21 Questions to Ask Short Sale Negotiators Before Hiring Them
Interview questions before real estate agent, buyers, or seller decide to work with a “third party short sale negotiator”
1. How long have you been in the “short sale negotiation” business (working with a real estate or LO license without the specific focus on short sales does not count.)
2. How many short sales have you successfully negotiated/closed?
3. What is your real estate OR loan originator license number?
4. What is the name of the company and list all the names of people with ownership interests.
5. How did you obtain your advertised methods: “I have special phone numbers to the lenders…I have special contacts with the lenders….I use special procedures.”
6. What work has been done thus far in the short sale process? For example: Have you received ALL seller paperwork confirming they qualify for a short sale?
7. What is your fee?
8. Is your fee negotiable?
9. What percentage of the time is your fee paid by the lender?
10. What percentage of the time is your fee paid by the licensed real estate agents involved in the transaction?
11. What percentage of the time is your fee paid by the buyer?
12. How/when is your fee paid? (red flag if the fee is paid outside of closing or upfront before any work is performed.)
13. Is the short sale negotiation company owned by the listing agent for the seller? (red flag)
14. Is the short sale negotiation company owned by the listing agent’s designated broker? (red flag)
15. Is the short sale negotiation company owned by another licensed real estate agent in the listing broker’s office? (red flag)
16. Is the short sale negotiation company owned by the selling agent or his/her broker? (red flag)
17. Is the real estate agent who referred this company going to receive a portion of the short sale negotiation fee? (red flag)
18. Is the seller going to receive part of the negotiator’s fee after the close of escrow? (red flag)
19. Is the lender/loss mitigation worker going to receive a part of the negotiation fee? (red flag)
20. Will the seller still be shown my offer if I select a different negotiation company other than the company recommended by the listing broker? (red flag)
21. What work will be performed for the fee paid?
Ask the short sale negotiator to respond to each of these questions in writing so you have a record of his/her response.
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Comment by Short Sale Software on 8 February 2010:
Another few good ones: What is your average turnaround time, and what is your success rate.
Comment by jillayne on 8 February 2010:
You know, SSS that’s a good one: Turnaround time. How does this sound: “On average, how many days does it take for your company/firm to receive a firm short sale approval from the lender?”
Many of these firms say that they have special phone lines in to the loss mitigators or have established relationships that guarantee their short sales will be approve. One way of testing that assumption is to ask them to put their money where their mouth is and provide an average number of days.
Thanks!
Comment by Short Sale Software on 9 February 2010:
Right, I was working with one guy who tells me that he gets short sale approval and closes on average in 30-45 days, which is more or less unheard of. He says it is because of the volume he brings, and exactly as you say; the “special phone line into the bank”. He tells me actually has relationships with the VP’s in the Loss Mit departments.
Interesting, in any case. It’s funny to hear the dichotomy: on the one hand; investors and agents are constantly complaining about the length of time it takes to get a short sale processed (particularly with lenders like BofA), and then you have other negotiators who say it isn’t a big deal and they can get the deals done in < 2 months. One thing is certain: you have to be a squeaky wheel, as I like to say!
Comment by Larry Ives on 2 June 2010:
I’ve also had more than one agent tell me how fast their negotiator can get a transaction done. There doesn’t seem to be any shortcuts on this process and if your looking for one your asking for trouble. What I tell my clients is that if you want to go this route its going to take time and your better off if you can just put in the offer and forget about it. The list of above questions is useful cause I do think a negotiator is useful but these days interviewing them is a necessity.
Pingback by To the Students from the August 16, 2010 Short Sale Class at John L Scott Kent Kangley : ceforward.com on 17 August 2010:
[...] There was a question about third party short sale negotiators that we did not get to. Here are two articles I recently wrote about these guys: Predatory Short Sale Negotiators and 21 Questions to Ask Short Sale Negotiators Before Hiring Them [...]