Elizabeth Weintraub, Sacramento Short Sale Agent, Land Park, East Sac, Lyon RE

Some buyer's agents do not know that when a buyer and a seller sign a purchase agreement for a short sale listing, they have entered into a binding contract to buy a home. I don't really know why agents often treat a short sale like the red-haired stepchild, but it's a real transaction just like any other real estate transaction.

This means if the buyer elects to cancel, a buyer can do so. The RPA contract put out by C.A.R. is written in favor of buyers. Probably because buyers sue more often than sellers. Sellers are typically happier after closing than buyers. It's rare that a seller feels that he or she got the raw end of the stick. But buyers? Whole 'nother story.

Some people believe that the only time a buyer cannot cancel is after all contingencies are removed, and that's a big fat lie. They can still cancel. Buyers can always cancel. But in that event, they could get sued because they don't have a contractual right to cancel, although that's where they will argue.

If a seller does not sign a buyer's cancellation, simply out of spite, a seller can be facing a $1,000 fine. The seller has no right to ignore the cancellation, if the buyer is within the time period to cancel. But that's after 30 days. So, you can't really force sellers to immediately sign a cancellation unless you're standing over them with a sledge hammer, and no agent has the inclination to do that.

But what happens when it's the other way around and the sellers want to dump a buyer? How is that handled? Before my sellers cancel buyers from a short sale transaction, we give them a chance. It's the fair and equitable thing to do, even if they are not fair and equitable to us. Besides, contracts stipulate. We send them a Notice to Perform. We spell out what we want them to do, and if they don't do it, we can unilaterally cancel them.

However, if you as a buyer wants to cancel, you need to sign a cancellation of contract. Not a withdrawal of offer and not an addendum. Buyers sign the top and bottom portion and date it, along with escrow information to release the earnest money deposit. Buyers also need to state a reason for the cancellation. When buyers sign a short sale addendum, agreeing to wait for short sale approval, the buyer is supposed to wait during that period of time. But bottom line, if a buyer doesn't want to buy, nobody can make 'em.

For more questions about a Sacramento short sale, call your Sacramento short sale agent, Elizabeth Weintraub, at 916 233 6759.

There are times in which I will behave myself. Not always, you can count on that. But when it's important, I can manage to do it. I step up to the plate. And I pride myself on that ability. After all, I am a Sacramento short sale agent. This means in today's market I possess super powers.

Don't believe me? You try closing a few short sales yourself and see what you're up against. It used to be a lot easier. I'm not sure what happened but lately it's the super powers that do the closing, not me. By super powers, I mean the people I rely upon, and they constantly out-perform themselves. My team members, transaction coordinator and escrow officers, not to mention my fellow real estate agents in Sacramento who represent the buyers. They all do an astonishing and amazing job.

If you'd like to see me behaving myself and talking about Sacramento short sales, you can catch this Elizabeth Weintraub YouTube video. Alternately, you can tune in to the program tonight on Channel 17. I did a public outreach broadcast a week or so ago. It's for a nonprofit, Americans Helping America. I think the show is at 10 PM. That's past my bedtime, so I'll have to ask my husband to tape it.

I don't have a lot of time to do things that I don't get paid to do, and when I do have the time, I like to make sure it involves lying on the beach with my husband somewhere warm and drinking Mai Tais. However, I also agreed to host a celebrity real estate forum next month. I think I need my head examined. There are only so many hours in a day.

But you know what they say, right? If you want something done correctly and expeditiously, ask a busy person to do it. You want to sell a short sale in Sacramento? You call Elizabeth Weintraub, 916 233 6759.

Every once in a while, I run into a client I have to reject. You'd think that as a successful Sacramento short sale agent I would want to work with everybody in Sacramento, but I don't. I don't respect people who would lie, cheat and steal. Sorry -- I'm not an asshole politician and I don't have to put up with that crap.

It's not a judgment call thing, if that's what you are thinking. Because people who would lie, cheat and steal expect others they hire to lie, cheat and steal right alongside with them. I don't live my life that way. No amount of money would convince me to start, either.

Besides, I enjoy an excellent reputation. I've worked hard to earn it. When a buyer's agent advises her client to enter into a contract with my client, I expect cooperation and consideration. I give the same in return.

So, if you are looking to game the system, don't call me. I don't want to work with sellers who strip homes in foreclosure. Nor do I want to associate with sellers who have no intention of doing a short sale but simply want to avoid having to move. Some of these people hear that a short sale can take 6 months to 2 years to close, so they latch on to a Sacramento short sale agent, hoping they won't have to make a payment for 2 years and can stay put. They don't really intend to sell.

That's dishonest.

If you want to sell your home in Sacramento as a short sale in the shortest time period possible and with the least amount of hassle, I'm your real estate agent. If you don't, go make somebody else's life miserable.

I get a lot of phone calls from buyer's agents in Sacramento asking me who the lender is on a short sale. They are wising up and realizing that not every agent in Sacramento who lists a short sale is likely to close that short sale except, perhaps, for me. So, their broker has given them a list of questions to ask a Sacramento short sale agent. The problem with this approach is they don't know what to do with the answers they get.

They think multiple loans is a bad sign, which is not true. They hear Bank of America and they shudder, which is also not true. Bank of America has stepped up to the plate over the years and dramatically improved its short sales. If you are a seller who has a Bank of America loan, you are actually sitting in a primo position and you might not realize it. Don't listen to the hoo-haw among the neophytes. Bank of America is a great short sale bank.

I close a lot of Bank of America short sales. There are different types of B of A short sales. Some are Fannie Mae; they could be Freddie Mac or even a HAFA short sale. It would not be so hot to do a Fannie Mae HAFA short sale or a Freddie Mac HAFA short sale, but those are another long story, which I can explain if I take you on as a client and you have such a loan.

They could also be a Bank of America FHA short sale or a Cooperative Short Sale or a traditional short sale. You've got almost as many choices for a short sale at Bank of America as you've got loan options. And they are all different. A client laughed as she got off the phone with B of A saying it's just like ordering a pizza. Do I want pepperoni or sausage?

If you'd like to know about a Bank of America short sale for you in the four-county Sacramento area, call this Sacramento short sale agent for more information at 916 233 6759. I'll say it again: I close Bank of America short sales. I know how Bank of America operates (it changes all the time). I stay on top of this stuff. You're in good hands.

I was asked yesterday if an agent should tackle an FHA short sale or leave that type of short sale to the pros. For starters, I don't believe any seller should be held at the mercy of an agent learning how to do a short sale. The agent either has negotiated and closed a bunch of short sales or the agent hasn't.

If the agent is not a short sale expert, that agent should not learn how to become an expert at anybody's expense, much less a client's. That agent should work under supervision. As a Sacramento short sale agent, I speak from experience about that. When I started negotiating short sales in 2006, I didn't jump into the water blindfolded. But few agents can afford to be supervised or are willing to be supervised. So, here is my secret for doing an FHA short sale.

First, realize that FHA will not make it easy. FHA has 2 faces. The face of a borrower taking out an FHA mortgage and the face of a borrower in default or about to go into default. The rules are different for both. They are at odds with each other. On the one hand, the government wants to help and on the other it does not.

FHA will do its own appraisal. It will be a full blown HUD appraisal, not a BPO. Before you price that short sale, look at the comparable sales and the pending sales, because the pendings and active short contingents will be your comparable sales at closing.

FHA will not allow a 3% buyer closing cost credit. That's not to say you can't get an exception because, believe it or not, I have obtained an exception for an FHA short sale, but those are few and far between. This will, of course, eliminate almost all of your FHA buyers for that short sale. Remember the part about the two faces of FHA? FHA will guarantee a loan for a buyer to buy a home as long as it's not one of its own or one about to become its own.

You can get a 1% concession without much trouble. The key to an FHA short sale is the net to FHA. This is the secret. You don't have to meet the sales price set by FHA, but you do have to meet the net. The net is 88% of the appraisal. See, this is why you should have paid attention during math class. The best way to meet the net without messing with the sales price is to lower those closing costs. This means moving some of them to the buyer's side of the HUD. And there you have it. Straight from your Sacramento short sale agent.

Tip: If you can't figure whether the loan is an FHA loan, look at the original sales price vs. the original loan balance, and you'll find your answer if the balance is near 97-98%. Odds are 95% LTV is a conventional.