If you are a real estate agent in 2010 and you intend on doing a lot of business, you’re going to be involved in a lot of short sales. For the vast majority of agents it’s just unavoidable. Right now about a third of the closed transactions throughout the MLS are short sales or bank owned properties (REO’s).
Typically a successful agent with a balanced business will do a fair portion of their total business through past clients or referrals from those satisfied customers. Just like any business.
But what about short sale customers? If you have a customer who has to sell their home under circumstances that are facing a lot of Americans today they are not usually in the frame of mind to be thinking of the quality of the service you’re providing. Having to sell your home as a short sale has a lot of benefits as opposed to the alternatives but still there is a lot of grief surrounding the decision to sell. Short sales require a showing of hardship such as unemployment, divorce or medical issues–sellers aren’t usually smiling when they go into escrow to sign. You can expect that a lot of those people are just going to fade off into the sunset never to be seen again.
So it can be a bit of a challenge to get referrals from folks who are doing short sales. As you can imagine many are depressed and have trouble getting even the routine things done. If they have their health and family with them then at least they have the support to keep some piece of mind and the mental health that goes along with it.
My point is that as an agent, if you are going to be doing short sales, you have to be doing the best job you can for your clients. They may procrastinate and avoid you when you call but you still have to be the strong one and be on your game and just accept the cards that are dealt. It’s the way you play your hand that determines the outcome in most cases. Getting approvals from the banks is a good day but that’s your job and the way you get paid. It’s unrealistic to expect referrals. But do the right thing, put in the time, work longer hours and keep your client and all the other parties to the transaction informed. One of my best friends from college will occasionally remark that he’s gone to working half days–12 hours. You have to make the sacrifices to get the results, especially if so many are depending on you.
Last night I met with a homeowner that had been trying to complete a short sale for the past year. Maria’s listing expired recently and one of my recent short sale clients gave her my number and told her to call me. While explaining her situation and what had transpired during the last year she expressed frustration with her last agent who she said rarely called her with an update.
As I was completing the listing paperwork, she said she knew that when the listing expired that she still wanted to try and get approval for the short sale. “I wanted someone who was going to let me know what was going on–that way I know things are getting done. When Pedro said you were always calling him with updates or returning his calls, I knew you were the one.”
If you or someone you know could use my help, please call me at 253-709-8200 and I’ll be honored to provide them with the highest level of service.
