Has anyone closed on a short sale? I am wondering what your commissions have been. Have you been lucky in getting a full commission?

I've closed them and we did get full commission from SPS. However, CW only offers 5% and some only offer 4%.

I haven't done any in awhile but usually as stated some pay 4 percent to 6 percent. Usually they pay 5 or 6 percent if there are 2 brokers in the transaction. If the buyer is not represented they only pay up to 3 percent. The reasoning is if they are taking a loss the mitigator is trying to get the highest NET to his client possible.

This is the main reason I market to other agents on my short sales in the past because I didn't want to deal with a distressed seller and anxious buyer for a whopping 2 to 3 percent!

Each bank servicer has there own rules and protocols so they are not the same. Some will have there act together and others will be horrible. We were talkign about this the other day where the investor who owns the loan signs off on the short sale but by the time the bank or servicer gets processing on it the buyers and or sellers are LONG gone. They are currently working on technology to reduce the months of short sales to get approval and closing acceptance in 8 to 10 days.

I can't wait for that to happen...I get bombarded by buyers everyday and agents that don't understand short sales and they call me every day....and every day...and every day....and I can't tell them anything if I don't know anything...if they sped these up we would sell a whole lot more properties!

I agree with Ralph, I have a short sale where the property still has a tenant who wishes to stay, my client put in an offer because it's a "good deal" and "it came with the tenant too", this tenant's son is also an agent who mentioned to me "he understands how short sales work and knows the lender will not give a response right away, BUT asked if my client would write up a lease with his mother, who's the tenant", needless to say this "other agent" became a stalker and kept calling, calling, calling etc. So yes!! this system and new technology would be a God send, and no my client cannot write up a lease before closing. This stalker agent actually got an attorney for his mother and demanded my client's attorney for a definite answer as to when we'll be closing! Can you believe this man????

i closed one with IMB, they reduced to 5%. Although I didnt mind, they are one of the best to work with. Lots of communication with them.

Thanks for the input. I have not done a short sale because by what I hear it's a nightmare. One of my buyers put an offer on one but got out of it, the listing agent didn't care all he said was it's going to take a long time. I was fine w/it cause my buyer was in a hurry so I got him something else. In my area there are plenty of short sales so I hope they do hurry the process. It's also scary when the commission is uncertain but that's a risk you take.

It is not the lender that decides your commission. It is the investor that hold the note. I have closed a lot of short sales and been paid anywhere from 6% plus 750 processing fee and 350 TC fee to 4% and no fees.

Any advice with Indymac? I have had two offers in to Loss Mitigation for over three months! I am finally talking to a negotiator via email only and it seems like we are starting back at square one ...refaxing offers,hud-1's and the like?
Bruce Bowling Cottage and Castles R. E.

I have one with Indy that is the worst nightmare. First they say it's approved, sending letter to homeowner. Then after 3 WEEKS they are saying because of the huge loss, they have to get senior management approval. I've started telling my partner to tell them that we are DONE, take it back REO.

Short sales have been getting worse and worse to deal with. A year ago I was able to close them without much trouble, now I can't seem to get one closed to save my life. I had CW not respond to a offer for almost 6 months...they said it was because it was less then they wanted to accept...of course they accepted it 5 days prior to sale and the buyer had moved on...

I understand that the lenders can be frustrating to deal with and the whole process can take forever but my pet peeve is the agents that list short sales!! I have counseled my buyers that it is a gamble and to be patient, so no problem there. Why do some agents tell me "the price has been pre-approved", "I can get an answer in 3 days" or "I have closed lots of Short Sales"???? Gee, ya think they might be trying to lead me down the garden path? I'm not naive and I can check certain facts for myself so tell me the Truth!! In the last couple of months there has been a huge increase in the number of short sale listings and with clients finding properties on-line, it's hard to avoid them. I never thought I would be happy to find a bank owned property to show my clients!!

I have become a short sale specialist in my area. I currently have about 10 short sales on the market with about half of them in escrow.

The most important part of the short sale process is the knowledge that the listing agent has about short sales. If the listing agent is not familiar with the process and has no idea what they are doing, then it can be damn near impossible to get an approval. They are also very time consuming.

Some banks are extremely difficult to deal with when it comes to getting a short sale approval. Indymac has been the hardest I have had to deal with yet. They seem to be understaffed or something. It literally takes them 2 weeks to image a document once you fax it in to them! They said that it sits in the electronic fax file and it takes them about 2 weeks before it will actually get documented into the proper loan file. That is pretty rediculous if you ask me.

I just got an approval from another bank that was only going to give me 5% total commission. I fought with them and got them to approve 6%. I was fine with that. I take all my short sale listings at 7%. So the commission is actually approved by the bank's negotiator. They usually have a set threshold that they can approve for the bottom line. If the loss is more than that threshold, then it has to be sent to management for approval, which can take longer. The best part was this bank approved this in about 3 weeks!

Agent 007, have you seen a big difference in the amount of business you have now since becoming a Short Sale Specialist? I have thought of becoming certified but wonder if it is worth it since it appears that short sales are such a hassle. My thought is though, that the extra short sale listings may improve my chances of getting other listings as well as buyers. What are your thoughts?

Diva,

The learning curve on this is long and time consuming. We too are seeing lots of doors opening now that we have become established as short sale experts. I don't think there is a certification for this, just the age old school of hard knocks.

In my experience, having a number of short sale listings did not improve my chances of getting listings....just the opposite, as a matter of fact. Homes I had listed as short sales, if not sold, ALWAYS were listed with other brokers. (This was from my work with Titanium Solutions). I discussed this with a couple people in the loss mit depts of lenders and was told they didn't think the short sale listing broker would work as hard to sell the property if they knew they would get it as an REO. They considered it kind of a conflict of interest. I took great exception to this philosophy, but was never able to get anyone to change their minds.

There is no actual certification for this title. I consider my self to be a Short Sale Specialist because I have the knowledge and familiarity with short sales. All of the listings I have been taking recently have been short sales. I do work extremely hard on these deals though. Do I think it is worth it? Absolutely! It shows what I am made of. Many other agents don't like dealing with short sales, so they refer them to me. It also puts my name out there more with my yard signs.

Here I go again w/short sales. I am trying to stay away from them but it's hard when every listing is one of these! I know they take very long to approve but if I make an offer and put at least a week for approval do they still consider our offer after 45days? I don't want my buyer to be stuck to something that may never happen, but at least she will have an offer in. These houses are going very cheap for short sales. Also, on a short sale addendum that the listing agent wrote 45 days can we cross this out & write what we want? Would it be accepted? Some foreclosures are there, but most of all the listings are short sales.

If you want to get into short sales, I recommend signing up with Titanium. (There is another thread about this company). I know alot of people don't like them, but I have been able to get a lot of listings through them. It takes patience and understanding to do a short sale...I agree! Just my 2 cents.