Section 1 Part 2 The Real Estate Broker and the Short Sale Processor

Real Estate Broker

Any real estate agent can complete a short sale. There are seminars and training that offer “short sale certification”, however, this is not required to submit a short sale package or to complete a short sale transaction. A short sale is like a standard arm's length transaction in almost every way. And even the least experienced agent can find their way through those.

It is the listing broker's responsibility to get activity on the subject property (no matter what the market conditions) enough to obtain an offer. The single best way to increase activity on any listing is to keep downward pressure on the asking price and the wise use of bonus commission to a selling agent.

The bonus may or not be honored by the lender. As the party in control, it’s pretty much going to be up to them. But beware, I’ve seen transactions where a selling agent bonus was offered. The lender struck the bonus off the HUD. In order to keep the deal together, the listing agent coughed up the majority of their commission to help to offset the selling side's loss.

There are some other lender-required listing instructions. For instance, the lender will need to approve any sales contract. Therefore, the listing should read “third party approval is required” somewhere within the body of the listing.

Next up, Short Sale Processor

Short Sale Processor

The short sale processor is the party that acts as the liaison between all parties and the lender. No other party should be in contact with the lender other than the attorney.

The short sale processor is one of the more important characteristics in the short sale process. They must be excellent at communication (both written and verbal), organized, and very firm and useful negotiator.

It’s much easier said than done to find a processor organized enough to process the files as well as to be a resourceful negotiator. As I’ve stated in other videos and articles, perhaps the best person suited for the negotiator job is you, the investor.

Although they’ll most likely be taking their marching orders from someone else (you or the attorney), their ability to represent the owners’ position effectively is paramount to the short sale success.