Short Sale & Foreclosure Information

Since 2008 we are finding more and more properties in the short sale and foreclosure category and that's a fact of life we have to deal with. However, as Realtors, this can present a dilemma when we are working with buyers.

At Dolby Properties, we have years of experience of working with international and out of State buyers who trust us to find them the right property for their personal criteria. Most of our day is spent working with international and out of State buyers and some of our agents have the ABR (Accredited Buyer Representative) designation. We dedicate ourselves to each individual buyer and work tirelessly to find the right property to match their criteria. In most cases, we work for months and even years with a buyer before they come to view properties. After the contract has been written, we spend hours working to bring it to a close and then after the sale, we spend hours in maintaining contact with the buyer in after-sales service. If the property our buyer chooses to buy happens to be a short sale or a foreclosure, we are finding lately that the commission we earn at the end of the day is much less than normal and certainly much less than we need to earn to be worth the time involved. Many lenders, who are taking a big hit on such properties, also expect agents to take the hit.

As a buyer's broker, the only way that we are able to show our buyers the full range of properties that are for sale, without concerning ourselves with whether or not we are working for little or nothing, is to have our buyers make up any deficit in the commission that we earn from that sale. While it may seem difficult for some to talk about the commissions we earn, our norm from a sale is 3% of the purchase price. 99% of the time, we are paid that 3% from the seller's broker, who splits his seller-paid commission with us. However, in order to represent the very best interests of our buyers and to be comfortable in dedicating the amount of time we do, we need to be guaranteed that 3% at closing, with a minimum total of $3,000. If a short sale or foreclosure happens to only pay 2% or even less, or if the price of the property is so low that the seller paid commission we earn is less than our required minimum, then we need to be paid the difference by the buyer at closing. Our services, which when working as a buyer broker, include negotiation on the part of the buyer, as well as our second-to-none after-sales service, are well worth the difference anyway!

One last point to make is that many buyers are coming to our area right now, with the idea that they can make extremely low offers on bank owned properties, as the media portrays banks and the US economy in general to be desperate. This is not actually the truth. Listing prices on bank owned properties are almost always priced correctly to start with, so anything much lower will almost always be rejected and is a waste of time for everyone involved.

There are still many non-foreclosure and non-short sale properties for sale in our area that are already well priced, without going through all the above-mentioned hassle, so we should always be able to find the right property for you, if you trust in us as the experienced professionals that we are. If you do decide to go for a distressed property, we now have two of our team who have received certifications in this specialized market, so either of them will be happy to help you.

Dave Robertson, CDPE. Dave is a Certified Distressed Property Expert.

Short Sales & Foreclosures

BUYER REPRESENTATION