all but one of those short sale sellers.

Short sale listing agents in Northern Virginia are bound by our local MLS rules. In theory this should solve the first cause. One contract on a short sale means the home is put on contigent status in the MLS. That means no longer marketing the home to buyers agents. So when a buyer's agent advises buyers to throw an offer at a home, along with offers on others, then allows those offers to be ratified, they are placing at least one short sale seller at risk.

Do you realize that most buyers in Northern Virginia are more concerned with whether or not they pass the flu to you, than being concerned that they are throwing you into the jaws of foreclosure? Pretty sad.

So how do we stop the plague of vanishing buyers?

1. If your buyers need a home immediately, do not show them short sales. These are sellers that need REAL buyers. Not the promise of something that the buyers have an intention of doing only IF another offer to purchase doesn't come through first.
2. If your buyers want to be in a contract with a short sale seller, remember rule #1 of real estate: All real estate relationships are best when they are monogamous. Don't continue to show homes that may be available more quickly, bigger, better, etc. A buyer should be willing to WAIT for a short sale home if they are desiring to be under contract to buy it. If they aren't willing to wait for it, it's not the home for them.
3. Listing agents need to put the screws to buyers agents and their clients by asking for earnest money to be deposited at the time of ratification. Doing it at short sale approval is only opening the short sale seller up to the possibility of catching a case of the vanishing buyer.

Northern Virginia real estate is giving me a flashback to my college days. Back when I was a Speech (Mass) Communications major at Fairfax, Virginia's own George Mason University, I was one busy gal. I carried a full time schedule of classes and had to work full time to pay for those classes.

My full-time job was also my fitness routine. I was a waitress at an all you can eat seafood restaurant. In between the ages of 18 and 23 were the days of support pantyhose and walking shoes, but hey....I was in the best shape of my life (not that I knew it at the time.) I'd go to late afternoon classes and work a lunch and dinner shift at the restaurant, study at eleven when I got home. Maybe the next day I'd wake up early for a class, have a break for lunch and a bit of reading, then off to work. On and on it went. And one rare day per week, I would have no work and no school. That was the day I slept until Noon.

LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, THAT WAS ME TODAY. I SLEPT UNTIL NOON.

After a week of juggling two buyers, each trying to take advantage of the $8,000 first time buyer tax credit before November 30th, getting two listings to settlement, trying to keep one short sale listing alive (it flatlined) and keeping my other two on track for approval....I am beat.

The listings, despite the fact they are mainly short sales, I can handle. I sit at my desk (sometimes in my pajamas) and make the calls to the banks, my clients and the buyers agents. Virtually no running around, except to get lockboxes on or off the houses, and paperwork signed if by my clients if they don't have access to email or a fax machine. Throw in a troubled listing, just for stress, two complicated and time sensitive settlements, and two buyers that have just realized how badly they want this tax credit and you have me, a Realtor so worn out that she slept till Noon on her one day off.

And of course, Mother Nature has been no help in keeping up my stamina. Earlier this week she threatened me with flu like symptoms for one day, that thankfully turned into only a sinus infection. Then, just when I was feeling better, she brought in two days of consistent rain and drizzle with temperatures in the 40's. Gosh, what lovely weather to have for house hunting!

Hopefully that lousy weather gave my buyers the winning edge when it comes to these multiple offer situations. My buyers always go in to one of these situations well armed with the market values of the neighborhood and the knowledge that they have to put their best foot forward. They go All IN. Perhaps the lack of other offers on a rainy weekend will be what finally gets them locked in for the first time buyers tax credit.

Northern Virginia First Time Home Buyers and the Soon to Expire $8,000 Tax Credit!

There are still Northern Virginia first time home buyers out there looking to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit. Yes, even though the tax credit expires December 1, 2009, and we are past the mid point of October, Northern Virginia first time home buyers are still out there competing for that place to call home. And as time ticks by, the choices are getting extremely limited.

Since the mid-summer, short sales have not been an option for Northern Virginia first time home buyers looking to capitalize on the $8,000 tax credit. Those sales can take up to three months, if you are LUCKY. Looking to settle on a house in six weeks time or less, short sales are out.

Bank owned properties, more commonly known as foreclosures, are also questionable at this point in time. Why? When banks repossess properties through foreclosure there are often title issues in the transfer from the defaulting owner to the bank. Or, a previous refinance that the defaulting owner did may have been incorrectly recorded. Title issues are the probably the most common reasons that banks can not settle their properties on time with home buyers. And with that hard deadline of having to be settled no later than November 30th, this is no longer a guaranteed sale. Some banks are forthcoming about their doubt in settling by November 30th. Some are not. Either way, if you feel your home purchase MUST qualify you for the $8,000 tax credit, foreclosures are out.

New construction sometimes offer spec homes that are done and ready to go, but those are hard to find these days. And heading into the cold winter months, new construction you contract to have built today, will not be ready until Spring at the earliest.

What are you left with? Regular sellers that are able to vacate their homes and settle by November 30th.

Need help finding those Northern Virginia regular sales? Give me a call.

Chris Ann Cleland, Realtor, Licensed in Virginia, Long & Foster

703-402-0037, chrisann@LNF.com

As busy as I am a short sale listing agent, I still have time to return shopping carts to their designated holding pins. It's never seemed like anything of life or death consqeuence would happen by taking the time to return a shopping cart to it's rightful spot. Somehow, I still manage to get my short sale listing contracts to the banks, call negotiators, get them approved and get them to settlement on days when a shopping cart needs to be returned.

I notice that not all Northern Virginia consumers are as concerned about returning carts. It's actually quite annoying. These Costco carts, pictured to the side, are heavy, and if they start downhill, can do some serious damage to a car. Wouldn't want that to happen to my car. Even though I list a lot of Northern Virginia short sales, I also represent many buyers who will need to get into my car when we house hunt.