Paula Bean

I just turned down a listing yesterday. Why? Because the seller wanted to tell me how to sell his house. After being on the market for almost TWO YEARS, with 3 different agents whom I know all of them and they are good, it didn't take me long to figure out why he had been listed with 3 different agents for almost 2 years.

Not only did he want to tell me what to do, how to do it and how often to do it, he also wanted me to cut my commission. His excuse was that if he bought in 2005 and his value went down, then I should take a hit too. That really puzzles me because I was not the agent who helped him buy the overpriced house, so why should I be involved in the loss game?

There are a lot of short sales, I do them all the time, loan mods, refi's, and I do help a lot of people pro-bono, but not those that have an attitude.

I think I'll go buy a car and in 5 years I shall go back to that same salesperson and due to the fact that the car is now worth less, have him cut his commission and give me a good deal on the next car.

Education is the key to helping these people, we can't cut our commissions and have enough money left to market and sell your house, pay Uncle Sam and the bills too. I just can't understand what part of this doesn't make sense to the public. I bet if someone had a 'real job' and their Boss said to work on Saturday but I can't pay you, they would have that same deer in the headlights look.

With the new $8K tax credit for buyers, I've been receiving multiple offers on my short sale listings and what I have found is that most agents don't understand how the process works. The code of ethics says not to work outside your area of expertise, so you need to refer these clients to those who do know how to handle them until you can learn the process yourself.

Here are a few questions I get from agents on short sales along with my answer:

NO, you can't submit a low bid, then have me call you to tell you what it is so you can resubmit a better offer. Have your buyer make the best one the first time around.

NO, I don't submit an offer straight to the bank, the sellers still own the house, THEY have to approve it first, THEN it has to be sent to the bank for approval on the loss they will incur. While all of this is going on more showings, more offers. And NO I can't just not turn those offers in and wait for your buyer to get approved. That is against the code of ethics, unless the seller says they don't want to entertain multiple offers. That won't happen because the higher offer they get, the better it is for the lender and hopefully they won't have to sign a promissary note for the difference in the shortage of the loan, and their taxes won't hit them so hard.

I understand how frustrating it may be for a buyer to make so many offers and not get the house, but the agent needs to educate them on how short sales work and so do the buyers. there is plenty of information on the internet about it, look up http://www.FannieMae.com or http://www.FreddieMac.com or go to http://www.ACORN.com http://www.cccs.com also has a wealth of information. Then their is the new O'bama home affordability plan at http://www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov. It takes time to research, but you need to be informed if you are going to spend a lot of money to buy a house and the agent needs to be informed if they are going to help them through the process. This isn't easy, that's why we make the big bucks ;-) lol, on the transactions that actually CLOSE.

FIRST of all the agent has to know how they work though, SPEND some time and research the links above or take a class and learn, don't let your mistate lose your buyer a house or you a lot of money and wasted time.

. Agents should not work outside their realm of expertise according to the code of ethics, so if you don't know, find out or refer the buyer to someone who does know until you can get educated on the process.

Bank owned deals are easier to deal with, but then again, I see many agents holding them off the MLS so they can double dip their own deals. That is not in the best interest of their client, the bank. I found one that fit my buyer's needs perfectly, fannie mae bank owned, had not gone on the MLS yet, called and emailed the agent, no response til a week later she left me a message by voice mail saying it was in the MLS now, but pending. hmmmm wonder if it works who the buyers agent will show up as?

This is how our world is in Florida right now, if you are working with buyers or sellers, (or you ARE one) an agent who is trying to sell bank owned or short sales, you still need to abide by the COE and I'm finding most of them are not. It isn't intentional I don't believe, it's a lack of education.

I have a good mind to call the lender who's agent took a week to get back to me and let them know that I probably had a better buyer for their property but no response from their agent until it was listed in the MLS as pending from the get go, but this will have to wait til closing where I can see what the price came in at and who sold it.

In other words, I'm as frustrated everyone else with this market, the buyers and other agents out there with this new multiple offer situation on short sales and reo's, but if everyone would play nice, we wouldn't have this problem.

It will be several more years before this market normalizes and we get back to where the economy is better. When that time comes, all the agents who are playing this game will be remembered by those of us who tried to play fair and honest. Hopefully they will not get offers on their listings anymore and that will cause them to get out of real estate.

It is agents like them that give us a bad rep. I'm all for getting them out of the industry, just makes our jobs harder. On the other hand, newbies who don't know any better, I have no problem with. I will help them or tell them to seek help from their managers or give them the same links above for more info.

It's one thing to be inexperienced and make a mistake, it's another to be experienced and KNOW you are not abiding by the Code of ethics. For those agents, I say make hay while the sun shines, because one day your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow will not be there.