Short Sales And Why A Buyer Agent Is Necessary

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In this article I will discuss short sales and why a buyer agent is necessary. For any transaction, as a Buyer’s Agent I am responsible for drawing up a purchase binder, presenting the offer effectively, and prompting acceptance of a good offer. With short sales, there’s more to a buyer’s agent than just these basic qualities.

First of all, as your buyers agent, I will be helping you sift through listings, separating the good opportunities from the “time-wasters”. Many buyers I speak with do a lot of research on their own on websites like zillow.com or other general real estate informational website, but zillow cannot examine a short sale listing and determine if it’s a good deal or not.

And there’s something to be said about the fact that the price, in certain respects, has very little to do with whether a short sale is a “good deal” or not.

What do I mean by that? Well just because a home is listed as a short sale and is priced a lot less than surrounding homes in the area, that doesn’t mean it’s a good deal. How is that possible?

There is such a thing where a real estate agent could list a home too low and actually jeopardize the entire transaction. How so?

A short sale is not a give away. The sellers bank will order an appraisal and a broker price opinion. These are reports which analyze the value of property. A seller who is trying to sell their property for less than what they owe puts the bank in a curious situation. The bank must determine that the sale is legitimate.

When agents price a short sale listing too low, what will happen is the buyers will spend a lot of time waiting for the bank to make a decision, while all along, the deal has no chance of going through because the asking price of the home was too low to begin with.

Result? Rejection! And start over from scratch.

You don’t want to be in this situation and that’s where an expert in short sales can make the difference.

In order for a short sale to have wings and fly, you also have to know what values are in the area. Come in too high with your offering price and your appraisal could come in short. On the flip side, come in too low and you’ll spend all that time waiting for the bank response, only to be disappointed at the result when the seller’s bank rejects your offer or counters too high.

And you can’t get current comparables to know where a property’s value stands on zillow or some other outdated, out-of-area national website. A good local real estate agent who understands values in a given area is necessary.

Better yet, having a buyers agent who completes broker price opinions (BPO’s), like myself, be there guiding you on what short sales are good ones and which aren’t and how much to offer exactly, will ultimately make the process of buying a short sale, much more efficient than going out there on your own, being left to make mistake after mistake.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at 631-831-9048. If you are behind on your mortgage and have questions about your options to avoid foreclosure, you can email me here.