Bryant Tutas Broker/REALTOR(R) Tutas Towne Realty, Inc

Hi folks. Allison Stewart wrote a very good post this week titled WALK THIS WAY... CAN BUYERS JUST WALK AWAY FROM A CONTRACT?. Allison’s post is talking about Buyers who feel they can just walk away from a Short Sale transaction and get their deposit back because they are just tired of waiting. They feel the contract is not binding.

Here is my opinion on why Buyers feel this way. They are misinformed.

A Short Sale contract is no different than a regular contract with the exception of the 3rd party approval contingency. This contingency is related to the Lender approving the “Short” NOT approving the contract. The lender has no authority to approve the contract since they are not a party to the contract.

They do however have the authority to approve or disapprove the Seller’s request for a “Short” payoff.

A contract is binding and legally enforceable when:

1. It has a legal purpose
2. The parties are legally competent
3. The offer has been made and accepted
4. There is consideration
5. The parties have willingly consented to the terms

There may also be contingencies in the contract. Contingencies are: Conditions which must be met if a contract is to be performed.

Some contingencies may be to protect one of the parties:

1. Survey
2. Inspections

Some contingencies may need to be removed in order for the purchase to be completed:

1. Title
2. Short sale approval
3. Financing

The Short Sale approval is just one more contingency in the purchase contract. And just like any other contingency it should have a time period to be removed.  

If it can’t be removed in the time allowed then the parties can either extend the time period or cancel the contract and return the escrow deposit.

If it can’t be removed at all because the Short Sale was denied then the contract becomes  “null and void”. The Seller is now unable to perform. This is no different than when the Buyer’s financing is denied. He too is now unable to perform.

Folks....this stuff is NOT complicated. It’s Real Estate 101. Stop trying to complicate matters by treating the Short Sale as anything other than what it is…..a contract contingency.

If your Short Sale listings are not closing. Get training. You’re doing something wrong.

If your Buyers are getting frustrated then you are not setting the right expectations.

These are my thoughts. What are yours?

***I am NOT an Attorney and this is not legal advice. I am however a Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker and this IS my opinion.

Bryant Tutas
Broker/Owner
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker
http://CentralFloridaShortSales.com

http://ShortSaleSuperStars.com

***The content of this blog is solely my opinion***

SHORT SALE AGENT TRAINING

Listen to a sample of the 5 part webinar:

Copyright © 2009 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Hi folks. I’ve read a couple of posts this week that have left me scratching my head. Both were about listing agents and their “unethical” practice of not handling multiple offers according to the Buyer agent’s expectations.

In the comments on these posts the listing agents were called lazy, unethical, unprofessional, bad, rude, unfair and greedy. The consensus was that “The listing agent was not looking out for the Seller‘s best interest.”

Well my question is: “How do you know what’s in my Seller’s best interest”. The answer of course is “you don’t“. You have no clue what my Seller and I have discussed.

As a listing Broker it is my job to counsel my sellers. My Sellers need to know that they do not have to…….

…..disclose multiple offers.
…..counter offer.
…..ask for “highest and best”.
…..even acknowledge your Buyer’s offer.

There are many reason why NOT disclosing multiple offers or asking for “Highest and Best” may be the best way forward.

• The Buyer may NOT submit an offer if they know there are multiple offers.

• A Buyer may also NOT want to get caught up in a bidding war.

• By disclosing multiple offers I could very well keep my Seller from getting a better offer.

I can’t even count how many times a Buyer’s agent has called me to say they were sending over an offer. Frankly it goes in one ear and out the other. I NEVER believe them. I am not going to contact my Seller and get them all excited only to have to let them down when the offer does not materialize.

Send me the offer and I’ll present it to the Seller. And send me a COMPLETE offer. Telling me you will provide a pre-approval and/or proof of funds tomorrow does my Seller or your Buyer no good. Without these items the offer will not be presented. It’s a non offer.

As an example: I received an offer on one of my short sale listings on Friday. It was cash and very low. It was also sent over with out proof of funds (POF). I emailed the agent and asked them for the POF.

I didn’t receive POF until Monday and then......I couldn’t read it. I had to ask the agent to resend it. It took the agent took another 24 hours. Finally, 5 days later, I was able to discuss the offer with my Seller.

My Seller countered. Shortly after that we received a far better offer that my Seller will probably accept. After discussing it we decided to ask the cash offer for “Highest and Best” just to see if they would come up.

I received an email from the agent moaning that she thought her Buyers would get an answer today and that they were not happy with “Highest and best” and were in fact upset that there were now multiple offers because we “didn’t disclose this to them”.

Now if this agent were a Blogger she would probably write a post about how  lazy, unethical, unprofessional, bad, rude, unfair and greedy I am. And how “I’m not looking out for my Seller’s best interest.”

But that’s OK. My Seller just accepted the other offer that was $15,000 better than the cash offer. I really don’t give a crap what the Buyer’s agent and the Buyer think. I work for the Seller. They are the one’s paying me.

While I certainly agree with having “professional courtesy” it does not extend to giving you insider information to help you negotiate a real estate transaction. Always remember who you are working for.

If your expectations are different....then you are setting yourself and your Buyers up for failure. That’s all I have to say about that. What say you?

More articles on handling multiple offers.

Video is the property of ROAR!! Productions. Hands off!!

Bryant Tutas
Broker/Owner
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker
http://CentralFloridaShortSales.com

http://ShortSaleSuperStars.com

***The content of this blog is solely my opinion***

Copyright © 2009 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Short Sale Approval from Bank of America in less than 60 days.

• Property is located in Southern Dunes Country Club in Haines City Florida.

• Amount owed....$225,000. All on a first lien with Bank of America.

• Contract accepted on June 6th for $136,000 cash. Buyer and Seller provided by Tutas Towne Realty, Inc.

• Complete Short Sale package faxed to Bank of America on June 17.

• Broker Price Opinion (BPO) completed on July 8.

• Short Sale Negotiator assigned on July 14.

• Short Sale approval received on August 4. No contribution required from the Seller.

• Closing scheduled for August 11. Contractual closing date is August 20. We are closing 9 days early.

• Days from contract to approval……..59!!

Another successful Short Sale from Tutas Towne Realty.

If you are facing foreclosure please give us a call. We CAN help.

***If you are facing foreclosure then please contact me. You do NOT have to be foreclosed on.

Bryant Tutas
Broker/Owner
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker
http://CentralFloridaShortSales.com

***The content of this blog is solely my opinion***

Copyright © 2009 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Hi folks. Last night I was cruising around Craigslist.com deciding whether or not to place some ads for my short sale services. It's getting a little sleazy over there. Ads for short sale services, loan mods and foreclosures assistance are every where.

Some were pretty good and some were.....well.........just check out this one:

• Do You Need To Hold Off Your Foreclosure?

• Do You Need Time to Arange a Short Sale?

• Do You Just Want to Stay in Your Home For Up to 15 Months?

• For $200/month we Offer a Money Back Gaurantee if we Can't Stall Your Foreclosure.

I copied this advertisment directly from Craigslist. THIS IS NOT MY AD!!!

So I guess you can now pay people to do nothing more than help you beat the system. How crappy is that?

What say you?

***If you are facing foreclosure then please contact me. They are legal ways to avoid forelcosure.

Copyright © 2009 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Bryant Tutas
Broker/Owner
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker
http://CentralFloridaShortSales.com/

***The content of this blog is solely my opinion***

Hi folks. This post is about "disintermediation". I have a whole bunch of stuff I could write about this topic but today I want to concentrate on Real Estate portals, specifically Trulia, Zillow and Cyberhomes.

First, in a nutshell, "disintermediation" is defined as "getting rid of the middleman". The idea is that Sellers and Buyers no longer need agents and can just log on to Trulia, Zillow, Cyberhomes or any of the other real estate portals and buy and sell real estate without the help of the middleman or REALTORS® specifically. Now folks I don't want to debate the value of a REALTOR®. Been there done that.

I want to talk about this disintermediation thing. Here's what I think.

The real estate portals, that supposedly will make the MLS no longer necessary, are actually creating another level of middleman.

Trulia.com is:

• We are a real estate search engine that helps you find homes for sale and provides real estate information at the local level to help you make better decisions in the process.(From trulia.com about us page)

The consumer can now log onto Trulia, find a house and THEN contact either their own REALTOR® or the listing broker. Better yet, maybe they will all have to go through Prudential, one of Trulia's new partners. A FSBO cannot place a property on Trulia. Only agents can. So Trulia has NOTHING to do with disintermediation. So if the consumer wants to purchase one of my listings, by using Trulia, they will have to go through me. My listings are on Trulia.

What is Zillow.com?

• Zillow.com is an online real estate service dedicated to helping you get an edge in real estate by providing you with valuable tools and information. (from zillow.com about us)

Now I concede that the consumer could very well go to Zillow.com and attempt to buy and sell real estate without the REALTOR® being involved. But if they want to purchase a property listed with me....they will have to go through me. Why? Because my listings are on Zillow.

Cyberhomes.com is the portal to watch:

• Expert tools. First-hand knowledge. Cyberhomes^TM valuations give you access to most of the same information that real estate professionals use to evaluate homes. (from cyberhomes about us)

Cyberhomes is owned by Fidelity National Title. They have 100 million property records!! Keep an eye on Cyberhomes. They also have reliable sold information on these properties. The consumer CAN log on to Cyberhomes and get information. BUT if they want to purchase one of my listings...they will have to go through me. My listings are on Cyberhomes.

Now let me state that I use these portals quite a bit. Just yesterday, one of my Sellers contacted me wanting to do some research on her own, to see what her house is really worth. She wanted to know if she could do this by visiting the tax records online. I said she could. I also said her best bet is for me to update the CMA. BUT if she wanted to do some research on her own....here are the links to Zillow and Cyberhomes.

Also yesterday, I had a buyer contact me through my blog http://brokerbryant.com. He sent me an MLS# and wanted some info. It was not one of my listings and I had already logged out of the MLS so I just put the MLS# into the "search properties" feature on my site http://brokerbryant.com and pulled up the property.

I got the address and then located the property on Trulia and sent it over to him. I thought Trulia's presentation was a little better than my IDX. No biggie. The buyer emailed me back and I will be showing him the property next week when he arrives from Bogota Columbia to buy in Poinciana FL.

My point is, the real estate portals are not disintermediating my business in the least. They are actually giving me some tools I can use in my business.

Being a listing Broker, as I am, I OWN the listings. No matter where the are syndicated you can't buy one without going through me. I control the inventory and I control the commission. This is the advantage of being a listing Broker. Whether or not your Buyer decides to cut out the middleman, you, they aren't able to cut me out. They have to go through me no matter where they find the information.

To take this a step further. If the MLS disappeared tomorrow, I would still OWN the listing. I don't care where the Buyer comes from. They can't purchase one of my listings without me getting paid. Think about that.

And for the consumer. Why waste your time going through the "middleman"? Why not go straight to the source? You don't need Trulia, Zillow or Cyberhomes. In fact, you probably haven't heard of these places anyway. So just do a Google (I bet you've heard of them) search for the area you want to live in. Want to buy or sell in Poinciana FL? Try Googling these.

• Buy a house in Poinciana

• Sell a property in Poinciana

• Find a broker in Poinciana

• Buy a foreclosure in Poinciana
  

• List a short sale in Poinciana

• SEXY REALTOR IN POINCIANA

Then just contact the guy at the top......Broker Bryant. Google me....that's all you get for free.

Copyright © 2008 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Bryant Tutas
Broker/Owner
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker
http://www.brokerbryant.com/
***The content of this blog is solely my opinion***