Yoda, Short Sales and The Force
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For a young person or family about to purchase their first home, the emotions and anxiety involved can be tremendous. The idea of waiting 30 to 60 days (often longer) to get the initial bank response can be unbearable for many folks. It is not unusual for a first time buyer to get a short sale property under contract but then want to exit the deal a few weeks into the process once it enters the black hole of the bank’s loss mitigation department.
And finally, the last set of qualifying questions I ask is geared toward finding out how much their agent understands short sales. As you might expect, very few agents are eager to admit that they don’t have a lot of experience with short sales. It is something I have to approach very carefully. I certainly don’t gain anything by coming across as a haughty broker who thinks he knows everything about short sales. I don’t. That said – I also have an obligation to my sellers to make sure I’ve prepared our buyers and their agent for what to expect.
With the interview complete, I slip into my best Yoda voice, and warn the buyers and/or their agent that the road ahead will neither be easy, nor fun. I tell them that dealing with the banks and the uncertainties and wait times involved with buying a short sale can be extreme. “Difficult to see, the future is.”
Invariably, either the buyers or their agent will tell me they’re not afraid. They won’t get stressed with the lack of information. They won’t grow impatient.
To which I reply of course: “You will be…. You WILL BE!”
In all seriousness, the above is pretty realistic. One of the biggest challenges with getting a short sale closed is keeping the buyers and their agents from growing impatient and walking from the deal.
May the Force be with you.