Philadelphia Short Sales - 4 Times is a Charm !
When you take on a Philadelphia short sale listing, it is safe to say that you better plan on working hard, really hard. There are many things that can come up in a short sale property that can prevent you from going to settlement. More often that not, the nuances are on the sellers side in terms of getting your short sale approval. Many blogs have been written about this in regards to taking forever and a day to get that short sale approval, or the bank just not working with the seller. Or you have inexperienced listing agents that cause deals to fall apart as they do not have experience with short sale listings.
Well this is a different twist. The buyer agent needs to have control of their buyer and understand the short sale process as well. Sometimes you have to sell the property more than once as you have the short sale 
approval but the buyer flakes or backs out for whatever reason.
In our recent case, we had to sell the property 4 times !!!! (I wish the bank would have paid us 4 times) . In a world where buyer agents are worried about whether a short sale is going to get approved, I am more worried about there side of the deal performing !
In any event, our seller was a trooper. She understood how difficult it was and sometimes things are just out of your control. Her original loan was with PHH. It was amazing how her purchase appraisal ever came in at the purchase price but I guess that is another story...
For now, 4 times is a charm for this Point Breeze home ! And one more short sale is one less foreclosure for the community !
Related Philadelphia Short Sale Blogs:
Philadelphia Short Sales - Another Successful Short Sale in Point Breeze !
Short Sale Specialists in Philadelphia - Plan and Prepare for Success !
Philadelphia Short Sale Specialists
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Congratulations. Four contracts is a long haul but lucky seller to have someone who would stick with it and get the job done. They hired the right team.
This is an area where buyers' agent have failed miserably. They don't understand the Short Sale process as well as do many short sale listing agents. They don't prepare the buyers for the inevitable frustrations of dealing with less than responsive listing agents and completely unresponsive banks.
It behooves short sale listing agents to go the extra mile to try, although there are no guarantees, that the buyer and buyer's agent are serious, qualified and COMMITTED. Contracts between the buyer and seller should be SOUND before they are sent to the bank.
Cindy - Yes, it was a tough one and frustrating to sell the property that many times. I must say the bank folks good to work with as well as this was one of the better negotiators. It was the first and third dealsthat were the most frustrating but I figured it did not make sense to go into all the details... it is what it is : )
Lenn - Well said indeed ! Contracts need to be sound and buyers agents need to be educated before submitting offers. There is so much talk about listing agents not being up-to-par when taken a short sale listing which is a problem but I have seen and experienced the issue where buyer agents clearly do not understand the short sale process and in turn, they are not obviously able to communicate the process to their buyers. I think their individual offices should have some sort of education / training if there agents will be submitting offers on short sale listings.
I had a good referral agent until the Short Sale mess hit the fan. He wasn't making the sales and when I questioned him, he was
Writing offers with 3 day contingencies for bank approval.
Using a mortgage broker for Pre-quals who didn't verify income or money to closer.
Those offers were DOA.
I dropped him from my referral list. Today, 3 years later, he has not closed a single Short Sale.
While I believe that the burden is definately on the listing side to get the listing in order and review offers, buyer's agents need to know what they're doing.
Yeah, with these short sales, the buyers and buyer agents really need to be educated and scare the buyer off enough up front. If after understanding the brutal honesty of all that can happen in a short sale, the buyer is still ready to move forward, then we certainly have something to work with. There's no reason to sugar coat things, because there's so much that can happen during a short sale.
Certainly glad that your client was understanding enough to hang in there and know that in the end you would get the job done regardless.
Four times! You've the patience of a saint. I've sold two different properties twice...but to different buyers, and all the sales closed. Much more satisfying...
Congratulations. That is really amazing that you had four deals to go though to get it sold.
Hope your seller appreciates your efforts!
Your friend in Charlottesville!
Chris-
This is a great blog and I am not saying that because you are my husband (this time lol). But as you know I am doing a short sale right now that I worked on for a full year and the buyer backed away because the bank countered too high.
This is round two, over a year later and the new buyer agent (who by the way is one of the top agents in Philadelphia) asked me a few days into the process whether the short sale was accepted or not! I think I may have blacked out a little when I read that email from her. If our top agents are clueless, I am not sure what to think any more !!!
Any way, to end my venting, I am 2 weeks into the deal and I still don't have all of the buyers documents to upload on to the equator.com system.
This delay is really causing a problem!
We try to educate any buyers' agent who writes on our short sale listing....try is the operative word...since "they know"....after all there was that 5 minute mention in the sales meeting...urgh...
I just had a short sale fall apart last week because the buyer's agents didn't have a clear understanding of the process and couldn't convey information to the buyers. I didn't research them before we accepted the offer - they are historical producers in our region. Once they started asking questions, I realized they were short sale novices, but there was nothing I could say or do to keep their buyer engaged. They couldn't explain the principles of the transaction to their buyer. Sometimes the agent on the other side is the biggest hurdle.
Christopher and Stephanie, I’ve been there … I am on buyer number 4 on one short sale and buyer number 3 on another. The lenders should pay us for each time we get approvals … but rather they cut our commission. Your comment … I am more worried about their side of the deal performing … is a legitimate concern. Congratulations – Awesome job!
I understand very well how difficult it is to keep the offer together until it closes on a short sale. The last one standing is the winner! YEAH! Congratulations!
Glad I do not have to mess with these and do okay without them. I see too many of my colleagues laboring on these week after week, month after month, only to see them fail time and time again. Usually the buyers just give up when the banks refuse to act. Worst thing is, even when the buyer was warned from the get-go that it can take a long time to get to the finish line, they often are so frustrated that they blame their buyer's agent and move on to a different one. Leaving the first agent with nothing to show for his/her work.
Now, even most of the buyers that call me tell me that they want nothing to do with short sales. The banks have shot themselves in the foot on this one. Hope it comes back to haunt them. But who said that banks were smart??????
Lenn - I can see why those were DOA ! We had one deal (one that Stephanie mentioned) where the agent asked a few days after the contract was accepted, "has the bank accepted the short sale" ? My jaw almost dropped to the floor !
KWR - Yes, the good news is that these deals do close, just need to have the right agents and the right people involved. And as a result, is a win-win-win for everybody !
Tim - Congrats to you ! When these situations happen, it is very satisfying : )
Charles - Thanks ! We really enjoyed taking the photo on this one ! And our seller was all smiles !
Christopher and Stephanie - Congrats on the fourth sale! I have the exact situation with one of our short sale listings right now. We are currently marketing this particular listing for the fourth time. We've had to listing for a year and three months, had three different buyers in contract AND had three different approvals on the short.
I have definitely heard short sales are a lot of work and reading your blog reminds me of the challenges you face as agents. You cannot control what a bank will counter at or how long a buyer will hang in there. Good for you on getting this deal done!
I dont take on short sales due to the extreme time committment, but I am happy for you! Good job
Congratulations for your perseverance, you really serve your clients well.
Awesome!! Your sticktoitiveness closed the deal. Way to go!!!
Awesome!! Your sticktoitiveness closed the deal. Way to go!!!
Great job on keeping the deal together..it does take both sides working together...
We had to sell one four times last year as well. We kept it out of foreclosure and the deal closed.
Tom
Great post and congratulations. Short sale is a whole new ballgame for me, and I will do my best to learn it quickly.
Thanks again.
I am just happy for you with the 4th being the charm that something with all that time involved that it did not fall into a foreclosure situation. Short sales so often take great patience.
Congrats guys on your close. We know too well how that process can be. As you said, we should get paid for each approval we bring, but instead we're always fighting for our commission. I don't think that's ever going to change. In any case, great job on your 4 times is a charm close. That was a lot of work I'm sure. Keep up the great work!
Congratulations! Nice to see your hard work has paid off. Short sales sure are tough aren't they!
Just took on my first short sale today. Oh, boy!
It's just too bad that some short sales seem 'snake-bit' right from the beginning. As you say perseverence matters.
Congratulations guys. You are one over the 3 but you did it. It would be good for the listing agent to screen the buyers up front to ensure that they are able to stay the course.
Congratulations on your perserverence! Many agents would have thrown their hands up after the first or especially the second. You are Short Sale Stars!!
This is a whole separate set of problems when it comes to short sales. Buyers' agents need to make sure their client understand the commitment required.
The seller was a trooper but obviously understood the benefits of a short sale over the alternatives of foreclosure or bankruptcy.
Congrats on finally getting the job done. Some of these transaction are quite a bit of work, but there is a feeling of satisfaction when completed.
Christopher and Stephanie, your sellers confidence in you and your persistence has paid off. Good Job!
Four times the charm! Some of these transactions are so hard and it just shows that it can be done! Congrats!
And I also wish you got 4 times the pay because you clearly earned it!
Way to be persistent!! That's the name of the game with short sales.
Nice work! Not my cup of tea since I believe that for the most part, Banks/Investors don't ever intend to complete a short deal but, good for you guys! Glad SOMEONE out there is making short inventory go away!