The lawyer killed the deal! (or did she?) -Part 11

By Ben Pargman | Published: July 22, 2009

This whole series of blog posts has been a blast! I’ve been responding to this lawyer’s letter for almost two weeks and I know it’s been worth it because I’ve been hearing back from readers who say this is EXACTLY the kind of “straight dope” they can’t get anywhere else (that’s a quote from a reader – not my words).

Today I’m doing my final post in the “The Lawyer Killed the Deal (Or did she?)” series. If you haven’t been following along, go here to read the full text of the letter, which was written by an attorney advising her client against doing a Short Sale deal with an investor.

So here’s my final response to the letter, from one lawyer to another…

Ms. Attorney, I remember what it’s like to be asked to give an opinion on something I didn’t know much about. It’s an awkward situation. I also distinctly remember being challenged in law school to not be afraid to do our best and try to help our clients even when we know we don’t know everything on the subject. I trust you are doing what you think is in the best interest of your client and you, like the investor, the seller, and most hard working Americans, are just trying to do good work, make a living, and find a way to contribute to society.

However, I would remind you that your client is a seller who is about to lose their house to foreclosure (not the lender – as discussed in an earlier post). They should exhaust all alternatives before looking at a Short Sale – they should attempt a modification, they should try to sell the house without a short sale, they should try to reinstate the loan, they should call their lender and see if they’ll work something out.

But when they have exhausted all other alternatives and it’s “try a Short sale or let it go to foreclosure,” then their best chance of actually succeeding with the Short Sale is to find someone who knows how to maneuver the Short Sale transaction and will be prepared to close with cash when the Short Sale is approved – and that person in my opinion is the well trained real estate investor.

The “best buyer” for your client is not a regular retail purchaser who will bring the highest and best offer. Regular retail buyers usually want to close on the house 30 to 60 days after putting one under contract – a time period far too short for most lenders to approve a short sale. That retail buyer with the “higher offer” will inevitably get frustrated and walk away before the Short Sale is approved leaving your client in the ditch headed to foreclosure without time to find another buyer before he loses his house. Ironically, it is the lender’s own inefficiency and delay that dictates the practical reality that a wholesale investor – one (1) with the patience to wait however long it takes for the bank to make up their mind, (2), who has the resources (or more importantly, access to resources) to close the transaction when it is finally approved, and (3) who understands the ins and outs of a complicated and frustrating transaction – is the one who brings “the best offer” to your client.

And like any other buyer, the investor expects to secure the property with a purchase and sale agreement with the confidence that their seller is not out there shopping around for better offers. And just like you selling your expertise and your time, the investor has every right to expect (or at least attempt) a profit for undertaking the effort and bringing their expertise to the situation.

Ms. Attorney, I hope my responses contribute to your better understanding of this area of your practice and that you go on to help many homeowners face the difficult situation of an impending foreclosure. Good advice from skilled professionals such as you is important work that’s needed, unfortunately, by millions of Americans today. Keep up the good work! (Just get it right next time.)

Ben

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The lawyer killed the deal! (or did she?) -Part 10

By Ben Pargman | Published: July 20, 2009

I’m not done yet! I’ve been blogging for more than a week now about a letter I received that was written by a lawyer who advised her client (the homewoner) not to enter into a Short Sale deal with an investor. (Go here to read the full letter from the attorney if you haven’t already.)

There’s a lot of misinformation out there about Short Sale deals, so if you find these blog posts interesting, you’d probably REALLY PROFIT from attending my Short Sale Breakthrough 09 event.

So instead of bashing the lawyer again today, I’m going to pretend to address the seller… whose head is probably reeling at this point from all this! I included an excerpt from the letter, followed by my response to the homeowner/seller:

Lawyer: I propose that you submit a counteroffer to [the investor] at the same purchase price but with only the form “As-IS” contract and form “Short Sale Addendum,” which maintains your ability to market the property and take other offers.

Mr. Seller, as I have discussed above, I’m sure your attorney means well. Look, I’ve been there – it’s not easy to be an expert at everything and (sadly, more often than not) attorneys are put in the awkward position of having to give advice on a subject that they don’t deal with everyday and don’t have expertise in.

I’ll assume you asked your attorney to look over documents and tell you what she thinks. I’m also going to assume you said “don’t spend a lot of time on this and don’t send me a huge bill for research.”

That’s OK, but here’s the problem: you’ve prevented her from doing the research needed to give you good advice, and yet she still has a duty to respond. So she’s doing her best given the information at her fingertips and what she can figure out by asking around the office and maybe doing some quick research.

Because she is going to bill you for her time (and she is no less entitled to earn money from the use of her time than the investor has a right to pursue a profit for the use of his time) she is trained to reduce her opinion to writing. She also knows that if she gives you bad advise she liable for malpractice. So the safest thing for an attorney who doesn’t know what she’s talking about is to play it safe and tell you not to do whatever it is you are thinking of doing. This way, if you do nothing, then she can’t be blamed when it goes wrong.

But here’s the rub – while the lawyer protects her rear by you not taking action, you on the other hand, end up worse off by doing nothing. Because she is giving you bad advice, you might actually (if you listen to her) not take the course of action that is actually in your best interest. You could very well end up losing your house to foreclosure while you wait for that “best offer” to “bring to the bank.”

The investor’s offer allows you to leverage the expertise of professional Short Sale negotiators who are experienced at dealing with lenders. And it gives you a guaranteed buyer who is ready to close the deal once the bank agrees to the Short Sale.

The investor’s offer is not likely the highest offer, but as discussed in earlier posts, I believe the investor’s offer to be “the best offer” for you. However, I understand how hard it is to second guess an attorney who we think should know everything and hold your best interest in the forefront. Reality is that most attorneys can’t possibly be experts at everything and unless you are getting advise from someone who has extensive experience with Short Sales and foreclosures, then you are not likely getting advice from someone who truly understands what is in your best interest.

It is a difficult situation to be in. My thought for you Mr. Seller is to remember that at the end of the day it is your credit, your home, and your financial life. My hope is the people you are dealing with are well trained and are presenting accurate information to you to help you make the best decision you can. If the investor has been to one of our trainings, then they are at least equipped to give you accurate information that presents a win-win transaction. Use the people presenting options to you – be it the investor, the lawyer, real estate agents, your CPA, and others to help you with your research, second guess everyone and make a the best informed decision you possibly can. And remember, at the end of the day, the only person who truly has your best interest ahead of all others – is you.

Ben

P.S. Short Sale Breakthrough 09 training registration is CLOSED – check back in the fall for next year’s training dates!

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The lawyer killed the deal! (or did she?) -Part 9: Taxes

By Ben Pargman | Published: July 17, 2009

Poor Ms. Lawyer… I’ve really been picking on her a lot lately,  I know.

Well, I’m sorry but this whole experience of responding to her letter has been too good of a learning opportunity for my readers — I couldn’t pass it up! (For those of you who haven’t been following along, go here to read the full text of a letter I received from an attorney advising her client against doing a Short Sale with an investor.)

So anyway, here’s Part 9, where we get into a common misconception about Short Sales and taxes. (We’ll definitely be getting even further into this same topic at Short Sale Breakthrough 09 in Orlando on July 27-29.)

First the excerpt from the lawyer’s letter, then my response:

Additionally, there is an income tax concern that these transactions raise. If the transaction is successful and your debt is forgiven, you will be assessed debt forgiveness income on the difference between $700,000 and the amount outstanding on the note. The higher the purchase price the better for you. It is not wise to restrict your ability to obtain higher prices.

You are correct that there is an income tax issue. However, you may be completely wrong to suggest that if the debt is forgiven that your client will be assessed debt forgiveness income. If the property is the seller’s primary residence, debt forgiveness income will not be considered taxable income up to the amount of the purchase money mortgage. However, Ms. Attorney, the biggest omission here is that it’s likely your client would face the same tax issue if the seller does not pursue a Short Sale and instead enters a deed in lieu or allows the property to go to foreclosure.

Even if the difference between the Short Sale payoff and the debt is considered taxable income, the seller may not “have a tax bill” depending on the insolvency exception or deductions for losses available to the seller. At Short Sale Breakthrough 09 we go through these issues so the investor or real estate agent is prepared to engage in this discussion when the seller raises the question.

However the most important point here, which I would suggest you take note of Ms. Attorney, is that neither you (I presume you are not a tax attorney), nor the real estate investor or agent is the appropriate person to be giving a seller tax advice. While it is true that there are tax consequences, the seller’s tax adviser or CPA is the person to analyze the entire situation and determine whether or not the tax consequences outweigh the advantages to the seller of pursuing a Short Sale and avoiding a foreclosure.

P.S. Investors who are SERIOUS about making big bucks on Short Sales need to know how to answer skeptical questions like these. That’s why the face-to-face training you get at Breakthrough 09 in Orlando is unlike anything else out there.

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The lawyer killed the deal! (or did she?) -Part 8, Title Standards

By Ben Pargman | Published: July 16, 2009

OK, so I went kind of easy on the lawyer yesterday. Well, today that’s over with. (For those of you who don’t already know, I’ve been posting my point-by-point response to a letter received that was written by a lawyer advising her client, the homeowner, not to enter into a Short Sale agreement with an investor. You can go here to read the full letter if you haven’t already.)

Like I’ve said before, so many lawyers (and other real estate professionals) simply DON’T UNDERSTAND Short Sales, so their knee-jerk reaction is to advise against them, even when the Short Sale would save the homeowner from a disastrous foreclosure.

Here’s the eighth excerpt from the attorney’s letter, followed by my responses:

From reviewing the proposed documents, I do not believe that these requirements could be met.

That’s because as a lawyer it’s safer for you to advise against something you don’t understand than to seek to understand it… but in my opinion, you’re just wrong. The requirements that you set out (see yesterday’s post) are routinely followed by real estate investors and other Short Sale buyers – it’s the way the transaction should be set up and it’s the way closing agents (those who know what they’re doing at least) do it all day long.

So in yesterday’s blog post, I went over a section of the letter where the lawyer listed the ways such a Short Sale transaction “could possibly be insurable.” I know I already went over it briefly, but today I wanted to again revisit the points this lawyer made because her legal advice needs to be thoroughly shot down. (Can you tell I’m enjoying this?)

Here we go, line by line…

1. There are no violations of any restrictions listed in the short sale payoff letter or closing instructions.

Of course! It’s the same thing with any payoff letter in any closing – if you do not comply with the instructions in the letter, the lender can return the funds. They are in complete control of the transaction, so as a closing agent you have to read that letter and make sure you comply. Typically, there are provisions regarding where to send the money, how to send it, any additional paperwork to be signed at closing, specifics about what goes where on the HUD, what agents can make what commission, and the name of the buyer. Whatever is there, you MUST do what they say – just like any demand letter for any closing –Short Sale or otherwise.

2. There have been no misrepresentations as to the value or ownership of the property to the existing lender, the new lender, or the purchaser.

Of course! Nobody should make any misrepresentations to anybody in any transaction. And yet this is an area where untrained investors can get into trouble. Real estate investors are often trained to “show up at the BPO to influence the outcome.”  No, I don’t agree that your job is to “influence the BPO,” but at Breakthrough we explain the importance of the BPO and how you can help the BPO agent do their job and get the accurate value consistent with the proposed transaction. Look, if you sent three honest appraisers all out to the house with a copy of the Bible, they would each come back with three different values (more on this at Breakthrough). But back to the lawyer letter… of course, there should be absolutely no misrepresentations of value or anything else for that matter!

3. All disbursements must be made exactly as stated on the HUD-1 settlement statement, and only to parties involved in this specific transaction.

Here again… Of course! But we’ve heard of investors doing all sorts of crazy stuff to find a way to get paid. Look, the purchase and sale from seller to buyer must be straight up from seller to buyer according to the HUD – with no funny business going on, nothing going on under the table, outside the closing or otherwise. But this doesn’t mean you can’t make a HUGE PROFIT – you just have to know how (which again, is what we get to spend our time on at Breakthrough).

4. Each half of the simultaneous closing must be kept separate and stand on its own. The sale from A to B must be fully funded and disburse with money coming from and going to all appropriate parties. The sale from B to C must also stand on its own. The money from C’s lender must not be used to fund any portion of the A to B transaction.

Yes, Yes, and Yes! Again – this is how we do it.

I’m having so much fun . . . I’m just gonna keep on going. Tomorrow I’m going rip up your statement about income taxes, because… let’s see, how do I say this politely… you just have no idea what the heck you’re talking about!

P.S. Come find out how we do it the right way – Breakthrough Orlando 09 is only a week away!

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The lawyer killed the deal! (or did she?) -Part 7

By Ben Pargman | Published: July 15, 2009

A little skepticism about Short Sales is a healthy thing. I understand that a lot of people out there are unfamiliar with how they work.  That’s why it’s so important for real estate investors to get the right training and be able to answer questions like the ones I’ve been blogging about for the past week.

Just last week I received a letter from a lawyer who advised her client (the homeowner) against proceeding with a Short Sale with a real estate investor. I’ve been posting my point-by-point responses to the attorney, so go here to read the full letter if you haven’t already.

Here’s the seventh excerpt from the attorney’s letter, followed by my response:

The only way such a transaction could possibly be insurable is if the following requirements have been met:

1. There are no violations of any restrictions listed in the short sale payoff letter or closing instructions.

2. There have been no misrepresentations as to the value or ownership of the property to the existing lender, the new lender, or the purchaser.

3. All disbursements must be made exactly as stated on the HUD-1 settlement statement, and only to parties involved in this specific transaction.

4. Each half of the simultaneous closing must be kept separate and stand on its own. The sale from A to B must be fully funded and disburse with money coming from and going to all appropriate parties. The sale from B to C must also stand on its own. The money from C’s lender must not be used to fund any portion of the A to B transaction.

Yes, Ms. Attorney, you’re right on. (And it’s so nice to agree with you on something after the lashing I unleashed on you yesterday!) Clearly you’ve read the advisory letter from your title underwriter (from where you appropriately copied these items).  YES – this is how back-to-back Short Sale transactions should be structured and if the investor is appropriately trained (the way we teach it at Breakthrough) then this is exactly how the investor will want to do it.

Like I said, a little skepticism is a healthy thing. We’re in absolutely unprecedented, historic times for the real estate market and especially for Short Sales. And yes, there are  a lot of scams and bad-faith opportunists out there trying to rip people off out there.

However, when done the right way, Short Sales are win-win opportunities that only work if the deal works for all parties. If your seller is not on your side cheering for you, then I suggest you go find another house!

How do you set things up so your Seller is “cheering for you”? That’s what I teach at my Breakthrough live training event. The next one is on July 27-29 in Orlando, so hurry up and reserve your seat now because you’re about to miss it!

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The lawyer killed the deal! (or did she?) -Part 6

By Ben Pargman | Published: July 14, 2009

It just gets better and better! My readers have been following along since last week as I’ve been posting my point-by-point responses to a letter written by a lawyer advising her client (the homeowner) against doing a Short Sale deal with a real estate investor.  (Go here to read the full letter if you haven’t already). These blog posts have been a great learning opportunity, but remember they’re just the tip of the iceberg compared to what you’ll learn at my Short Sale Breakthrough 09 Event on July 27-29 in Orlando.

Anyway, here’s the sixth excerpt from the letter, followed by my response:

6. Based upon this and our belief that the failure to disclose the higher bidder would not comply with the  lender’s expectations at closing, we are advising our clients to not enter into such arrangements with buyers.

You say that failure to disclose the higher bidder to the lender would cause you to advise against moving forward with the transaction.  I would suggest you’ve forgotten some basics.  Do you represent the lender or your client???

This is directly from the Rules of Professional Conduct of the Florida Bar (where this lawyer happens to practice):

“As a representative of clients . . . a lawyer provides a client with an informed understanding of the client’s legal rights and obligations and explains their practical implications. As an advocate, a lawyer zealously asserts the client’s position under the rules of the adversary system.”

Your job is to help your client figure out what is in their best interest, not what is in their lender’s best interest.  Do I have to remind you that your client is in an adverse relationship with their lender?  In Florida Judicial Foreclosure, the lender has actually sued your client!  Your job it not to determine what is in the best interest of the lender, but rather what is in the best interest of YOUR CLIENT!

Since when is it your job to defend (what you might think is) the best interest of the lender — a lender who is adverse to your client?  No, Ms. Attorney, here you are not only wrong, but you’ve forgotten who your client is and the duty of that the Rules of Professional Conduct impose upon you as an attorney.

As I discussed in an earlier post, the “highest” offer is not necessarily the “best” offer for your client.  And remember… your client is the seller, not the lender!

P.S. Want more from where this came from? Join me at Short Sale Breakthrough 09 where I’ll help you build your dream team of pros who know what they’re actually talking about and prepare you to deal with those that don’t!

P.P.S Don’t forget to reserve your seat.  We’re only 13 days away!

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The lawyer killed the deal (or did she?) -Part 5

By Ben Pargman | Published: July 13, 2009

Last week I began my point-by-point response to a letter I received. The letter was written by a lawyer advising her client, a homeowner facing foreclosure, against entering into a Short Sale deal with an investor. (You can read the full letter here.)

Here’s the fifth excerpt from the attorney’s letter (and my response):

5. The title insurance company through which our firm issues insurance has made a business decision not to insure these types of transactions.

Ms. Attorney, yes, I would agree that you should NOT close a transaction where the investor’s purchase money is coming from the investor’s buyer’s lender and I agree with you that most title insurance companies will not insure such a transaction.

This is why at Short Sale Breakthrough 09 we spend an entire session on closings and closing logistics to help real estate professionals structure deals that satisfy title underwriting standards.  On this point the attorney is absolutely correct. But remember that a successful deal comes from knowing what issues to not fight head on but rather arrive prepared with alternatives.  If you structure your deals appropriately going in – you won’t be surprised when you get an objection like this.

Our Closing Workshop at Breakthrough shows investors how to set things up correctly going in, how to fund your transactions, and six (6) ways to address “the seasoning issue.”  Most importantly, at Breakthrough we help you identify the right professionals to put on your team in the first place – how to find attorneys and title companies that understand what you are doing and can help you do it correctly.

P.S. I keep mentioning Short Sale Breakthrough 09 because it’s happening in only 14 days and I want you to join me in Orlando, Florida!

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The lawyer killed the deal! (or did she?) -Part 4

By Ben Pargman | Published: July 10, 2009

All week I’ve been showing you excerpts from a letter I received that was written by a lawyer advising her client (the homeowner/seller) not to enter into a Short Sale with one of my real estate investors. Short Sales are THE best way to make BIG money in the current real estate market, but let’s face it, most people (including many pros) don’t understand them.

So if you really want to GET what Short Sales are all about, make sure you attend my Short Sale Breakthrough 09 event in Orlando on July 27-29.

Anyway, back to the letter… This is a great chance for potential investors to learn more about Short Sales, so I’m replying to the lawyer point-by-point. (Go here to start at Part 1 if you haven’t already read the full letter.) Here’s the fourth excerpt:

4. In the cases we’ve seen, the investor has not put any of his own money into the transaction, and uses the new lender’s money to fund the entire deal.

No! Here you’re wrong. Using money from the end-buyer’s lender to fund the investor’s acquisition is not a common practice today and is something I always strongly caution against.

While the structure that you’re referring to WAS the way many real estate investors attempted to do simultaneous closings in years past, that’s just not the way we do it today.

Nowadays trained, experiened investors (like those who’ve attended our Short Sale Breakthrough events) understand how to fund their acquisitions with independent funding that is completely seperate from the buyer’s funds. Our students have access to transactional funding. That means their deals are structured so that the investor’s purchase from the seller is a completely distinct and sperate transaction from any that might follow when the property is sold to a retail buyer.

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The lawyer killed the deal! (or did she?) -Part 3

By Ben Pargman | Published: July 9, 2009

You may have noticed that I’ve been blogging all week about this letter I received. It was written by a skeptical lawyer advising her client (the homeowner) not to go ahead with a Short Sale deal with a real estate investor.

I’m worked up! I understand that this attorney is just trying to serve her client as well as possible, but there’s a lot she doesn’t understand about Short Sales. That’s why I’ve been going through the letter point-by-point explaining the REAL DEAL of Short Sales (and why you NEED to attend my Short Sale Breakthrough 09 event in Orlando, Florida July 27-29).  Here’s the third excerpt from the letter:

3. This arrangement he is proposing is becoming very prevalent. Our Firm is aware of many “short sale programs” wherein an investor attempts to make lots of money with little or no work by purchasing and selling property through short sales. The programs involve the investor entering into options or similar contracts with the homeowners for the exclusive right to purchase their property for a period of time. The investor negotiates a short sale with the lender, convincing the lender that the price they are offering is the market value of the property. The investor then finds a buyer for the property at a much higher price. Once the buyer is lined up, the investor buys the property from the seller, pays off the seller’s mortgage at the higher short sale rate, and simultaneously sells the property to the buyer at the higher price, pocketing the difference. In most cases the original lender is not told the buyer is flipping the property on the same day for thousands more than the lender has been told is the market value of the property.

You’ve got it 100% correct.  That is exactly what the investor is attempting to do.  My only problem with this paragraph is the suggestion that it involves “little or no work.”  Sure, when it is all said and done and the seller and investor reach a closing table, it looks like there was little or no work, but obviously this attorney has never negotiated or otherwise been intimately involved with Short Sales that require a tremendous amount of work and time.

Negotiating a Short Sale with a lender can often take several months  of frustrating back-and-forth submittals and re-submittals of information, and rounds of negotiations.  The work is so frustrating, difficult, and time consuming that many real estate agents and investors don’t want anything to do with it (usually the one’s who don’t have professionals doing the work for them).

When an investor makes it to a closing and successfully buys and sells a property and earns a profit, it is only because they have added value in structuring a transaction that would not have occurred but for their efforts, knowledge, and relationships.

And their profit – even if it, in hindsight, appears egregiously large – is well earned.  In fact it is that profit motive that brings the experience, work ethic and knowledge of an experienced investor to the deal in the first place.

P.S. Ms. Attorney, if your client had the experience and knowledge to fix their situation, presumably they wouldn’t be talking to you or the investor in the first place.

P.P.S. These are EXACTLY the kinds of questions and issues I’ll be going over at Short Sale Breakthrough 09 in Orlando on July 27-29. See you there!

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The lawyer killed the deal! (or did she?) -Part 2

By Ben Pargman | Published: July 8, 2009

Yesterday I told you about a letter I received that had been written by a lawyer advising her client (the homeowner) against proceeding ahead with a Short Sale with a real estate investor.  This can be a challenge for Short Sale investors, but it doesn’t have to be a deal-killer.

The lawyer’s letter is such a good teaching opportunity for Short Sale investors that I’m doing a series of blog posts featuring my own comments point-by-point. Here’s the second excerpt from the letter:

2.  The form “AS IS” Contract and form Short Sale Addendum are fine; however, the other documents, which include the drafted Addendum to Purchase & Sale Agreement, Memorandum of Option, Authorization to Release Information and Seller’s Affidavit…  prohibit you from continuing to market the property or to take other offers.

First we see the benefit of using the standard Real Estate Board/Bar approved contract for you state. We will discuss why this is a good idea at Short Sale Breakthrough 09 in Orlando, Florida July 27-29.

The second part of that excerpt is where the problem is. Here the lawyer is protecting her client from a potential mosquito bite by throwing the client over a cliff and onto the rocks below.  She is 100% correct that the documents prohibit the client from continuing to market the property or taking other offers.  That is the very purpose of the purchase and sale agreement – to tie up a property so the buyer can spend the time and energy necessary to prepare for a purchase without fear of the seller going to get another “even better” offer from somewhere else.

A Short Sale does not require a public auction to get the highest price for the lender. If the seller has the time and the knowledge and the resources, they might consider holding a public auction to find the person who will bring the highest offer, but most sellers in need of a Short Sale to sell their house don’t have the time or money to undertake the expense of hiring an auction company or the time to wait around for the highest offer.

Besides, the seller doesn’t need the highest offer, they need the best offer and the best offer for a seller facing foreclosure and in need of a Short Sale is one from someone who can successfully weather the Short Sale journey and get to a closing.

The best buyer for a Short Sale is usually NOT a retail buyer who can offer the highest price – they’ll be long gone by the time the bank approves the Short Sale, having given up from the frustration of the process and leaving the seller in the ditch and headed for foreclosure.

Ms. Attorney, you are 100% correct – the investor’s offer is lower than what your client might get if they waited and shopped around, but shopping around is not necessarily in your client’s best interest.  Your client doesn’t have the time, resources, and knowledge to get the highest offer in these circumstances.

The best situation for your client is to find an experienced professional who (a) knows the process and (b) will be ready to close when the bank approves the Short Sale.  And in order for that experienced professional to be interested in your client’s property, they, like any buyer, are entitled to have the property under contract to prepare for a closing without fear of the seller shopping around for a different buyer – that’s the whole point of a purchase and sale agreement.

There is nothing inherently wrong or insidious about accepting an offer for an asset that is less than what someone else might be able to obtain.  Indeed most people sell their cars to a dealer for far less than what they might get if they had the time, energy, and knowledge to sell the car privately.  But most of us don’t have the time or energy to sell a car retail for the highest price so we willingly sell for less to a dealer.

It’s the same thing here! If your seller has the time, energy, and knowledge to go get the highest offer, then go for it (realizing your seller might lose their house to foreclosure while they sit around and wait for that high offer); however, like most people selling a car – your client’s best interest is most likely served by selling for less to someone who knows what they are doing and can act quickly.

P.S. See you at Short Sale Breakthrough 09!

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