Rosemary Gleason Reed, SFR, CDRS Elite

Do you work with pre-approved buyers? If yes, do you ALWAYS work with ONLY pre-approved buyers? I ask because I have made that criteria a priority, and wonder how many others follow that model. When buyers call to inquire about a property "How much are you pre-approved for?" is one of the first questions I ask. I am regularly surprised by the number of buyers who have not even thought about this, thinking the search for a new home begins on Realtor.com and continues on the front porch of the house.

I spoke to a young man last week: first, he explained that he had previously seen over 40 houses with the agent he had previously worked with. When I asked why he hadn't found a house he explained that he didn't meet the criteria to buy as they changed the minimum credit score necessary. He went on to say that he knew his score had improved and that he was "working with a lender." I asked him to supply a copy of the preapproval from the lender for my files; instead he sent a list of six houses he wanted to see.

I decided to clarify my request, rather than acquiesce. I replied to his email by setting up a tentative time for showings, two days in the future, and explained that I hadn't received the letter and wondered when he might be sending it. He responded to my final request by explaining that he "couldn't work with me" as he just wanted to look at houses, not necessarily buy. He further explained that he could find an agent to show him around without a letter, knowing that he could get one whenever he found something.

I will be the first to admit that I didn't ALWAYS venture down the pre-approval path: if I had "a live one" I didn't want to lose it! However, one day I sat back and thought about those buyers I'd met and advised to call a lender after that meeting, and realized that, except for ONE, they all went by the wayside. Many did call the lender and learned they were not able to buy, others didn't, and I assume they moved on to the next name on the next sign in the yard. So I had to ask myself... is this smart business? And the "No" was deafening.

I have been blessed with many friends and lots of family, and a wonderful dog... I'm NOT lonely. Knowing that, I can't come up with a reason to spend time and money on just "getting to know you", the buyer who does not want to invest ten minutes in a phone call to a lender. But trust me, once you begin working with me, and recognize that this is not a hobby, it's a passion, you'll find that small investment of time more than pays off!

It's funny how the more things change, the more they stay the same, isn't it? And, of course, it's infuriating! Four months ago I met a wonderful couple needing to sell their home as a short sale. I listened as they related the nightmare they'd been through with their lender, SunTrust Mortgage. Having learned that many homeowners color themselves as victims when they may not quite fit the description, I chose to adopt a "wait and see" attitude as I'd not yet had the pleasure of dealing with this company.

Ah, let the games begin. My first indication of how special an institution they are, came when they told me, afgter having sent the complete package repeatedly, that I was missing the "arms length affidavit." I explained that we were shorting an FHA loan, did not need to have an offer in order to initiate the process, and thus could not fill out the affidavits. Repeated phone calls, stating the same thing fell on the same deaf ears: in fact, when I sometimes wanted to pretend I was actually being listened to, I would first practice my speech on the living room wall.

When I finally involved an officer from HUD, I received an immediate call from the negotiator: she explained that everything was in order, and had been it seems for two months, however, she was waiting for the homeowner to fill in a box on the questionnaire for their monthly grocery expenditure. Seriously!? Okay, breathe... $800.00...immediately returned by fax....and...that was answered with a letter to the homeowner stating "We can't proceed without an offer!"

I have spoken to countless reps and each has been more arrogant than the last. I was actually told not to quote government guidelines because THEY do NOT have to follow government guidelines...."Just like that new Obama bill---it's up to us," I was cheerily told.

Absolutely not! If you want to write FHA loans you MUST follow HUD guidelines...it's not a choice. And in my opinion, it's the one aspect of life where the government actually seems to have a better handle on things than the private sector. But, that's another blog....

Thus, SunTrust Mortgage..

you are the proud recipients of my first ever GRIDLOCK award,

henceforth affectionately referred to as "The Griddies" ! I trust that I put more time into thinking up an appropriate name for the award than you have in providing anything resembling customer service.

Do you work with a specific title company? Most working in the real estate, will have one, maybe two companies come to mind. Those outside of the industry may remember the name of the company they went to for the closing on their residence, but many couldn't name it on a bet. So, you may be surprised to learn that the title company involved in your transaction plays a most important role.

Both market centers I have worked at have an affiliated business arrangment with a title company: that means they receive a financial benefit when you choose to use that company. This fact is disclosed to the buyer or seller when the contract is written. You trust that much thought went into that decision, and I certainly know that to be the case at my current office. However, more and more of late, I have had reason to believe that someone needs to remind many in the industry of their fiduciary duty to the client, not their bottom line.

When dealing with short sales I use Lawyers Title because they stepped up and paid for their closer to become certified in short sale closings. They recognized the value of being educated in effectively dealing with what is quickly becoming a sizable portion of the market. It should be noted that neither my market center nor I have a business arrangement with them.

In a short sale transaction, estimated HUD statements must be submitted with each offer. Further, there are lender requirements and government guidelines that need to be followed and once you "have the bank's ear" you do not want to risk the deal by not delivering a correct HUD in a timely manner. Although I cannot require that the buyers of a short sale property use Lawyer's, I do explain how the title company choice can affect the transaction and hope they understand the risks.

Short sale transactions are filled with pitfalls and aggravations. I believe that, just as Realtors need to recognize the need, and become educated in the way to deal with them, title companies should also address this need. Working together in uncharted waters will help deals stay afloat.

A little while back, upon learning that I specialize in Short Sales, someone remarked "You must be a very patient person." Well, my first instinct was to laugh out loud (which I might have done). The next thing I did was glance around to see if anyone within earshot heard the statement, realizing that if they knew me they, too, would at best be stifling laughter. I gently corrected the "offending party" clarifying that, in order to be successful in negotiating Short Sales, you must be all that does NOT equal patient.

To explain, in order to successfully move a Short Sale to closing the listing agent cannot be patient if one is expecting anything to happen. That said, the buyers' agent needs to be patient, the buyers need to be patient, and the sellers need to be patient as well. They are entrusting you, the listing agent, the person who is the liason between them and that awful entity known as "The LENDER" with the future of the transaction. If you simply send that package off, or worse yet, send in pieces and parts waiting for requests for more information, you are not serving anyone's best interest. If you place a call, leave a message, and sign onto the thinking that it's okay if it ONLY takes them a month to get back to you, you're probably not going to be seeing results any time soon.

When guiding a Short Sale transaction to its resolution, the listing agent needs to be educated in the procedure, realizing that in many cases the negotiator assigned to your case may very well be clueless. On a regular basis you will encounter people on the other end of that phone line who do not know what they are doing, most often because they are overwhelmed and undertrained. If you, yourself do not understand what is required, how well do you think things will go?

As a real estate agent, you need to know much about the law, about regulations, and guidelines in numerous areas; that is expected of you. However, you are not required to know how to negotiate a Short Sale. Yes, they are difficult, and we are hopeful that regulations will standardize the practice, and thus, help us to overcome the pitfalls. They can be however, vastly rewarding, when you feel the satisfaction of saving a family from foreclosure.

The landscape of the real estate market has changed, and Short Sales will be here for the foreseeable future. To serve everyone's best interests each of us should have a plan in dealing with them. Some may decide that it is a niche they are interested in specializing in. Others may conclude that, with some minimal training they are confident that they can deal with the occasional Short Sale on the horizon. Still others may come to the conclusion that they are best at simply holding their buyer's hand and maintaining the patience level required on that end. No matter the decision, decide we must in order to best serve our clients.

Well, it happened again... another showing was lost because a first time home buyers' agent saw the listing was a short sale. She did what every responsible buyers' agent would do and asked the listing agent just where she was in negotiating the short sale. And the response came back, "Well to be totally honest we haven't really done much yet." So, the questioning continued and the buyers agent asked "Have you sent in a package?" "What type of loan will you be shorting?" "Is there a second lien?" And as the replies ranged from "I am not sure" to "I don't know," the buyers agent realized she should probably steer clear of this listing, if she wanted to be sure her buyers would qualify for the oft sought after First Time Home Buyers Credit.

Yes, it seems to be a necessary evil these days, the dreaded Short Sale. And it certainly is making up a good percentage of the market. However, when you take a listing that needs to short the lienholder, you have only started a very long, somewhat arduous process. Sadly, many agents are not aware of the necessary procedures and pass along the feeling of well-being to the homeowner, which is of course misplaced. Many homes are listed above the current market value, closer to what is owed, and thus priced out of the market, while others are at a bargain basement price. Neither is going to facilitate a successful outcome. The first will languish on the market while the homeowner marches toward foreclosure, while the latter will procure an offer that will not be accepted by the bank. In the end, we will have unhappy sellers, unhappy buyers, and the foreclosure problem will still loom large on the horizon.