I am not sure if I am in the right section for this question but here goes. I do not have a real estate license or have ever really been involved in real estate but am starting a job as a short sale negotiator. I am somewhat familiar with short sales. This job is commission only so could someone give me some tips or insight into this type of job. I am sure I will get training but was just wondering how difficult is it to close these deals? thanks for any help.

Who are you going to be representing ? (What kind of organization; not specifically who).

Regardless of who, you could start by searching "Short Sales" over here in the right column . . . . including the quotes for multi-word searches.

thanks, it is a large well known real estate company.

I would think that if you don't represent the Lending Institution, and you don't represent the current Owners, then in most Jurisdictions (in the USA) you would be required to hold a Real Estate License before actively engaging in negotiations on behalf of another Party.

You don't need a license to negotiate short sales...in fact anyone with authorization to speak to the bank can do it, but negotiators sometimes have a hard time getting paid directly by the bank. They will pay agents and lawyers but sometimes they get iffy about paying out a third party "negotiator" on top of it all. I hope you have worked that out in your agreement.

Oh my goodness!

First, I don't think anyone that is not familiar with a short sale should be "negotiating" one between a bank and a homeowner. This worries me that so many people are trying to jump on this bandwagon.

Second, in many areas you need to be licensed in real estate or law to negotiate any type of real estate transaction. Many third party negotiation companies have an attorney on staff for licensing purposes.

Third, many homeowners that are attempting a short sale with an agent that outsources negotiations have no idea that there is a third party involved negotiating their short sale. I feel there is something wrong with that.

I take this issue a bit personal because I truly do specialize in short sales and have been for the last two years. There are way too many people trying to hit the jackpot in this business by jumping into short sales when not everyone should be involved in them. There are too many dangers that could happen to a homeowner because of someone else in a short sale. When someone without a license has nothing to lose, it makes me feel very uneasy about them getting involved.

I don't think we have any kind of "loophole" in Vermont which would allow unlicensed personnel to participate in this "Short Sale" negotiating process. Among other things, our Real Estate Statute specifically requires a Real Estate License for anyone who:

". . . negotiates, or offers, attempts or agrees to negotiate the sale, exchange or purchase of real estate, or any interest therein; . . ."

That seems pretty clear; but that is just Vermont. I am not familiar with the Rules and Regulations in the Jurisdiction where the Original Poster is considering this "commissioned" Assignment.

I do know that both Licensed and Non-Licensed Personnel are now being actively solicited to participate in the business of securing Loan Modifications for Consumers. This seems to be another Mini-Industry that is just skirting on the boundaries of Licensure.

Yep investors work the gray area of the law all day long and get close to the flame. For them if they are told no you can't do that anymore they move onto something else.

When you are licensed it's a whole different story. This is why I don't let my licensees work with the investors with these hair brained schemes. I like the plain old vanilla type with complete transparency.

I agree that not everyone and their brother should even be allowed to do short sales, however at least this particular agency is taking *some* initiative to having someone on staff who is qualified to handle this.
I think the bigger problem lies with the fact that the general population is under the belief that ALL realtors can handle short sales, and too many agents will freely sign up for these without having a clue.
I personally believe that ONLY licensed agents qualified to do short sales should be allowed to do short sales, but that is just not reality today.
I would rather see the negotiation outsourced than have some idiot agent or investor inadvertently put the the customer in an even worse position - this disgusts me and I see it all the time. I have two now in which the client had an incompetent (one an investor, the other an agent) make promises and fail to deliver at all. All that effectively was accomplished was that months of critical time was wasted. Now with just weeks before the law date, I am trying to fix the mess.( and I handle all my own shorts - wouldn't dream of outsourcing).
There should be some regulation that would have prevented these two incompetent people from even getting involved - however there is not.

So you got hired knowing you have little to no experience. The company will only pay you by commission, not your time and effort.

My guess is you work from home and your earning potential is huge!

You are probely subject to a 1099 reporting as a contractor to the Company and not covered under their E&O insurance. So when the crap hits the fan, you are not covered by the policy.

Number one mistake I see short sale sellers make. They respond to an investors junk mail touting the latest crap technique from a GURU (make me rich) system.

The investor suckers the sellers into signing over all interest in the form of a quit claim deed. The investor promises the moon such as (stopping foreclosure guaranteed,no tax liablity,don't pay mortgage and get free rent,etc.etc.)

Then the investor tries to blackball the bank to accept a ridiculous low offer. When the bank says "go fly off a cliff you retard" then the investor disappears usually with all the sellers documents and tells them "the bank doesn't want to deal".

Now the investor can't be found or gotten on the phone AND they control the deed so the seller can't even sell it if they wanted to as they no longer own the property.

For sellers heed these 2 points and of course there are many others but these are 2 biggies I see often.

1.NEVER sign a quit claim deed on a short giving away ownership rights.If that deal dies you are stuck and cannot sell to someone else as you are no longer the owner.

2.Watch out for GUARANTEES! I challenge any broker/agent on here to guarantee a short sale will be successful. If you do you are LYING to your clients and opening yourself up for litigation. The TRUTH is a competent professional can improve the odds of having a short sale close but factors such as how banks,servicers,investors respond is outside of our control.

Ultimately all the seller can do is try to pursue not the option they wish was there BUT the best option for them that is available out of a bad situation.

Well said Agent 007. Please dont take the job if you dont know anything about it. It is hard enough to close deal when you know somthing about it. The owner has is alot a stake and if you dont know what you are doing you could make things ten time worse for them!