Much of my work as a Sacramento short sale agent is handled through email. So, I almost had a heart attack when I turned on my computer this morning. My start-up programs loaded and I didn’t have any emails. For a brief second, my heart about exploded. My immediate thought was my computer had malfunctioned, maybe my hard drive had been erased. Of course, nothing of the sort happened. I simply had too many emails coming in for the computer to immediately bring them up. I wasn’t patient enough.

Many of those emails are one-liners that say: Thank you. Or will do. While it’s nice to receive acknowledgments, they aren’t always necessary, and those emails certainly don’t require a response; yet, I am guilty of doing the same thing. It depends on, though, whom the email is from. If it’s from clients, I do want them to know that I have received their documents. But I don’t try to clog up my associates’ or vendors’ email in-boxes. I imagine they get as much email as I do.

I talk all day with my short sale negotiator via email. If it’s a particularly difficult short sale, and which ones aren’t, these days, I’ll call her, or she’ll stop what she’s doing and pick up the phone to call me. This woman is a law school graduate and a real estate agent. A darn fine real estate agent, too. She started negotiating short sales a few years ago and has become an expert negotiator. Due to the volume of Sacramento short sales that I handle, I share some of my short sales with this agent and pay her half of my commission, too. She’s worth every penny.

There are other short sale negotiators whom I could hire in Sacramento — many who charge way less — but many of those so-called third party negotiators do not have a real estate license. Therefore, they are breaking the law when they negotiate short sales. I would never in a million years want to place my short sale sellers in that position. I don’t even go there. Besides, I want to provide my clients with superior service. I’ve heard too many horror stories from other Sacramento short sale agents who have hired these vendors.

For certain types of short sales, I tackle a handful myself. Especially some Bank of America short sales, because I’ve been working with Bank of America for years and understand its goofy systems. Since they’ve switched to Equator, the short sale process has been easier and faster. I also love, love, love a Wachovia short sale because they are so straight forward and simple, which few short sales are lately. Wachovia also gives my sellers cash bonuses.

Moreover, I also work with Litchney Law Firm on short sales. Particularly those that involve hard-money loans and cash-out refinances. The lawyers who work for Litchney Law Firm are methodical strategists and expert negotiators. Those lawyers are known for removing further collection rights verbiage from short sale approval letters and, in many ways, are miracle workers. They do things I can’t. Sellers pay for Litchney Law Firm’s services separately, and there are no referral fees passing between us, even when Litchney Law Firm refers clients to me. It’s a clean association.

A lawyer doesn’t need a real estate license to negotiate a short sale. And dare I say, a lawyer never clogs up my inbox with an email that says, “thank you.” They’re much wordier with their thanks than that.

So, if your short sale isn’t moving forward, I suggest you take a look at who is negotiating your sale. Is it a third-party vendor that runs a short sale mill by volume, without personal attention to each file? Is it an agent without any experience? An agent who is too swamped with business to do the job right? Has your short sale dropped into a black hole never again to see the light of day? Because my Sacramento short sales tend to close, regardless of whether I personally do them, my associate does or Litchney. I’ve got a great team. I mean, am I lucky or what?

Photo: Big Stock Photo

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Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout Sacramento. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. DRE License # 00697006.

The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available through bookstores everywhere and at Amazon.com.

Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.

The views expressed herein are Weintraub’s personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.

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