Another short sale went down the drain.
For a whole year now, I had been working on this sale with my buyer: a condo that he was buying for $100K. It’s not a steal, it’s only the going market price in Coral Springs. We knew from the start that it would be lengthy because, no matter what the banks say, they are unable to give a definite answer on short sales in less than 9 months. So, we were very patient and would be updated once or twice a month with the progress of this file by the listing agent. The Buyer was fine with that because for him it was an investment and he did not have any cash in escrow since the bank had not approved the sale yet.
Three times I had to rewrite the offers because the bank had modifications to add. I was assured that this last one was final and that all parties had agreed and were ready to close. Yes, there were many partners in this deal: the current owner, the bank and, I discovered much later that the condo association was also part of that deal. The owner owed them some $15K of maintenance fees that the association did not want to give up. The bank asked us to lower the purchase price so that the amount paid by the Buyer would be the same and the association would be paid. Both the listing agent and I lowered our commissions so the transaction would go through. The bank accepted to receive less than the original offer, but the association stood firm in their goal to collect all their dues.
All seemed to be working and the transaction looked good and ready to be completed. Then, the surprise: the closing agent called the bank this week and all hell broke loose. Another department of the bank had decided to push the owner into bankruptcy and foreclose on their property. The bank did not even check with the short sale group. Now, the property is empty and the foreclosure process may take another year to complete.
In that the losers are the owner who now faces bankruptcy, and, the real estate agents who worked on that deal, the listing agent and myself, the agent for the Buyer. The tax payers are also the losers, big time. We gave the banks money to get out of the mess they made, yet they have two departments who do not talk to each other but duplicate the work. This is shameful but nobody talks about it. In average, a foreclosure will cost the bank $150K but why should they care? They’ve got our trillion dollars that our great-great-great grandchildren will still be paying back.
This week, I had to take a hard look at what this market is about with the short sales and the foreclosures and my life as a real estate. I got involved with these distressed sales because I thought that I would help my community. I wanted to give my neighbors a chance to get out of this mess and come out less bruised than with a bankruptcy. I feel that I’m alone in this fight and that the banks really don’t give a flying … about us, the “small people” who pay dearly for their survival.
My conclusion is that I will not be involved anymore in short sales. After all, short sales and foreclosures represent only 30% of our market in South Florida. That means 70% of the homes for sale belong to an owner who has taken care of his property and wants to negotiate a reasonable deal to sell to a ready, willing and able buyer. Why sweat it then? I want to make my life a lot more easier and to be rewarded for the efforts I put forward for my clients.
Call me and I’ll show you some great properties that are in very good condition and are easy to transfer to a new owner.
I wish you a great weekend,
Jay Feuillet
Realtor®, SFR, Licensed in FL
Cell: 954.294.5771 / Fax: 954.343.1884
Skype Free Call: Jay.Feuillet
http://JayFeuillet.com
Email: JayFeuillet@gmail.com
My Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jfeuillet
Je parle Français
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Charles Rutenberg Realty, LLC
