Trish Boryszczuk

Short sales closing faster, definitely something every Realtor out there is looking for during this crazy economy we are working in lately. I just wanted to share some of my short sale techniques and tips that have helped me close short sales faster. They always say knowledge is power so here is some for all of you wanting faster closing short sales.
Tip #1 Show me what you're working with! In your first call/meet with your client take notes on who their mortgage co is, what is owed, any other liens on the home, what their situation is and outline a game plan for what they need to do and what you are going to do so that all of the expectations are on the table from jump. They need to know that you are going to work for them but they need to work for you too meaning if you ask for a fresh bank statement they need to get it to you within 24 hours so you can get to the bank and your file doesn't keep getting buried. Use the famous phrase "Help me help you!" Short sales are a team sport and the sellers have to play an active role to get it done.
Tip#2 Know who you're dealing with! The bank the seller has is going to be the biggest player in this deal so the minute you find out who it is Google them and go to their website. Read all the info on their site about short sales and their process. Print and download all docs under their short sale tab for use with your file. Call them and ask their protocol with short sales ask where they want their auth sent, where do they want their package sent, do they prefer fax, email, or overnight. Short Sales are like dating the bank you want to know their likes and dislikes before you even start the relationship.
Tip#3 Run comps and list at market price. This is an error that so many agents make they list to high thinking they must marinate a short sale which is not the case I have had deals close that were only on the market 3 days. Others make the opposite mistake and list low expecting it to go fast and bank to take but then you end up with angry buyers agents saying why did you list at 30 if bank wants 50k. It's all about the bpo and their appraiser is going to pull the same comps you do so price at market value.
Tip#4 Get it all the first time! Once you have done all of your homework and gathered all your docs go through the bank provided check list and double check you have everything on there. Be thurough about what you have to be sure every line is filled in and all your signatures and dates are filled in, this initial file sets the tone for the whole file so be sure it looks pretty, is in order, and makes sense. You want your file to tell a story in a fluid motion and answer any and all questions the bank may have. One side note don't send extras....there is no need to open Pandora’s box and unleash every nook and cranny of your clients life. If the bank asks for a rundown of your clients bills organize the name of bill and amount on one spread sheet don't send 85 different bills and hope the bank will make sense of it themselves because they won't. Keep it neat and simple. They will appreciate this and keep your file moving.
Tip#5 Label EVERYTHING!!! This is huge and has helped me immensely. On the top of every single paper put your clients loan number and what the document is. This will help keep you file together and help explain what they're looking at in a glance. It also helps when they are trying to pull something out and they can find it while scrolling through quickly when it's in pdf format. It's tedious to do but the banks love it!
Tip#6 Kill them with kindness! When you call the banks have your mind in the frame that they are your friend not the enemy. You are both working as a team to get this deal closed. Remember banks are huge and tons of people touch every file so be patient and kind when calling even if you're frustrated that the process is taking too long. If you don't like the response you get from the first person you get or you don't like their attitude don't be afraid to hang up and call back and get someone new either. If I get a real nasty attitude first I'll hang up call back and say oops I got disconnected I was trying to get a status on my file, in my most pleasant tone. It helps because as soon as you get frustrated or nasty with them that's exactly when your file gets "accidentally" removed and you have to start all over.
Tip#7 Persistence pays. I call on my short sales every other day and some banks every single day cough cough Wells Fargo. They will appreciate you following up as they are busy and things do get overlooked and your clients will appreciate the frequent updates.
These tips on how to get your short sales closing faster should get you rolling at much better pace. Good luck to all of you negotiators out there. It's a rough time but with knowledge and team work we can all get a little further!

I always tell my new agents the cool thing about this industry is you will never stop learning!! Every day our market changes, trends change, laws change, technology changes things keep evolving and I think it's awesome. Yesterday I decided to take advantage of an ActiveRain webinar on using links correctly. When I first signed up to be a rainmaker it was because I had found this new excitement with blogging and gaining an audience to voice my experiences to and hopefully also drum up some new business. This offer of webinars seemed an added bonus that I decided to check out. I must say at first I was unenthusiastic but then I learned a new thing, then another, then another. Suddenly I'm in my office audibly getting excited and emailing others in my office "Look what I can do" ! I had to laugh because I was so overly excited to learn to make a button that would link people to my company facebook page you would've thought I won the lotto or something. Today I'm taking the SEO webinar and I have to admit I'm actually excited at what I will get to learn as all these things are putting me a step ahead of the competition and teaching me about things I already am using ie how effective is my company website. Sometimes it's the little things in life like links and buttons that can brighten your day.

3 times this week my agents have had offers in on homes, all 3 short sales, and 3 times the listing agents have said verbally or via email "I am sending to my clients for seller signatures" and then backed out and took other offers....WOW!!! Where is the professionalism going in this industry? If you tell someone you are going to accept their clients offer well you better be sure that happens in my opinion. Reputation is everything in this business so don't be the one to tarnish someone elses by giving them incorrect information to give their clients or tarnish your own saying one thing but doing another. This is a hard time for all of us in the industry but that is no reason to throw honesty and integrity out the window!! Think about that poor first time home buyer who was told their offer was being signed and that they got the house only to find out ooops not so much.... We even had one agent say her clients accepted our offer then say nevermind do highest and best then say nevermind we are accepting the other offer then say "oh fine if you're going to be mad about it I'll just have my clients sign your offer and good luck." WOW!!

I have worked the last 3 years building rapport with this asset management company. I have driven by the properties it's given me every week and taken pictures and done report after report, hundreds of tasks each month. I have ordered tax bills, and HOA bills and done bpos and paid utilities and done all of things on rediculous 24-48 hour deadlines. I have done this faithfully day in and day out stressing myself and my staff out to keep our profile at 100% on time accuracy building from one asset to 25 only to in the course of the last 6 months have all of them ripped away even listing contracts cancelled so that OCWEN could outsource the asset management co to Altisource based out of India who gives all of my listings to an agent in Georgia....I'm in Michigan, the houses are in Michigan, I did all of this work in Michigan. This is an absolute outrage there has just got to be something illegal about this scenario of banks making us do all of this work, making it seem as though we will obtain commission from closing these deals and then giving all of our work away and leaving us with zero money....There has to be a class action suit here!! 3 years of work to not be compensated for and cancelling contracts for no reason of default on my part. Something has to be done where do you even start with it???

We all know one of them and boy a run in with one can ruin your mood, your day and even a sale. Could be an agent in your office that every time you see them its "Man this client lead me all over the city and wasted my time" or "man all the leads are garbage nothing ever closes" or "wow that's all the closings this month geez ABC Realty down the street is soo much better." Maybe it’s the listing agent you call that's got the I could care less voice going with you and responds to your cheery disposition with "yeah well I have 20 other offers so if your client doesn't like well oh well we have back up offers" or "I don't have time to answer your questions figure it out yourself" or you call and call and they just never reply. Maybe your negative Nancy is the bank you keep calling and calling every day and every day you get a new rep that tells you no nothing has happened on your short sale but I'll note the account and you can call back and something should happen and you think to yourself "I HAVE CALLED BACK 23 DAYS IN A ROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Breathe, stop, and smile if nothing else then to laugh at yourself for getting so on fire over a system that is well in a word FLAWED. Choose your battles guys and when you can't win don't get mad just focus on something else you can control and avoid those negative Nancy’s out there. If one person is constantly downing clients, agents even your office ask them why are you here still, why not get in a different line of work or go somewhere else or just look at them and smile and say I'm happy today so you can take the negativity elsewhere. Usually people like this aren't mad about what they're venting about they're really mad about some other aspect of their life they can't control and projecting it here where they influence and affect people. I'm mad at my girlfriend for dumping me so I'm going to dump on every one at my office and infect them with my crappy mood.
The listing agent with the bad attitude toward you isn't mad at you either. They are mad that they have to work twice as hard and twice as much twice as long to have an asset management co take a third of their money, but they can't yell at them for fear they'll lose their listing so instead they take it out on the world and on the poor buyers agents trying to get that first time home buyer their dream home. Have some understanding for both sides and you will get less upset. Listing agent remember buyers work with people and emotions and families and buyers agents remember this bank listing agents work with banks and numbers it's not 123 Apple St. quaint colonial in the city it's asset #123456 and they don't care that your clients are great and you love them they only care about their bottom line period end of story and said list agent can't change anything they are but a pawn in the REO game. A little extra understanding goes a long way!
To my short sale negotiating agents boy oh boy to keep at this is a skill, a game, a case by case file by file day by day ordeal guys. If you are not organized, persistent and have an enormous amount of patience well let someone who does do it because banks do not have anything together when it comes to these. I will say this the banks are getting better but even if you call every single day and have the most meticulously clean and concise file if you don't get the file in the right hands or escalated to the right person you will want to bang your head into a wall. Avoid this if you're not fully committed to this process is my best advice because if you’re not it will be harder than it needs to be. People who know what they're doing do it better so let them or get fully trained by them don't go it alone if you don’t have to.....
In closing you are what surrounds you so surround yourself with happy people and put a smile in your voice. It will get you further, it will pay off in the end and you will in fact sell more homes if you are happier and have more understanding for the people you are interacting with day to day! Positivity Pays!