Selecting the right real estate agent to help you when short selling your home is crucial. The success of the short sale depends very much on selecting a real estate professional that is familiar with the process.
When interviewing agents, there are 10 very important questions you have to ask:
1. Are you personally negotiating the short sale on my behalf or do you have a third party negotiator? – It is important to know if the agent you will be selecting to process the short sale of your home is personally involved or not. In some cases it is better to have a third party negotiator but if that’s the case the agent needs to be familiar with the process, authorized to negotiate and be able to step up in case the company she/he hired doesn’t do their job. On the other hand if the agent is personally negotiating the sale, it is important to know that she/he is not on her own. Negotiating is a time consuming process, you want to make sure that your agent is not overwhelmed.
2. How many short sales have you successfully closed in the last 3 years? – There are few very important words in this question. Please note, you need to know how many short sales, not closing in general. It is important to know, not how many has she/he listed but how many has she/he closed. And last but not least, you are asking for a track record of atleast 3 years. It is not important how many years the agent has been in business, because there are some veterans in our industry that haven’t closed any short sales. You need an agent who’s been doing short sales for at least 3 years because it takes time to close deals, and the best experience is generated by working on transactions, not going to school.
3. Do you have a team of professionals that helps you with the short sale process? – As I mentioned earlier short selling a property is a time consuming process, in order not to get overwhelmed, it’s important to have help.
4. Are you familiar with equator? – This simple question is actually worth asking. Equator is a platform that most lenders use to process short sales. Not all lenders are on equator but agents that process short sales are familiar with the platform.
5. Is there an additional fee for negotiating the short sale? – There is additional work involved to process a short sale, charging an extra fee is common but you need to know who pays for processing.
6. If there is an additional fee who pays it? The sellers lender, seller, buyer, buyer’s agent or seller’s agent? – If there is an attorney involved processing the short sale, some lenders will approve a short sale processing fee, or some times the fee is called attorney fee, that is placed on the HUD1- your closing statement. When there is no attorney involved, but there is a shorts ale processing fee, make sure you ask your agent to request the buyer to pay for negotiating the short sale, so you can avoid the extra cost.
7. What is a valid hardship? – It is important to have a valid hardship for a short sale to get approved. Make sure the agent you work with understands your hardship and presents it properly while negotiating with your lender.
8. Do you consult me and review my paperwork before you submit it to the bank? – Agents that successfully close short sales, know the right questions to ask you and more importantly know how to present your hardship to the lien holders on your property.
9. Do you have an easy to follow checklist? – Agents that successfully negotiate short sales have systems in place and checklists to make your job easy, proving the correct paperwork on time.
10. How long does it take you to get an offer? – Hiring an agent who has aggressive marketing techniques is important. Pricing the property correctly is a key! There is one important thing in selling a property and that’s PRICE! Location, condition and accessibility don’t matter when the property is priced accordingly! These are all very important factors when selling your property for profit, but in a short sale situation when you have nothing to lose, it’s more important to price the property right then anything else!
To learn more about the next important step in short selling your home please follow my blog,
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I am looking forward to helping you with your real estate needs!
Boca Raton FL Real Estate Sales and Solutions – Tanya M Kovacheva REALTOR
7 Stars Realty is a boutique real estate firm, that is committed to give exceptional care to our clients and exceed their expectations. I specialize in helping buyers and sellers with their real estate needs in Palm Beach County including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Wellington, Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Lake Worth, Loxahatchee, Highland Beach, and the surrounding areas. (561)-289-8313
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