Short Sale and Second Mortgage
Yesterday a real estate agent called me for advice on a short sale and second mortgage that she was in the middle of negotiating in Carlsbad, CA. The first lien of $675,000 was held by Chase and the second lien of $10,000 was held by CitiMortgage (“Citi”). The agent told me that she had obtained first lien approval via a HAFA short sale from Chase and that Chase had allocated $750 towards Citi’s junior lien. The agent said that Citi had rejected the $750 offer from Chase and, instead, wanted $8500. She told me that she was in a bind and did not know what to do, that she was in danger of losing the short sale because of the 2nd lien holder. The agent wanted to know what she should do. While I was talking to her 2 things came to my mind. First, why was this agent calling me and not talking to her broker. Of course I already knew the answer. The reason is that her either her broker was not an overly helpful broker or her broker did not know how to resolve the situation. Either way, this poor agent was relegated to searching the Internet in an effort to resolve this issue and came across my website and blogs. She called me because she could tell that I might have the knowledge and skill-set that she needed to try and save the short sale. It is sad because agents like this should be working with a broker like myself and not left on their own without any support or guidance. I work diligently with all of my agents to assist them in their efforts and do not leave them scouring the Internet for answers. The truth is that the situation that the agent relayed to me is somewhat common and their is a way to resolve it. The problem is that most agents do not possess the backing to get a junior lien holder to move. As an attorney and Realtor, I carry a bigger stick in my negotiations and know how to get the lender to listen. As a courtesy I gave the real estate agent some tips on what she should try and do. However, if you are a real estate agent that has struggled with short sales, you should really call my office and speak to me about coming to work with me.
The second thing that came to my mind was that these homeowners had retained an agent to short sale their house that was not overly qualified or did not possess the resources needed to complete the short sale. That is why it is really important for homeowners to contact Realtors like myself that have the ability to do things other Realtors and agents cannot do. Every real estate agent will tell you that they can do a short sale and that they have experience. They have to tell you that because if they told you the truth you would not hire them. The fact that I am an attorney is tangential and has nothing to do with my services to a homeowner retaining me to help them sell their home. In other words, you can retain my services exactly the same as you would any other real estate agent. The only difference is that my knowledge and experience and capabilities far exceeds the typical real estate agent. All things being equal, who would you rather have on your side?
Homeowners need to realize that not all real estate professionals are the same. A homeowner’s friend or acquaintance might have a real estate license but that does not mean that they are qualified to properly handle a short sale. For more information on how to select a real estate professional for a short sale please click the following link: https://sdshortsaleattorney.com/how-do-i-find-a-realtor-for-a-short-sale/.
Jenny Winford July 23rd, 2017
Posted In: Uncategorized