Is it worth it?

That is a question I will be asking myself in the future. It is a question I will ask myself when it appears that I will be writing a Short Sale contract for a client. Frankly, I believe it is a question you might want to ask yourself if your client is contemplating purchase of a home that has been designated as a potential or actual short sale situation.

In February of 2008 I wrote a contract for a long-time client who wanted to purchase a home that was identified as being subject to third party approval in the listing. The home was in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The contract was ratified by the seller five days after the contract was written. A close date of March 31, 2008 had been agreed to. The closing date came and went; no word on contract. In mid-April I was advised by the listing company that the bank had ordered a Broker’s Price Opinion (BPO) and then it would reconcile that with one already done by the listing company. He expected the BPO to take between 7 and 21 days to complete.

About a week later I called again for an update. Also mentioned that I saw that the listing was being shown as Active in MRIS. Was told that we should have a firm answer on the BPO within 24-72 hours. The bank claimed that they did not have sufficient forms signed by the Seller. Listing company sent the forms and allegedly a learned decision could be made.

In early May I spoke with my point of contact at the listing agency. The negotiator at the listing company was looking into the matter since there were two mortgages on the property. Both, coincidently, were with the same lender. Was told that he would call me in the middle of the following week with an update. Since I had not heard anything for 5 days I called back. Later that day the agent phoned me to say that the bank told the negotiator that they had yet to get to the case to make a decision. He explained that the decision makers were very busy and were not depending (like we were) on any particular case to close since they were on salary. Not assuring words!!

In late May received a call from someone at the listing broker’s office asking that I prepare an addendum to the contract changing the settlement date and revising the price to a figure that we discussed. Did it and it was returned to me. The sales price was adjusted because of market deterioration. In early June I received the signed addendum back from the listing agent. BTW, the settlement date was changed to June 30, 2008.

Should I continue? Why not! The revised settlement date came and passed with no word from the listing agency. Not content with the status quo I called my point of contact on 15 Julyonly to hear that the negotiators at the bank had left the employ and that the bank wanted to start renegotiations all over. The listing agency was not for that at all. Told me they were going to get this case resolved by the end of the week and woud let me know what transpired. Guess what? No call.

Spoke with my client and he told me that he wanted me to call the listing agency and tell them that he was going to revise his offer to reflect the current market conditions and gave me a figure. Also wanted them to know that he wanted to settle on July 29th or he was going to consider the contract void.

I relayed that to my POC and he said that the market reflected an improvement and that the previously agreed upon price was too low. Told him that we were considering the contract null and void.

Yes, my friends, after patiently waiting for almost five months to get a contract to settlement, I am frustrated. Will I ever be involved with another Short Sale? Perhaps. But will it drag on this long. Most definitely not. There will be some “drop dead” dates built in and that is for sure. Will the banks be expediting their review of these cases given the shaky condition of so many lenders? I think so.

In summary, Is it worth it?

Today I decided to preview two homes that came on the market within the past 24 hours.  My trip was to be about 26 miles of travel.  At today’s gas prices I looked forward to spending quite a bit of money and a moderate amount of time.

Decided to preview a home in Clearview Heights (in Stafford County) first and then travel over to Fox Point in Spotsylvania County.  The home in Stafford County was listed by a firm whose office is in Annandale and the one in Spotsylvania is listed by a local company.

The one in Stafford county said that access could be gained by “Lockbox-Frnt Dr,Lockbox-Supra,Vacant” while the one in Spotsylvania showed I could get in by “Lockbox-Supra,Show Anytime,Sign on Property,Vacant.”

Common to both was “Lockbox-Supra” as you can read.  However, when I went to the home in Clearview I learned quickly that I could not access the home; the lockbox was the type where you had to place a keypad in a recessed area to retrieve the key.  The one In Fox Point worked fine with my Palm device through an electronic beam.  Needless to say I was frustrated at the first location since I could not get in since I did not bring along my Display Key.

After entering the second home I found that there was no access the “wing” (appears to be a finished garage) at the right side of the home; it was not accessible from the main home.  The key in the lockbox would not open the lock at the door of the wing.  Searched the home for a key that might open it but none was found!

Frustrating?  To say the least!  We need to show that access is by an electronic lockbox (one that provides access through a beam).  There is an option for that type and we need to use it.  By the way, I am assuming that is the proper description for the “blue” lockboxes that most of us in FAAR use.

Right now I am going to assume that any homes that are listed by a NVAR office do not have the “blue” lockbox.  We are in an area where the local association issues the blue lockboxes to its Realtor® members.  Appears to me that people who list home in our area would comply with the local custom if they wish it to be shown by all of the local agents.

Let’s get to the second home; the one in Fox Point.

If you have a listing that your fellow Realtors® will not be able to preview or show completely then provide comments that are appropriate for the situation.  Is there a key to the shed available in the home?  Is there a key available to the wing that is under separate lock?  Where is that key?

What are your thoughts on these issues?  Am I being too picky?

Last week went to a settlement on a property in Spotsylvania County; the home was a bank owned property that came about through foreclosure.

Seller selected the settlement agency for their side and we selected a local attorney to represent the buyer.  At the settlement table we were told that the bank had dictated the commission to be paid.  I was not listening as I should have been!

After the commission check was written to my broker, my astute broker/owner discovered that my commission was less than normal and asked if I had agreed to a different figure.  After I responded “No” the light went on.

We decided to hold off on depositing the commission check and my cashing my check which had already been written.  Upon my return to my office I called the broker/owner of the listing brokerage.  Initially, I was told that he was busy and could not come to the phone.  When asked why I was calling the response was “Possible arbitration.”  All of a sudden he became available and we spoke.  In all honesty he was very professional in the entire discussion and I gained a great deal of respect for him.  He was, he said, overwhelmed by the volume of work inherited with bank sales.

When I explained the situation to him (our brokerage had received less than the commission offered in the blanket unilateral offer of cooperation and compensation to brokers in the Metropolitan Regional Information Services (MRIS)) he was quick to comment “That is wrong.”

In a matter of seconds he suggested that the situation be remedied immediately.  He would call his bookkeeper and have a check issued to cover the difference.  That was agreeable to me and we talked a few minutes longer before the call ended.

This morning I received a call from the bookkeeper telling me that she had been contacted by the broker/owner.  She confirmed the amount owed us and asked me to validate the address of my brokerage.  She then stated that the check would be sent out today.

I post this because I want you to be careful when you go to settlement.  Examine the HUD-1 carefully.  Be sure that the commission paid your firm is in conformance with that shown in the MLS listing.

A few years ago, someone just starting out in the real estate business in our area asked me a question regarding software.  Specifically, what real estate software would you buy if you were just starting out?

Please understand that I am not an expert in real estate software.  Nonethless, I will share a few thoughts with anyone who is interested.  When I first started out in this business I did not use any contact management software at all.  All of my notes were in handwriting and saved in a notebook when I had time.  I created mailing lists in several software programs.  One day I heard someone mention Top Producer.  After reading a little about the program I decided to purchase it and began using it shortly thereafter.  Bear in mind that Top Producer was not what it is today; the program came on several 3.5″ floppy disks.  I’ll bet that some of you reading this do not remember what a 3.5′ floppy disk even looked like!

I used Top Producer for many years and was a big (and I mean big) fan.  It was, and, I am sure, still is a good program today.

My only issue was that it did not have a good word processer; the email program was a bit lacking too.

I had heard of several other programs that friends had been using.  I explored ones that had an interface with Microsoft Office since I used MS Office for many of the other tasks.  Some contact management programs worked well when I tested them and others did not.  I finally heard of Active Agent for Outlook.  I signed up for a trial version and it worked well and did what I wanted it to do.  One of the things that impressed me about this program was the absolutely outstanding technical support I received.  Technical support from the developer himself!  Yes, when I had a question I spoke with Jack Bretcher; Jack developed the program!

Last month I attended a seminar of CyberProfessionals which was held in Pittsburgh.  At the convention a gentleman addressed the group.  He, in my opinion, knows more about contact management programs designed for real estate agents than anyone I know.  His name is Gary David Hall.  His website is here.

I enjoin you to visit Gary’s website if you are considering purchase of a contact management program.  You won’t go wrong!