Many real estate specialists are discovering that short sales tend to mean lots of extra work – especially tedious paperwork and phone work. Instead of the exciting ability to get homeowners a great price or home sellers a fantastic place to live, realtors can get stuck in a quagmire of back and forth negotiations with the bank.
In the end, no one is necessarily happy. The seller is just relieved to get out from under. The buyer is exhausted from being on pins and needles about their deal going through. The bank is begrudgingly taking the net proceeds and writing off the rest of the bad debt. The real estate specialist may even have to accept a lower than normal commission.
What Steps Get Outsourced?
It’s not really surprising that some specialists want to wash their hands of the process entirely. Others seek to outsource the tasks they find particularly odious. Here’s a look at the various steps that could be foisted onto third parties:
Lead Generation – Many specialists who want to get into short selling try to buy leads. However, the quality and value of lead lists tends to be low since the person selling the list typically has not established any relationship or trust with the homeowner. It’s just a list of people to cold-call.
Document Management – Putting together short sale packages is an unavoidable task and one that must be done exactly right. Even one missing document can mean the short sale application is rejected. Each bank has different requirements. Realtors may outsource this step to an administrative assistant, a third party processing firm, or a more experienced short sale specialist. This person must be good at getting the details right and following up to make sure the bank received everything they need to make a decision.
Lender Negotiation – This is an aspect of short selling that can be most challenging and frustrating. It’s not surprising that specialist may wish to hand it over to experts. However, in some states it is not legal for a non-realtor to enter into negotiations for a short sale on a seller’s behalf. Specialists must either do this work themselves or outsource to a firm that has negotiations handled by attorneys or licensed realtors.
What’s Left for the Specialistto Do?
If a real estate specialist outsources all the steps above, there’s still the listing, showing and selling of the property to handle. For many specialists, this is the most enjoyable part of the job anyway. In the end, the decision to outsource some or all of the process may come down to whether the specialist can find a good source of leads and someone competent to handle the details so the seller is being well served. The specialist must also be willing to accept smaller profits per sale to cover the cost of outsourcing. Then, it’s all about making up for it in volume!