Who's Who in the Short Sale Process

Just so you understand the players:


The Role of the Agent
The Real Estate Agent will act in accordance with the rules and regulations imposed on them through the Division of Real Estate and Board of Realtors in their area. The Agent/Broker is the one who contracts with the homeowner and requests all documents from the homeowner.

The Agent/Broker has the same fiduciary duty to the Seller/Buyer they would have with any other listing or transaction.

The Agent/Broker is responsible for meeting the appraiser or BPO agent.

It is the responsibility of the Real Estate Agent to advise the Seller to accept, counter or reject all offers presented on the property. All offers do not have to be presented to the lender. My team will then engage in the negotiation with the lenders.

Please provide the complete package as soon as possible to my team.

The agent is responsible for all communication with the buyer’s agents. Please DO NOT give other agent’s any contact information for my team, which includes phone numbers or email address without my team's expressed permission from my employees.

We do one thing, and we do it really, really well. The main focus of my team is to be constantly available to the lenders when they call without notice. If we miss a phone call from a lender to work on a file due to a call checking status, your file may be delayed by weeks. Note: my team, and their employees are not Real Estate Transaction Coordinators.



The Role of the Area Manager
The Area Manager has a general understanding of the Real Estate rules and regulations and specifically with short sale and modifications. He/She will work hand in hand with you to provide updates and to keep you aware of what stage of the process your file is currently in.

He/She will also notify you if the lender requests any updates as well as when the lender(s) make a decision on your file. He/She is the main point of contact for agents, though please allow for a 48 hour reply time in your request for updates. The Area Manager confirms that your package is complete, submits the initial package to the lender, and he is the person that you need to provide your entire complete package to.




The Role of the Loss Mitigation Department
The role of our most important department is to work with the lien holders to approve the short sale. This department calls on each and every file every few days to check for updates and to make sure that your file has not been placed at the bottom of the lender’s huge pile.


The Role of the Lender
The sole function of the lender in a short sale is to determine the amount that they will accept from the homeowner as a payoff on the loan or note secured by the subject property.

The homeowner must receive written approval of the lender’s order to deliver clear title on the contract they executed with the buyer.

The lender has no other authority or responsibility. They do not sign the listing or any other paperwork as the seller. They do not determine the listing price, except as to provide a minimum amount they are willing to accept in regard to the loan amount.

They do not make repairs or authorize repairs prior to closing. They will secure the property in order to protect the property from further deterioration through the foreclosure process.



Nick.