To be truthful I have done a couple of Short Sales in San Diego which have gone fairly smoothly if you don’t consider the CLOSING time! The first thing I have learned is to hire a real estate NEGOTIATOR. Let’s face it there is nothing in the Real Estate Course that prepares agents for this kind of transactions! I can personally vouch that in the last three years Short Sales in San Diego are not closing quickly or easy to deal with!
I presently have clients that are professional great people. They bought their home about eight years ago when it was one of the lower priced home in the area. Yipppee everyone was happy! At that time a Short Sale in San Diego was a very short time sale at Target! However these days when your home is worth $200,000 less that you paid for it it’s a business decision to do a Short Sale in San Diego or anywhere else! When you are a good member of society you should get the same perks as those trying to beat the system!
The first Short Sale I was involved with in San Diego was downtown with an all cash buyer. It was impossible to get the buildings loans as they all had lawsuits against the builders. Frivolous and silly but lawsuits like the “smell of the Steak House” on the first level smelling in the elevator. Honest! In California you can sue anyone for anything…I just heard about an “Evil Eye” lawsuit. Yup, don’t look at anyone and roll your eyes! Boom you’re in court! The first month of this San Diego Short Sale came and went. NOTHING. The listing agent would not even take my calls and I had a CASH buyer! Second month and the same answer “NOTHING”. Long story short after SEVEN months they finally managed to get the conditions for approval which was simply a $5,000 increase in price. Seven MONTHS and all they wanted was $5,000 extra dollars. I truly feel some of the problem on this one it was being negotiated IN HOUSE with the realtor NOT a negotiator!
I am in escrow now with a Short Sale in San Diego that again took SEVEN months for approval. This one had two different lenders so at least that makes a little more sense! I hired a NEGOTIATOR as I would much rather pay a professional that be on the phone daily with TWO banks. Everything was done correctly and we were told we would have approval for the First in a week. Week of approval for the Short Sale in San Diego from the first lender and the negotiator gets a call that the LOANS HAVE BEEN SOLD TO TWO OTHER BANKS!!!! Where in the world does the logic come from that the week of approval these banks would sell (?) loans to two other banks. The paperwork has to go back to square ONE because God knows it can’t just be TRANSFERED! For some mirascle the buyers have hung in there as this Short Sale is a great price for a great neighborhood with fabulous schools. The fact that they are paying $200,000 LESS then home previously sold for doesn’t HURT!
I don’t know who has the power on these continuing Short Sales , but if the government wants to run the banking system we should just go under the bed right now because this is going to get interesting!!! As a Real Estate professional if a buyer wants to see Short Sale properties in San Diego I basically that everything is going to be SHORT except the waiting time. Make sure they are renting month to month!!!!
