Massachusetts Foreclosure notice Over the years there have been plenty of times I have seen consumers make poor choices in picking a Realtor to represent them in the sale of their home.

If the Real Estate market is booming making a bad selection can be less of an issue. Going back to the beginning of the decade all you had to do as a Realtor was put a sign in the yard and put it in the multiple listing service (MLS) and your chances of success were pretty good. Obviously not the case in June of 2011!

In a challenging Real Estate environment like we have been facing over the last few years, the agent you select can have a profound effect on the outcome of your home selling efforts.

Short Sales are a huge buzz-word in the Real Estate industry right now given how tough the market is and how many people are upside down on their mortgages. If you are not familiar with the term, a short sale is when the home owners mortgage company agrees to take less than what is owed on the property.

Short sales have become more common as Real Estate values in most areas of Massachusetts have dropped over the last five plus years. There are plenty of folks that need to sell their home because they can no longer afford to make mortgage payments. The short sale is a better alternative than letting the bank foreclosure. Most banks do not want to own property and the short sale allows them to avoid an expensive foreclosure proceeding. It is a win-win for both parties.

Some of the more common reasons for financial hardship include the loss of a job, reduction in pay, or a business failure. These are legitimate reasons a bank would allow a short sale to be approved.

With more and more short sales hitting the market, one of the things that has become absolutely mind boggling to me is how people go about choosing a Realtor to work with on a short sale transaction. Many consumers do not realize that selling a home via the short sale route is very different than a standard Real Estate sale! You can not just hire any Massachusetts Realtor when you need to do a short sale. The Realtor you choose should have experience handling this type of transaction.

Remember as a seller you are not that far away from a potential foreclosure so picking the wrong Realtor would be a very big mistake!

There are many Realtors that just don’t seem to care and take the ” I will figure out how to do this later” mentality. Is it any wonder that the success rate nationally for a successful short sale is very low? Some of the things I see Realtors doing is just atrocious. One of the more common errors I see is a listing agent submitting multiple offers to the lender for approval without the seller signing one of them. In essence there is no legal contract and the buyers are free to walk at any time. Dumb Massachusetts Realtor

Given the lengthy time for a short sale approval, a seller should be looking to lock up the best qualified buyer that has the greatest chance in getting to the closing table. On the short sale contract, I am always asking for the buyer to wait a minimum of 90 days to get short sale approval.

Like any other Real Estate transaction there should be money held in escrow from the buyer that offers the seller protection if the buyer decides to walk. Without a mechanism to hold a buyer in the deal the contract is pointless. For a complete explanation see Massachusetts Short Sale.

Make sure you ask the Real Estate agent you are thinking of hiring about their experience and their track record with bringing a short sale to a successful conclusion. If you are asking questions you feel the Realtor should know the answers to and they are making a face like this, I would suggest trying someone else:)

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Thinking of selling a short sale home or condo in Ashland, Bellingham, Douglas, Framingham, Franklin, Grafton, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hopedale, Medway, Mendon, Milford, Millbury, Millville, Northborough, Northbridge, Shrewsbury, Southborough, Sutton, Wayland, Westborough, Whitinsville, Worcester, Upton and Uxbridge MA. Get in touch I would love to interview for the chance to represent your best interests.

I am successfully completing short sales through out the Metrowest area. So far, knock on wood, I have a 100% success rate for short sale approval. If you are not in the Metrowest area and need to do a short sale please feel free to contact me and I would be happy to refer you to a Realtor in your location that handles short sales.