Is a short sale a good option for a home seller looking to escape foreclosure? The answer is an undeniable yes. Is it a good move for a real estate buyer? The answer to this question depends on who you are talking to and what real estate market you are in.

Some real estate agents work the short sale market as their niche. They learn the ins and out of working with the banks and getting approval from them. The process is similar with every transaction, but each bank has different people behind desks making decisions. Even more complicated is that each bank has different departments–legal and loss mitigation–working on the short sale process and seemingly not working in conjunction with each other.

As a homeowner, you need a real estate agent who specializes in short sales to make sure you are as timely and effective as possible with the banks. As a real estate buyer, you need an agent who specializes in short sales to guide you to the better deals and to be your support staff through the excruciatingly long process of acceptance.

Tanya Endicott, a Connect2Agent member and real estate agent in North Dallas, is a true-blue short sales guru. She’s been selling real estate in North Dallas for the past eight years and has specialized in REOs and short sales. Short sales are a good situation for homeowners who are upside down on their house, says Endicott.

In this situation, the banks are more inclined to work with a homeowner. Homeowners need to work with their real estate agent and get all the proper documentation to the bank. The process is the same for all banks, Endicott informed me.

It’s a matter of being steadfast in getting the right paperwork to the bank and having a real estate agent make sure the communication happens to both the loss mitigation and the legal departments at the bank. Although these two departments are in the same bank, they often don’t talk to each other.

Even the most extreme situations can work out successfully. Endicott shared a story about a client who had three strikes against her and still was able to come out OK: Her client’s daughter had expensive back surgery. Then the client herself had costly back surgery. The final strike was the tenants in her rental properties stopped paying rent. Endicott was able to renegotiate the mortgage terms on one of the houses. It’s currently listed.

Another of the houses closed in escrow on July 28.

For buyers, short sale transactions can be a roller coaster ride. They need to have patience because the process is so long. Even when the homeowner and the buyer settle on a sales price, the bank still has to approve it.

Endicott takes pride in being able to close 8 out of 10 short sale transactions. She informed me this is a high closing ratio for the marketplace. Many real estate agents, she estimates, may have 1 in 10 short sale transactions go through.

Can you be a homeowner again after you have closed your house on a short sale? The dream of homeownership is not lost for these homeowners. Endicott informed me it is “Free for people to do a short sale and in most instances, it doesn’t impact your credit.” If you go past 30 days paying on your mortgage, it will still go on your credit, but you can work on credit repair after your short sale transaction.

How do you find a real estate agent who specializes in short sales properties? This seems to be the million-dollar question. Endicott recommended a seller’s best avenue might be to Google “short sales” and take some time to read up on what kind of advice a real estate agent might give you.

When it’s time for you to choose a real estate agent to work with, make sure you ask questions like:

• How long have you been working on short sales?
• How many short sales have you closed in the last six months?
• What are the pros and cons of buying/selling a house on a short sale?

The success of a short sale transaction can begin and end with your real estate agent’s expertise.

Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson

Tags: Connect2Agent, foreclosures, short sales

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 at 6:00 am and is filed under Buyer and Seller Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.