Carmen Arruda is currently the Assistant Vice President and Regional Account Manager for Fidelity National Title Group at its Bellevue, Washington office. With special expertise in short sales, loan modification, and loan mediation, Ms. Arruda serves her clients with over 20 years of skilled real estate experience.
Short sales involve a complicated process of events that must be handled properly to be successful. Oftentimes, short sales do not get approved or end up falling through due to various reasons. Below are five common selling mistakes to avoid during short sales.
Short Sale Mistake 1: Setting an Inappropriate Price
Instead of dealing with only a buyer and seller, a short sale also involves the short sale bank, the buyer’s lender, and the buyer’s agent. The price must be attractive to all of these parties.
Short Sale Mistake 2: Insufficient Marketing
Some agents mistakenly believe that low pricing alone will sell a home, but this is not true. While the price must be reasonable, the short sale should also be adequately marketed. The agent should list the home on major websites and employ mail marketing and networking.
Short Sale Mistake 3: Lack of Photographs
Listing any house without photographs greatly reduces its likelihood of selling. Listings that lack pictures are easily overlooked on most websites. If you want your short sale to be exposed to a large pool of potential buyers, it is important to give a face to the listing.
Short Sale Mistake 4: Poor Condition of the Home
Many short-sale properties can significantly benefit from home staging. Once properly cleaned, home staging adds details to the home that makes it appear bigger, warmer, and overall more attractive to buyers. If a house is in disarray, most buyers cannot see past this, and the allure of the home is lost.
Short sales involve a complicated process of events that must be handled properly to be successful. Oftentimes, short sales do not get approved or end up falling through due to various reasons. Below are five common selling mistakes to avoid during short sales.
Short Sale Mistake 1: Setting an Inappropriate Price
Instead of dealing with only a buyer and seller, a short sale also involves the short sale bank, the buyer’s lender, and the buyer’s agent. The price must be attractive to all of these parties.
Short Sale Mistake 2: Insufficient Marketing
Some agents mistakenly believe that low pricing alone will sell a home, but this is not true. While the price must be reasonable, the short sale should also be adequately marketed. The agent should list the home on major websites and employ mail marketing and networking.
Short Sale Mistake 3: Lack of Photographs
Listing any house without photographs greatly reduces its likelihood of selling. Listings that lack pictures are easily overlooked on most websites. If you want your short sale to be exposed to a large pool of potential buyers, it is important to give a face to the listing.
Short Sale Mistake 4: Poor Condition of the Home
Many short-sale properties can significantly benefit from home staging. Once properly cleaned, home staging adds details to the home that makes it appear bigger, warmer, and overall more attractive to buyers. If a house is in disarray, most buyers cannot see past this, and the allure of the home is lost.