As a real estate professional I find it very upsetting to
find distressed owners in desperate need of help, getting little if any from their real estate agent.
It unfortunate that so many of these distress owners have little or no idea how
to traverse the complicated maze one needs to when dealing with a Short Sale workout.
What's even worse is that their real estate agent who they are depending on for
this help and guidance in most cases will provide neither.
Distressed owners looking to do a Short Sale workout with
their lender need more then just finding a buyer for their home. While this is
an important piece of the Short Sale work out puzzle, believe it or not it isn't
the most critical piece of the puzzle. I
say this because unless the owner and lender can work out all the many other
important details of the Short Sale and do it in the shortest period of time either
the buyer will get frustrated and cancel the contract or the owner will end up
in foreclosure canceling out the Short Sale contract. This happens because the
lender will pursue both (Short Sale and Foreclosure) simultaneously to insure either
way they will get this matter resolved without concern for what best for the owner.
OK then so what does a distressed owner need to do to dramatically
increase their chances they will resolve their differences with their lender.
First they must acknowledge their in trouble and need help. Second they need to find a professional Realtor who has the knowledge as
well as access to the resources needed for a successful and expeditious Short
Sale workout. Realtors need to do more
then just list a Short Sale home for sale, though this is where most agents
stop, leaving the owner to deal directly with their lender which often ends very
badly for the owner.
A professional Realtor will take the time needed to
properly evaluate and determine if the owner will meet the lenders heart ship
requirements for short sale consideration. Once that is established the Realtor
would then get its support team in place to help with processing the owners
work out package as well as monitor and assist the owner through what is
actually a seven stage process that can take up to four months to complete.
Sadly, the failure of many distress owners to secure a Short sale workout from
their lender is evident in Palm Beach County
as our foreclosures are up 20% year to date. Also Per Realty Trac as of the end of January
this year there was approximately 30,000 foreclosures pending in Palm
Beach County. While
foreclosure is the last and worst option for both distressed owner and lender, it
is much worse for the owner then the lender.
So the take away is that
distressed owners need to find a professional Realtor like myself who has both the
knowledge and support team needed to insure that they secure a Short Sale workout with their lender and not end up in Foreclosure.
Peter ReJune
Realtor Broker Associate
Keller Williams Palm Beach
561-793-2493
