Trent Chapman Shares How to Get Buyers to Stay in a Short Sale

[rewealthyone]

again, thank you for taking the time. i guess your response was my point all along. if you were trying to increase your bottom line (and who isn't these days) then the way to keep it "clean" would either be to disclose that the mitagation was an additonal fee NOT included in the agrmnt (and set up another company that is paid for the mitagating) or have your buyer the split your brokerage costs with your seller to mitagate their purchase. (in my state) legally that might be a payable service.

[rewealthyone]

trent-thanks for taking the time to reply back to me. I just have one more question for futher clarification. If the fees are being paid by the buyer on behalf of the seller, and the property closes, are you saying that you DON'T reimburse the $500 at closing?

[newfuturerealty]

@rewealthyone No, this is not a negotiation fee per se, it is a cancellation fee. To be honest, in many states, it is difficult to really enforce (mine included) and get paid, but we will still include this. So, I don't get paid $500 when it does close escrow from the buyer, unless that was included in my listing agreement and agreed upon between the buyer and seller (that the buyer would pay that fee).

[rewealthyone]

trent-i do have a question. are you disclosing to your clients in the brokerage agreeement that you own a % of a separate business that mitagates short sales and that the nonrefundatble deposit is being paid to a separate company, or are you using the escrowed funds as advanced costs and paying your mitagation company as a consultant on the HUD-1?

[newfuturerealty]

@rewealthyone No, I don't have it paid to a separate company. It would go to the brokerage for services provided on behalf of the seller which must now be performed again with a new buyer as my team will have to resubmit and often restart with a new buyer (i.e. BofA/Equator). Yes, you should disclose any fees to your seller on the listing agreement if you are charging fees in addition to the commission, even if they are being paid to the same brokerage.

[newfuturerealty]

You should consult with your attorney/broker about what to write. I now only ask that $500 be non-refundable in most cases. That is usually enough to keep a buyer committed for 90 days, yet not so much as to scare off potentially well qualified buyers who would be willing to wait 60-90 days to get the short sale approved.