As I look at Oklahoma City expired listings and I see failed short sales, I wonder what went wrong? Was their just too much debt? Did the agent have too little knowledge of how the system works? Or did someone just give up? I can sometimes understand why a homeowner does. Distressed homeowners are depressed and sometimes want to give up. My real question though is directed to the REALTOR®. Do you give up to easily?
My job in a short sale is to rescue a homeowner from disaster. They don't know how to do it, and the lenders want to deal with an experienced agent. So I have to be sometimes a cheerleader, a comedian, and a psychologist all rolled up into one. Keeping hope alive is what I do on the front end. On the backend, it is complicated in different ways. All lenders are different in how they negotiates, and when second mortgage companies are involved that is also complex. Is the lender local? Is the loan a home equity line of credit? The key is to never say never.
Let me give you an example of one recent short sale that is still in process and the names will be confidential of the homeowner and the lender. The first mortgage is a national company. They had agreed to take a loss and they offered a small amount to the second mortgage company to release. The amount is usually under $3000. The advantage to the 2nd mortgage is that inforeclosure they lose the lien because the first takes out everything behind it. But in this case the amount was only 15% of the debt. The local second mortgage company who had given a home equity loan was not willing to accept and release. They preferred to maintain the debt, and then go after the homeowner afterward by suing them.
Sounds like the end of the game, doesn't it? It isn't. Without going into detail, we met with the mortgage company for a face to face negotiation. We convinced them that they could not get up front cash, and that a foreclosure would create a bankruptcy filing. What we ended up with is an agreement for a smaller cash settlement, a complete right off of the remaining debt without deficiency, and again we had a short sale on schedule to close. This is what is required of us who represent distressed homeowners in the Oklahoma City area or any area. Never give up, never believe that something cannot be worked out, attack the issue directly, and work in the best interest of the client.
Too many times REALTORS® just won't go the extra mile for a short sale client. This is not a contract that they should take unless they address any obstacle with tenacity, a desire to keep learning new skills, and the patience and calmness to go after the solution. If you are a distressed homeowner in the Oklahoma city area I promise you that not only can we give you the expertise to bring success in avoiding a foreclosure, we have the attitude that we will not quit as long as their is a solution to be had. Anything less is not acceptable.
Joe Pryor & Charlene Humphreys, Distressed Property experts
joe@joepryor.com
chumphreys2@cox.net