Short sales without an agent involved is a bad idea

There is a reason Banks always use agents to sell homes they foreclose on; Liability.

Having an agent allows the bank to cover themselves in the event that there are ever any issues with the transaction. When a homeowner looks to do a short sale, the bank pays the agents fees out of the purchase price. That means that even though they are taking a loss, they are including real estate fee’s in that loss. Using an agent in a short sale is an absolute win-win-win for all parties involved…including the investors who buy them.

I just met with a really nice woman who has had some unfortunate changes in her life. In the last 4 years she has lost her Husband, a son and her home. She is also caring for her elderly mother who has developed dementia.

I dont want to focus in on the tragedies that she has endured as this isn’t really the forum for dealing with such losses, however, she did suffer one loss that is exactly what we deal with here at foreclosure rescue services. Issues that are relevant to Utah Homeowners facing foreclosure; She did a short sale directly with some investors and without an agent involved.

This woman’s home became delinquent in 2007 and she was approached by some investors with a plan. What that plan was, I can only guess based on the evidence left behind. But I’m sure they made her some wonderful sounding promises like “You can stay in the home and we will lease it back to you”.

The result? She lost her home.

Nothing ever happened with these so called investors and it went to foreclosure. Recently I wrote an article on why you should never do a short sale without an agent in Utah. There are a lot of investors and so called ‘gurus’ out there saying just the opposite. I spell out exactly why there is no reason that a homeowner who is facing foreclosure should ever do a short sale without an agent involved.

Oh one other note; Just as important as using an agent…is using the right agent. More on this in another post though.