Many homeowners turn to real estate agents for help asmillions of loans are being adjusted and hundreds of thousands are headed forforeclosure.
Most real estate agents don't have the proper training todeal with the complex negotiations that banks can make to help homeowners. Agents are at adisadvantage because they don't realize that they are negotiating with atrained troubleshooter, whose job it is to minimize losses for the lender.
Agents seem to be more concerned about making sure theyget their commissions than helping homeowners avoid foreclosure. It takes less time tobecome an agent in the states where foreclosure is the highest than it takes tobecome a cashier at Disney World.
California allows you to become a real-estate agent andstart selling houses by passing an open book exam. This exam requires only a60% or higher grade. You can become a Florida real estate agent by attending aone-week class that simulates some of the answers. In Nevada, which has themost stringent criteria, it takes only two weeks to become an agent.
Each of these require only a high school diploma. Are they the right personto handle the "negotiation” of your house in foreclosure? As if this weren't bad enough, many people are unfamiliarwith this market and are struggling to complete what is known as a"short-sale".
A short sale is when the lender agrees not to take morethan they owe in order to facilitate the sale of the homeowner's property. Agents have little to noexperience in this area and use the homeowner's home as training. The homeowner is then locked into the most absurd one-sidelisting agreement.
This is ridiculous! This is absurd!
"10Questions to Ask Your Real Estate Agent... Before It's Too Late"
1. What number of short sales have you completed successfully? Are you able to provide the MLS numbers for those you havecompleted successfully? They are licensedprofessionals, and they are not allowed to lie... but that's another story.
2. What number of current properties are you representing thatare in foreclosure? These MLS numbers areavailable.
3. Do you work full-time as a real estate agent, devoted to thesale of my house and other properties you have listed in foreclosed?
4. How long have been an agent/broker?
5. How much formal training did you receive in the art ofnegotiating short sales? What time wereyou able to spend on that training?
6. Please tell me in detail what marketing activities you havebeen using to sell my property. Pleasesend me the invoices and ad sheets so that I can see what marketing you havedone for my property.
7. A short sale cannot happen without a buyer. Are you able to find buyers? That's the question you'll love!
8. Because I'm in foreclosure and have special needs and haveset a time frame to sell my house, can I cancel my listing agreement anytime?If I receive an offer from someone else, I will. This means that I must sell my house and I cannot beobligated by a listing agreement that makes me pay if I find my buyer and canget out of foreclosure. If I find my ownbuyer and am able to get out of foreclosure, will you release me?
9. What percentage of your foreclosure listings ended up beingsold despite your efforts? Would youplease tell me how many times you have taken listings but failed to find abuyer? These MLS numbers are available.
10. If I get an offer and it would allow my to get out fromforeclosure, it would also mean that there wouldn't be any funds for you toreceive a commission. Would you present it to me and not try to compel me intosigning up for it? You would probablyagree that I am in a very urgent situation.
**By the way..we spoke to the Florida governing board andthey said that an agent would need to forgo commissions if you were able saveyour house from foreclosure. Here's an additional question ....please write me theanswers to these questions on company letterhead.
