Housing News

The seven habits of highly effective short sale agents

(Housing News) Short sale agents have different tasks than a traditional agent, and the path to success looks quite different; these are seven habits effective short sale agents typically have.

Published

7 years ago

December 27, 2013

Melissa Zavala

A Short Sale Agents Is a Juggler

In Stephen Covey’s best-selling book, he discusses seven habits of highly effective people. And, believe it or not, there are actually identifiable traits or habits of highly successful short sale agents as well. The habits of highly effective short sale agents are what allow certain agents to get their short sales closed in a quick and efficient manner.

Read also: Why short sale agents need to show compassion

An effective short sale agent—one that can navigate the treacherous waters at the lending institutions and actually obtain short sale approval before the end of the next century—has a certain skill set, and it’s a unique one. A successful short sale agent is like the best juggler in the circus—the one that never drops a ball, no matter the distraction.

Seven Habits of Effective Short Sale Agents

Here’s a list of the seven habits of highly successful short sale agents:

Strong Communication Skills. It’s generally a good idea to have strong communication skills in all aspects of real estate. But, when you escalate your short sale, you really must be able to write a clear and concise email that states what you need and why you need it. You want to rattle some chains, and strong communication skills can help you do that.
Good Organizational Systems. In order to make sure that you have effectively assembled the short sale package and gotten the lender everything that is required, you have to be pretty well-organized. A short sale package contains many different items and variables, and many people find short sale package preparation overwhelming. Good organization helps to get this done quickly.
Attention to Detail. There are lots of minute details that make the difference between getting a short sale through the system effectively and a having a transaction that bottlenecks. From the way the package is compiled to the items included on the settlement statement, an attention to detail is very important. A missed detail can slow down a transaction for days, weeks, or even months.
Understanding of the Short Sale Process. Knowledge of the short sale process will help agents to strategize effectively and provide more appropriate advice to distressed borrowers. Understanding programs, policies, and laws is key to a short sale agents’ success as a real estate consultant.
Empathy. Many homeowners face significant stress due to their inability to make mortgage payments. Understanding that fact and having empathy for short sale sellers and their personal situations will help your clients make difficult transitions more easily.
Tenacity. One of the biggest challenges of short sales is working with the lenders. Often times borrowers and agents receive misleading, contradictory, or confusing information that could lead to no resolution. Tenacity and persistence really help to tread those tough waters and obtain answers when others have difficulty doing so.
Passion. Just like in any other real estate transaction, a successful short sale agent is one that is passionate about his or her role in the transaction and does whatever it takes in order to obtain short sale approval—possibly even getting up at the crack of dawn to reach out to a lender, when necessary.

The interesting thing about these seven habits is that if you honed them by working short sales over the last several years, then you will have no problem transitioning as the market begins to change. What seller or buyer would not want to hire an agent that successfully survived the most challenging economy since the Great Depression? Who wouldn’t want to hire an agent that is passionate, tenacious, organized, and empathetic among other things? These habits, developed by working with distressed borrowers, can supercharge your real estate career in 2014 and beyond.

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Melissa Zavala

Melissa Zavala is the Broker/Owner of Broadpoint Properties and Head Honcho of Short Sale Expeditor®, and Chief Executive Officer of Transaction 911. Before landing in real estate, she had careers in education and publishing. Most recently, she has been able to use her teaching and organizational skills while traveling the world over—dispelling myths about the distressed property market, engaging and motivating real estate agents, and sharing her passion for real estate. When she isn’t speaking or writing, Melissa enjoys practicing yoga, walking the dog, and vacationing at beach resorts.

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Austin

Austin tops the list of best places to buy a home

When looking to buy a home, taking the long view is important before making such a huge investment – where are the best places to make that commitment?

Published

6 years ago

May 29, 2015

Lani Rosales, COO + News Director

Looking at the bigger picture

(REALUOSO.COM) – Let us first express that although we are completely biased about Texas (we’re headquartered here, I personally grew up here), the data is not – Texas is the best. That’s a scientific fact. There’s a running joke in Austin that if there is a list of “best places to [anything],” we’re on it, and the joke causes eye rolls instead of humility (we’re sore winners and sore losers in this town).

That said, SelfStorage.com dug into the data and determined that the top 12 places to buy a home are currently Texas and North Carolina (and Portland, I guess you’re okay too or whatever).

They examined the nerdiest of numbers from the compound annual growth rate in inflation-adjusted GDP to cost premium, affordability, taxes, job growth, and housing availability.

“Buying a house is a big decision and a big commitment,” the company notes. “Although U.S. home prices have risen in the long term, the last decade has shown that path is sometimes full of twists, turns, dizzying heights and steep, abrupt falls. Today, home prices are stabilizing and increasing in most areas of the U.S.”

Click here to continue reading the list of the 12 best places to buy a home…

Housing News

Average age of houses on the rise, so is it now better or worse to buy new?

With aging housing in America, are first-time buyers better off buying new or existing homes? The average age of a home is rising, as is the price of new housing, so a shift could be upon us.

Published

6 years ago

March 2, 2015

Dawn Brotherton, Staff Writer

The average home age is higher than ever

(REALUOSO.COM) – In a survey from the Department of Housing and Urban Development American Housing Survey (AHS), the median age of homes in the United States was 35 years old. In Texas, homes are a bit younger with the median age between 19 – 29 years. The northeast has the oldest homes, with the median age between 50 – 61 years. In 1985, the median age of a home was only 23 years.

With more houses around 40 years old, the National Association of Realtors asserts that homeowners will have to undertake remodeling and renovation projects before selling unless the home is sold as-is, in which case the buyer will be responsible to update their new residence. Even homeowners who aren’t selling will need to consider remodeling for structural and aesthetic reasons.

Prices of new homes on the rise

Newer homes cost more than they used to. The price differential between new homes and older homes has increased from 10 percent traditionally to around 37 percent in 2014. This is due to rising construction costs, scarcity of lots, and a low inventory of new homes that doesn’t meet the demand.

Click here to continue reading this story…

Housing News

Are Realtors the real loser in the fight between Zillow Group and Move, Inc.?

The last year has been one of dramatic and rapid change in the real estate tech sector, but Realtors are vulnerable, and we’re worried.

Published

6 years ago

February 25, 2015

Lani Rosales, COO + News Director

Why Realtors are vulnerable to these rapid changes

(REALUOSO.COM) – Corporate warfare demands headlines in every industry, but in the real estate tech sector, a storm has been brewing for years, which in the last year has come to a head. Zillow Group and Move, Inc. (which is owned by News Corp. and operates ListHub, Realtor.com, TopProducer, and other brands) have been competing for a decade now, and the race has appeared to be an aggressive yet polite boxing match. Last year, the gloves came off, and now, they’ve drawn swords and appear to want blood.

Note: We’ll let you decide which company plays which role in the image above.

So how then, does any of this make Realtors the victims of this sword fight? Let’s get everyone up to speed, and then we’ll discuss.

1. Zillow poaches top talent, Move/NAR sues

It all started last year when the gloves came off – Move’s Chief Strategy Officer (who was also Realtor.com’s President), Errol Samuelson jumped ship and joined Zillow on the same day he phoned in his resignation without notice. He left under questionable circumstances, which has led to a lengthy legal battle (wherein Move and NAR have sued Zillow and Samuelson over allegations of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and misappropriation of trade secrets), with the most recent motion being for contempt, which a judge granted to Move/NAR after the mysterious “Samuelson Memo” surfaced.

Salt was added to the wound when Move awarded Samuelson’s job to Move veteran, Curt Beardsley, who days after Samuelson left, also defected to Zillow. This too led to a lawsuit, with allegations including breach of contract, violation of corporations code, illegal dumping of stocks, and Move has sought restitution. These charges are extremely serious, but demanded slightly less attention than the ongoing lawsuit against Samuelson.