I am all for being nice and helping out. Everyone is brand new at some point. I still remember my first ever transaction- I knew almost nothing, completely thrown into the mix with little or no training. Luckily I had an amazing seasoned agent on the other side of the deal who was kind, caring and patient. I have never forgotten that. Since then (seven years ago) I have tried my very best to extend that same courtesy to other newby agents that I work with, either as the listing agent or the buyer's agent.

With all this said... an instance I am enduring right now with a buyer's agent on one of my short sales has prompted me to give some unsolicited advice to those who are brand new or are thinking of entering the profession:

NEVER BE TOO PROUD TO ASK FOR HELP AND/OR ADMIT YOU DON'T KNOW SOMETHING! Not having this trait is a sure-fire way to kill your deals. Work somewhere you feel comfortable with the management so that you can go to them for help when needed. My current deal with a BRAND NEW agent on a short sale is resulting in a HUGE waste of time because of the buyer's agent's complete lack of understanding of the short sale process, resulting in one very angry buyer, one very disappointed seller and one very frustrated me. If this agent had admitted from the beginning that she did not fully understand the short sale approval process this entire issue could have been averted. I just spend 15 minutes on the phone with her explaining how it works, why it takes so long and what a BPO is down to the last detail because apparently nobody ever bothered to tell her any of this. As a result her client has been given horrible misinformation, and is now VERY angry that the short sale lender countered her offer at $5k more and is now backing out after waiting for 5 months for approval.

So- long story short- never be afraid to ask for help.

That sucks Lacey. Thats why training and education is so IMPORTANT. I am a brand new licensed agent , no listings or clients, and I won't be able to go get those until I complete my training program through Real Estate One. They don't just throw the new agents out on their own, they like to educate them first. Sure the classes are $300 dollars but I feel it is money well spent, and our sales manager really, really cares for his agents old and new alike. I feel lucky I am starting out with a great group of people.

"Every wise man started out by asking many questions"

AMEN. Clap Clap Clap Clap. Not only is it terribly irritating to the agent on the other side of the table, but it's practically criminal to the client who has entrusted his or her real estate business to the clueless one.

My good friend Susan Haughton wrote a blog on this a few weeks ago... http://activerain.com/blogsview/1787616/i-m-training-a-new-agent-a-mini-rant (it's members only at Active Rain).

One of the agents know wanted to make an offer for her clients on a listing that said "Short Sale" in the mls remarks. So she asked the listing agent if they had started the short sale process w/ the seller's lender. The agent didn't even know what she was talking about. The seller had not even applied for short sale approval w/ the bank yet. The seller could not even prove hardship and was not behind on any mortgage payments...yet here's this agent advertising "SAVE WITH A SHORT SALE!!!" on the MLS. It is criminal.

Wouldn't that besmirch a Client's character. I know it's now somewhat vogue to be doing shorts, but I would resent it if someone ever implied that I was in trouble financially . . . . and I wasn't.

I never even mention that we have a short sale situation unless the Seller signs off on it. Most are still embarrassed at being labeled a deadbeat.

I would be engarde for a lawsuit claiming libel or defamation of character . . . . plus breaching my fiduciary. And if the Seller is sophisticated to understand what this even means . . . . being given my walking papers pronto.

Oh, the seller wanted a short sale...they just didn't know they had to prove hardship and get the bank's permission first, and neither did their dopey agent.

Vermont - so, in your market, you don't have to disclose that a listing is a short sale so that buyer agents are aware of it?

Nope. We might alude to it. Some insert phraseology like "3rd Party approval required" or something along those lines . . . . but being required to do so is not here . . . . yet.

Our Listing Agreements DO NOT require that Sellers inform us of whether they are Current, now in Default, or subject to any Forecloseure Action. Probably that would be a first step; and thereby have the Seller actively acknowledge up front, that they are, or will become, a problem loan.

WOW. Not only do we have a jillion forms for sellers to sign about doing a short sale and what repercussions it may or may not have, our MLS has designated statuses for active and contingent short sales. We are also required to state in the MLS that "the sale is subject to short sale lender approval and and commission reductions, if any, will be split 50/50" or something like that. No hiding a short sale in CA. We also have specific questions on our disclosures about "matters affecting title to property" and notices of default, etc.

OK so here is an update on my little rant... the (misinformed) buyer is out. She does not want the house anymore. I asked the first mortgage holder if they would issue the approval anyways based on the terms they laid out so I could market the property as a 'pre approved short sale' and she said NO. That particular lender has signed up for HAFA so my sellers have to get denied for HAMP before they will issue a new approval. They already did a modification at the begining of this year, and it was a total joke, hence the short selling of the property. I am on hold with the first right now to see what hoops my poor seller is going to have to jump through this time around. We are going on 5 months now... These people are friends of mine, I hope they don't end up hating me

Lacey do they want to sell or not?? They can go back in for another mod if they were on a trial one etc.

In any distress situation before I take commercial listing I put in a stip that seller allows me to use distressed,pre-foreclosure,owner-motivated in marketing and remarks.

Buyers need to know the situation.To pretend that buyers won't know it is distressed is crazy.

It's too late at the end when you need an extension and you are running out of time and the listing is old on the market.

A spade is a spade period.

Well my clients are not mad at me. I spoke with them last night- they are OK. They trust me and my skills. They have already moved out of the house- and according to the negotiator on the first that makes them ineligible for another modification. The sellers simply do not want the house anymore. They have already told me they will let it forclose if they cannot get the short sale to work. They owe MORE THAN DOUBLE the current market value. They will likely never recover and they know it. They haven't made a payment on the first or the second since February (I think) and neither lender has filed a notice of default.

The problem is most Realtors feel that they're "all that" because they were able to produce a few more than decent paycheck. They feel the best and they want to show that.
I still ask question, here and there, and some time, I have agent answering by: "Are you that new in the business?". I use to look at their license status online and see they have been newer licensee than myself.
Some need to swallow their proud. No need to say that those who are way too arrogant to interact normally are in my s**t list...
There is no stupid question!!