Short Sale Negotiator

I was reading this old post and here is my take on a convesation that is 9 months old:

I do several short-sales per year (between 10 and 12 finilized deals/year and growing), I do them both as an real estate agent representing the distressed seller and find them a buyer and do them for myself as an investor. (personal code of conduct is that I do buy houses I personally list for sale or viceversa).

My experiece is that banks wants to negotiate but they do not want to loose money. They will fight for eveery penny and will try to get full appraised value. If the property needs repairs, they will consider them.

In addition to what was said before in reference to get to the department, explain the situation with emotions involved and be humble on your approach(which he is a proffesional and on target with negotiations), I also (I forgot if he mentioned these) do a BPO with pictures, support all repairs with quotes from handymen or needed vendors and sometimes, if needed, I even do a virtal-tour of the property with emphasis on damages ... if you know what I mean!

Why do I do all these if banks will request their own BPO anyway? Well, if my job is done right and credible, they may not request a BPO. More importantly, let me give you a case I am currently working here in Atlanta (I have it listed for sale).

Property appraised by bank's BPO for $135K and in need of $280 in repairs (not a typo, I meant just below 3 hundred dollars). Seller owes about $129K. My BPO came to high $120's if in good condition but property needs new carpet, patching holes and paint, may need roof repairs, new A/C, may also need some siding repaired/replaced (LP siding), etc.

When negotiating with bank, they wanted to net $128K. I had to get more back up info and since most of the information is via fax, the pictures of the BPO were black and white and fax quality ... that is when I create a virtual tour of the property, fax them the link and challenge their numbers. I later realized that the person or company doing the BPO was the broker that get to sell the bank's foreclosure. I comfronted the negotiator with the fact that the broker will be bios and try to ruin all deals in order for them to sell it as a foreclosure after shortsale is declined.

The more you can proof the bank the better and only practice will give you the knowledge and experiece needed.

Who pays me? The bank! If I do them for myself I sometimes include a commission to be paid to me and sometimes I do not (depends on the deal and how I negotiated it). If I represent the seller or the buyer, the bank usually pays me so there is no cost to seller or buyer. In order for the bank to pay me, what some investors I work with do is that once the house is selected and if is not listed, they call me and we get the seller to list it with me. If the property is not listed and won't be listed, then the buyer pays my fee.