No Sale! The Danger Of Inexperienced Wellington Short Sale Agents
Once not very long ago at all a Wellington Florida homeowner, after examining every option and coming up with no better alternative, decided they would be better off doing a short sale than having a foreclosure on their record. They realized that their opportunity to get another home later on down the road would be much harder and more costly if they had a foreclosure like a scarlet letter “F” on their credit report. A recent notice from their bank explaining that’s just what was about to happen (foreclosure) really moved them to action and they looked up a local Wellington “short sale” agent to list their home.
The agent spoke confidently and seemed to know her way around real estate. A “Been selling homes here forever” type, she assured them she’d be a perfect fit to take care of their Wellington short sale listing. Their home was contracted, listed and the usual short sale hardship letter went to the lender and a short sale approval was the happy news they soon received. Everything was looking up for the homeowner who nearly breathed a sigh of relief. Offers started to come in on the house. Perhaps a bit on the low side but offers are a good thing, right?
Sixty days later the home foreclosed.
How on earth did this happen?
One particular to Wellington short sales of concern to home buyers is whether or not they can negotiate the price of Wellington short sales. As in any short sale, the owner is the owner. They set the sale price and a buyer can ask them to lower it. A bank involved can just as easily ask the buyer to pay more before approving the sale. Since you’re negotiating with the seller and not with the bank, this can become a less than streamlined process for lots of reasons, not the least of which is the current psychology and grasp of the seller and the seller’s agent (especially if they’re green to short sales) as to what’s really going on. A bad or unknowledgeable agent on the other end can make life miserable for everyone including you. Miserable as in the pits of despair and the dreaded notice of sale showing up at your door or mailbox. Surprise! You just became another inexperience generated short sale statistic.
Now, this can all be most often avoided by having experienced Wellington short sale agents on your side. Not experience like 2 or 3 short sales all year, but 2 or 3 dozen short sales every year for three, five and seven years running in the Florida market.
Now, a buyer and seller can dance around the contract and price issues and the predictable bank responses to low-ballers, etc. or you can work closely with experienced Wellington short sale agents, or at least the agent that’s in your corner- buyer or seller, should be experienced, and get down to brass tacks.
Like all short sales, Wellington short sales are not guaranteed by any stretch. The lender may reject the sale for any reason. If you have one of the many capable-to-do-regular-sales agents but inexperienced Wellington short sale agents then go home, do nothing and eat microwave pizza- and sugar. You’ll be better off. But, if you’re serious about selling or buying a Wellington short sale home, then you’d better have a good agent in your corner with lots of experience- not some two bit “I listed my first short sale home in 2011.” agent who is more bluster than substance. It’s your home and it’s your risk of slipping right on into full-blown foreclosure because your agent turns out to be a sheep in wolves’ clothing trying to negotiate with banks and lenders.
There’s someone else to deal with too, besides the lender, and that’s the seller and buyer. These transactions, improperly managed are the drivers of high statistics of short sales that never close. (Think about it. What happens next? – foreclosure)
Here is where the inexperienced agent will start throwing around numbers like $300,000 blah blah blah, but your house isn’t a number and neither are you. You’re someone who wants above all else not to have a foreclosure on their credit report when it’s time to buy a new home.
Experience in short sales matters a lot folks, and lack of it on the part of your Wellington short sale agent can land you in the “I’m feeling unlucky” file of lenders and loan processors- just where you don’t want to be. Don’t kid yourself. Lenders get a sense of when things are going right and when they’re going wrong and they don’t have all day to entertain your cause, whatever it may be, so they just move forward with their gut instinct and experience. Best to have an agent who has been working local short sales who can demonstrate a track record of success over one, two, five and more years with numbers of short sales closed to back up their big claims about expertise.
For experience 7 years running with dozens of annual successful closings, contact Wellington short sale top pros, Katerina and Nestor Gasset. Call
