Working in the Best Interests of My Clients Meant Not Using a Negotiator for Their Short Sale,

Many real estate agents use "negotiators" when listing a property that's a short sale. For those of you who aren't familiar with this practice, the negotiator steps in the shoes of the listing agent and works directly with the lender(s) to convince them to approve the short sale, meaning they agree to accept less from the borrowers (now sellers) than what is owed on the loan. For this, they charge a fee.

The marketing angle for negotiators is this: speaking with the banks is usually time-consuming and often a drawn-out process. If the negotiator takes on this responsibility, the listing agent is freed-up to pursue getting more listings. Also, many agents don't have either the patience or skill to negotiate with the banks; after all, their job is to sell houses.

But is this practice of outsourcing such a vital part of the selling process in the ultimate interest of the sellers? In many cases, I would assert the answer is "no."

Here's why: a true short sale - as opposed to a fraudulent one - has as its goal helping the borrowers get out from under debt they cannot bear. They are under a great deal of stress and their financial futures can be bleak and uncertain. In my opinion, the negotiator does not feel the pain borrowers are experiencing and may not make every effort - and then some - to get intransigent lenders to issue approval letters.

This is exactly what could have occurred in a recent short sale listing I closed, in which my seller was a 90% disabled Vietnam veteran; his wife had just retired. Fannie Mae dug in its heels for over 4 months and stubbornly demanded a sale price that was significantly over fair-market value, even once the buyers' appraisal came in at what both agents, the sellers and buyers agreed was a fair price. I have doubts that a negotiator working for a fixed fee and with a stack of other files would have stayed in the process for so long, especially when our hopes for approval were often very dim indeed.

In the end, I was able to obtain that approval from Fannie Mae, along with the more-reasonable second lien-holder, which actually bore the brunt of the loss.

Here is the Thank You card I received from my sellers the week following closing:

" Dear Monique, Just a note to thank you for your amazing tenacity and hard work on our short sale. And also for your guidance and patience with us - especially after we moved and were in an out-of-sight, out-of-mind mode.

You are truly a life-saver and you will never know how much we appreciate all you did."

Yes, this listing took an excessive amount of my time, and yes, I probably could have made other sales and more commissions if I had hired a negotiator. But I don't know that this short sale would have closed, which would then have resulted in foreclosure. I believe if I hadn't been successful, I would not have lived up to the fiduciary obligation I had to those sellers and the promise I made to see them through the entire process.