San Jose Short Sale Agent: Silicon Valley Foreclosure Prevention Specialists

A prospective client came asking for help.  She had a short sale specialist working on her case for over a year.  The thing was, this agent was not even local (from San Diego) and would only tell her that things were going well for well over a year; not much communication, just that things were OK every few months.  The distance probably had something to do with the lack of continual communication.

Only recently, did she receive a call from him saying the lender would not be approving the short sale and would now be foreclosing. This came as a complete shock to her.  This was obviously a case of dual track foreclosure or simple negligence on the part of the agent.  She said the agent was basically backing out and telling her that he could no longer help her.  She wanted to know if I could help by replacing him.

It’s easy to wonder why someone would simply trust an agent for over a year and not ask questions or demand that she be kept apprised of the status of the short sale more frequently than a few times a year.  I pulled up the county record to see how much time was remaining on a Notice of Trustee Sale (NOT) and to see if we could save the short sale.  My search found that the NOT was filed over 3 months ago.  I needed to get more information.

I asked her to get a copy of her file since the agent was essentially firing himself and I needed to know what type of communication had been initiated and what the lenders had agreed to in writing.  I also asked her to get me a copy of the NOT to find out the attorney service handling the sale.

After a week or so, I followed up and not surprisingly, she got nothing from this agent.  Nothing in writing.  Not a copy of the NOT; not a rejection of the short sale letter from the lender; not a copy of the short sale package that was submitted on her behalf; not even a cancellation of the listing agreement; nothing.  Only words.

I wanted to help her, but with no documentation and only verbal statements, I could not commit myself to help her out of her predicament.  Given her particular situation, I seriously doubt anyone could help her with no documentation of what had happened before and being asked to step in only with the verbal understanding that foreclosure is imminent.

How could this individual have avoided this type of crisis?  I’m not going to go into allegations here without seeing any documentation, but it seems like the agent who professed to be a specialist perhaps was not so experienced.

I believe she did not have to be in this situation.  The best way to have avoided this crisis, in my opinion, was for her to have done her due diligence when hiring someone to help her out initially.   You really do not get a second chance when you are dealing with foreclosures.

First, she should have hired someone locally rather than someone who is 500 miles away to market and sell her home.  From what was described to me, he really didn’t know the local market and did not price it correctly nor put in a lot of effort to get it marketed correctly.  If she were not getting answers, she could have dropped in on a local agent to demand answers in a more timely manner.

Secondly, she is a young computer literate woman; she should have done some research into who she was hiring.  After all, she found me online.  She should have Googled the person’s name and see what was said about the individual.  She may not have gotten everything she needed, but she would have discovered if someone were alleging bad service or worse.  People may not write nice things about you, but if they felt mistreated, they will let the world know, from my experience.

Please distressed homeowners, do your due diligence before hiring someone to help you.

I know what I am about to say will be controversial and some Realtors will not be happy with me pointing  this out, but it is something I feel passionate about and feel is an issues which should be raised and addressed.

I noticed just recently that some Realtors I know were advertising themselves as “Experts” in Short Sales.  Nothing wrong with those claims on their face; they appear mature and experienced and seem to have certain certifications which would lead a person to believe they were very good at this specialized practice. Again, nothing wrong with the claims on their face…..until you know the back stories.  This one particular agent has never bought or sold a single property all of last year. Yet, they advertise themselves as a Short Sale Expert who can stop your home from going into foreclosure…… Another had closed one transaction all of last year, yet they also profess to label themselves a short sale expert.  What is wrong with these pictures?

My purpose of this post is not to disparage these particular Realtors.  That is not my right.  But it does raise a question about their professional integrity when they make questionable claims during these difficult time in hopes of gaining clients and how they simultaneously tarnish the image and reputation of their fellow colleagues.

Everyone knows the last couple of years have not been easy for many Realtors.  Loans were difficult to obtain and people simply stopped selling or buying homes for a good full year or more.  Many of us faced difficulties making a living. Many Realtors have left the business and others are hanging on in the hopes of making it through another year.  Again, nothing wrong with Realtors working hard to survive another year.

But let’s look at this through the glasses of the homeowner who is facing foreclosure.  Of course a homeowner wants to find qualified Realtors who can help them fight one of the most devastating situations they will encounter during their lives.   When dealing with people facing foreclosure, Realtors must handle these sellers with kid gloves because there is so much emotional pain association with the process. It is not simply another transaction or a paycheck for these homeowners.  You cannot simply take the house off market and put it back on when market dynamics change.  If the Realtor messes up, the homeowner is foreclosed and their credit history is ruined.  It is a matter of deep family pride and the very real possibility of people becoming homeless if the supposed “expert” Realtor doesn’t know what they are doing. Remember, a Realtor has a fiduciary duty of “utmost care, integrity, honesty and loyalty in dealings with the Seller” (Disclosure Regarding Real Estate Agency Relationship). Are these two Realtors living up to their agency responsibilities when they embellish their supposed “expertise” with one having sold only one property and the other selling none for an entire year?

I do not claim to be the best in this niche market, but over the years, a combination of specialized, continual education and actual, hands on experience selling and negotiating with banks to stop foreclosures has given me the “technical know how” to be able to stop foreclosures through short sales in a majority of cases I take on each year.  Let me point out from my own experience, that the education alone was not sufficient to give me that “know how”; the education had to be combined with the practical experience to make the experience complete.  Theoretical study simply was not enough.   A salesperson who reads books about selling cannot claim to be an expert salesperson unless they have actually sold many products.

Let me make it clear that I am not trying to make myself look good by stepping on others to rise over them when they are encountering a difficult year.  However, this is my chosen profession, and I do not want the reputation of the entire profession denigrated because someone is desperately trying to reel in an unsuspecting client.  That charade cannot last will be exposed quickly, only to the detriment of the unsuspecting homeowner who wanted to believe.

Because of the stress homeowners face when facing foreclosure, they often find themselves to be more gullible and less guarded than they typically may be otherwise.  People in distress hear what they hope to hear or want to hear.  Due diligence is required when hiring someone to help you with your short sale.

You have the right as a consumer to know exactly who you are hiring to provide you with a service.  1.  Ask for past client references.  If they are truly good at what they do, then they must have some happy clients.  2.  Ask for performance data. If they are “experts” they must have successfully sold something recently.   If they cannot provide these two types of information for you, then a red flag has been raised.

It does not matter whom you choose to help you stop your foreclosure, but it would make sense to go with someone who has both the educational and the practical experience to back up their claim of their expert status.   We are not now sitting in a bar telling embellished  fish stories where the exaggeration has little or no consequence; a little exaggeration about what someone can do may mean the difference between saving and losing a family home.   Yes, a little exaggeration can hurt people.

As the adage goes: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.   And learning about short sales without actually having the benefit of practical experience can be a dangerous thing.