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We have been asked by so many folks about how to short sell their property that we felt it necessary to blog about it. There are 10 main steps to take when short selling your home (and not in any particular order):

1. Get the property on the MLS (multiple listing service) – This is an important point. You cannot possibly hope to sell your home or get a buyer without getting it out to the widest audience. Do not fall for scams of some “short sale companies” that promise work and deliver nothing. We recently witnessed this one. A short sale company told the seller that they were going to put in a low ball offer to the lender as if a contract had been presented and have never put the property on the MLS for sale. The seller still does not have an “offer” on the property. This is not kosher.

2. Whichever agent you choose must be internet savvy – The MLS is not enough. It is merely a first step to getting “eyeballs”. Your agent should be familiar with sites like postlets.com, vflyer.com, RealSeekr.com, Trulia.com, Zillow.com, etc. They need to push that listing out to the widest number of internet sites possible. Because the bottom line is … sell the house, sell the house, sell the house!

3. Make sure there is a sign in the front yard with 2 short sale riders (provided you live in a community that allows yard signs) – the first is a Short Sale rider to the yard sign and the second is a “very motivated” rider. The more you advertise these, the more showings and likelihood of receiving a bone fide offer. Additionally, it is necessary to have a Flyer Box attached to the sign so folks driving around can see what is being offered.

4. Get an Attorney to handle the Short Sale mitigation – make sure this Attorney is a Real Estate and Title attorney. There are a lot of hoops to jump through in the short sale process and having an attorney represent your interests is very helpful.

5. Have your agent do a Comparable Market Analysis (CMA) or better yet, have them do a Broker Price Opinion (BPO) as this must be done anyway. This will allow you and your agent to determine what the price point is that the lender will accept. And make sure you are priced 10% below the market. Please realize that your lender may request several BPO’s throughout the short sale process. We have had to do a 4th on a listed property and the listing agent did not understand why that was being done for the 4th time. Bottom line is that it really doesn’t matter how many BPO’s a lender requests so long as they approve the short sale and get the deal to the closing table. So be sure to make it convenient for the Broker coming to do your BPO. The sooner they can complete it, the sooner it lands on the lender’s desk (well, sort of…)

6. Get all your paperwork organized and to your attorney. There is nothing worse than starting the short sale process, getting an attorney and then failing to provide him/her with the appropriate documentation that is required to expedite the process. Stay on top of this and be sure to give your attorney what is needed to move forward with the short sale.

7. Be involved in the process yourself – call the lender and get the name, phone number, email address, fax number, blood type (just kidding) of the loss mitigator on your file. This is very important as this is the person who will be collating the documents and approving the short sale (and BE NICE because this is the person who can make it or break it!)

8. Follow up (or pushing)

• Push the agent – if after 30 days with no offer or little activity, DROP THE PRICE!
• Bank follow-up – have they assigned the mitigator, if not, push them (but nicely )
• Attorney/Title company – is the package complete and has it been collated and submitted to the lender/mitigator, if not press them on it.

9.  Enhance the curb appeal (and this does not cost a fortune, just a bit of elbow grease)

• Clean the yard
• Cut the grass
• Touch up paint where needed
• PUT THE PROPERTY ON A LOCKBOX. The agent who will have to do the BPO for the lender will need easy access in order to complete the order in a timely manner and get your contract to closing.
• Bake cookies or light candles or get air fresheners in the home – there is nothing worse than walking into a stinky house.
• Remember, first impressions count

10. Keep pushing and review points 1-9 again.

If you need help in short selling your home in the Boca Raton, Highland Beach, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach or Deerfield Beach area or want more information, please give us a jingle.