Confessions of a Short Sale Expert in Sparks

I should have written this article even before Confessions in Reno!

My very first successful short sale was in Sparks, Spanish Springs when I started doing SS in early 2008.  It was a nice corner home in Ruddy Way Ct. 

It  was one of the hardest deals in my professional real estate career. 

On the 8'th month of battling it out with the banks and my second buyer quitting on me, I decided to throw in the towel.  I vowed to run away from anything related to short sales.  The banks were a pain!  They didn't know what to do (some of them still don't, 3 years later), this was the start of the avalanche of home owners missing their payments, walking away  from their homes, many didn't even bother to lock the doors.

In my experience in early 2008, the bank's plan of attack was simple: confuse everyone until we find a solid strategy. 

So what did they do? Once I fax a 36 page short sale file (sellers tax returns, personal info., hardship letter, etc..) they would notify me if they got the file after 3 days.  After 3 days they would ask me to re-submit files that I swear were already part of the package previously submitted. 

After they confirm that they received all files, they would tell me not to expect any significant update for 45 days.  Towards the 35'th and 45'th day I would get the "significant update" that I would be assigned to a negotiator soon.  I would call by the 50'th day to get the negotiator's name and address. Then they would tell me to wait another 30-45 days until they got a response from the investors who "owned" the rights to the house. 

So I wait...

I call back to check on investor's response and the little devil on the other line tells me "have you been authorized to negotiate in behalf of the sellers? Because we can't see your name on the file.  Please re-submit the short sale file again."  In other words, I'm back to square one.

This happened twice with Ruddy Ct. house, my first short sale deal.  I wanted to quit short sales all together the second time this happened. 

But thank God for my co-workers and office mates who let me pass steam for a few days and then dogged me to keep on keeping on.  I was one of the few at that time who was really focusing on short sales, most of the agents in the office referred their short sales to me.  We didn't know it was going to explode as it did. 

And this turned out to be the biggest blessing in my real estate career.  Last year, I closed 15 short sales--half of my total business.  Through short sales I became a busy listing agent, I used to solely focus on buyers.

I'm not complaining anymore.

How many homes are for sale in Sparks?

792 homes as of May 2010

How many short sales are currently in Sparks?

213 homes as of June 21, 2010.

How's the Sparks real estat market doing (click images to enlarge)?

Sparks real estate median price SOLD

 

Sparks real estate supply of homes

 Sparks real estate demand

More resources:

• Reno Short Sales & Foreclosures: Will We Ever Run Out of It? --http://renohomeblog.com/2010/07/post.php
• Reno-Sparks short sale and foreclosure articles( the past 3 years)

• Confessions of a short sale expert in Reno

• New! Foreclosures and short sale update by Joe Salcedo

• 6 Options for distressed home owners