How to Qualify a Short Sale Agent

There are a lot of real estate companies and real estate agents in Colorado claiming to know short sales, but they are really just learning the “how-to’s” of short sales.  Now even national short sale companies are claiming to know how to process short sales in all states, but do they?  Short sales are certainly a process that needs a lot of experience and finesse. Processing, negotiating, and listing short sales are not for the novice. Key Concepts has been a leader in processing and negotiating short sales in Colorado since 2005. It has come to our attention that many of these so-called “short sale” experts do not know anything about the short sale process or about short sales in general. I have listed a few questions that I feel will qualify a real expert from a novice. I would also advise a homeowner to not use an agent who has not performed more than 10 short sales in the last calendar year or who has less than a 90% success rate. Here are a few questions I would suggest a homeowner ask before selecting a short sale agent.

 1. How many short sales have you completed in the last 6 months to 1 year?

2. How long have you been performing short sales? 3. How many short sales have you completed for (your mortgage company here)?

 4. What has been your experience with my mortgage company?

5. Do you process your own short sales or do you sub out? If the answer is: no they do not process their own short sales then ask who handles the short sale after it is submitted? Be cautious if the agent uses a national short sale processing center or title company to process the short sale.

6. How long do you think my short sale will take? Be cautious of agents who propose “quick”, less than 60 days, or we get them done the fastest.

7. Make sure to note if your short sale is a conventional loan, FHA pre-foreclosure sale, or VA short sale. Ask the agent if he or she is knowledgeable in the type of loan product that you have. All loans are not treated the same.

For more information on short sales call Key Concepts at 720-276-2553 or visti www.kjhomefinder.com . We understand short sales and we can help.

Why should a homeowner short sale?

There is an alarming number of homeowners who are in need of financial assistance and there is an increasing number of homeowners that are delinquent on their mortgage payments. 50% of the homeowner that are going into foreclosure do not even know that they have options.  Bankruptcy attorneys push for bankruptcy and the word short sale is still a a term not known by many. Approaching 2010 there is a lot more talk on short selling homes, but what are the real reasons a homeowner should short sale? well, most importantly to avoid having a foreclosure on their record, but there are even more reasons a homeowner should not walk away from their home.  A short sale will help with almost everything including; car insurance rates, employability (some companies and professions will not hire an individual with a foreclosure on their record), credit card and loan interest rates, the ability to have credit, the length of time they can purchase a home again, to prevent the bank(s) from coming back afterthe homeowner for a deficiency (mortgage companies have 6 years), avoid bankruptcy, to settle your accounts up front with no surprises, and more.   Most home owners do not know they have options and many scam companies are telling them to walk away.  Please log on to www.kjhomefinder.com for more info.

News for Licensed Realtors and Brokers for the State of Colorado Doing Short Sales

News for Licensed Realtors and Brokers for the State of Colorado Doing Short Sales It has come to my attention that more and more brokers in Colorado are doing short sales. This is great as homeowners need good professionals whom they can trust. Real estate is a very competitive field in general, but we need to really look after each other and our State as a whole. Even more importantly we need to look after our clients. Recently I signed up with a company based out of California who gave me 2 short sale leads. This company informed me that a condition of my obtaining the leads was that they were to negotiate the short sale for me and I would just need to list it. I was a bit skeptical at first, but took the short sale listing subject to. Short sales are not easy for the most part, but a good short sale agent can certainly make things a lot easier for the seller client. After I had listed the property and the sellers had submitted their short sale package in full the short sale itself was delayed several times due to the unprofessional and unprepared company from California claiming to know how to do short sales nationally. A few things they are doing wrong are •· Sending incomplete packages (although the seller provided the documents) •· Sending the package 30 days after an offer was received •· Having out of state title companies prepare HUD’s •· Failure to communicate with the listing agent •· Failure to follow up with the mortgage company •· Failure to follow up with the seller This makes everyone look bad. Recently, our state passed a law that one must be a “licensed Colorado mortgage broker” to do loan modifications in Colorado. There has also been a lot of talk about being a “licensed Colorado real estate agent or broker” to negotiate short sales. I would encourage agents and brokers to write their local real estate commission to make this an official rule/law in our state. After talking to companies doing national short sale negotiations I learned that the reason they are preying on others states is because their state is oversaturated with agents that they need to make money in other markets. I also learned that these companies are charging $1000 to do a short sale. This is not a valid reason to be working in a distressed market when a seller is already distressed. Please help in keeping these predator companies out of the marketplace. For information on a great and trusting short sale company log on to www.kjhomefinder.com

Key Concepts Short Sales Expand

Now Serving the Colorado Short Sale Market of: Alt, Arvada, Aurora, Broomfield, Brighton, Boulder, Briggsdale, Castle Rock, Centennial, Colorado Springs, Commerce City, Carr, Denver, Dacono, Elizabeth, Englewood, Erie, Federal Heights, Foxfield, Fort Collins, Fort Lupton, Glendale, Golden, Galeton, Gill, Greeley, Highlands Ranch, Keenesburg, Lakewood, Littleton, Lone Tree, Longmont, Lochbuie, Loveland, Milliken, Morrison, Northglenn, Pueblo, Parker, Salida, Thornton, Windsor, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, Wellington… and more cities. Check out www.kjhomefinder.com