Vancouver Wa Real Estate - Elite Realty NW

365 Tips To Becoming A Successful Realtor®

Tip #32 - Buyers Who Would Like To Visit Every Short Sale On The Internet

The internet has created some great tools for agents. Dripping new listings on to prospective buyers has been a great way to stay in touch (even if it is virtual) and it has saved agents hours of time screening every home that gets listed. On the other hand, it has also created a few pitfalls.

A major pitfall has been that buyers have access to view properties that don't contain all or the relevant information.

Bill and Barbara Buyer hire you to be their buyer's agent. They are preapproved up to $300,000 and they have a list of 37 homes that they like in the area. They tell you that there are at least 5 that they would be willing to buy today. When you scrub the list you find that 32 of those homes are short sales and 25 of them have multiple offers with the bank. The few that are left are probably fixers.

When you break the news to Bill and Barbara, they are still upbeat. Against your counseling, they want to see them and agree that they have what it takes to make it through the short sale process. With some strong negotiation skills you manage to get the to cut out the homes with multiple offers. They decided to cut the fixers on their own.

You all know where this is going. They find one they really like and beg your to write an offer. You write it, you sit and wait for 3 months (if they make it that long) and your buyers disappear. Probably mad at you for getting them into the whole mess.

Next time you find yourself in this situation, try this:

1. Go to ActiveRain and print 3 or 4 short sale nightmare stories.

2. Include them as part of your buyer interview process.

3. Explain to them that a huge percentage of these deals fail and the buyers end up missing out on the home that they really want because they were tied up in the short sale contract.

4. Ask them if they would like you to help them avoid those deals and to just show them homes that are actually available at the listed price.

You will get a "yes" answer every time. You will save yourself a huge headache, save your clients a gient heartache, and they will thank you for it in the end!