We have been reviewing recent activity in the home short sale market as we are wont to do and found a couple of surprises.
The most glaring was the number of multiple listing service (MLS) detail that burdened the buyer with paying commission to the listing agent, short sale negotiation fees to a 3rd party, or even the seller’s attorney fees. Here are some examples of what we found:
- “Buyer agrees to pay listing agent a bonus commission of $2,000 at closing.”
- “Buyer to pay $2,500 at closing to 3rd party short sale negotiators.”
- “Seller’s attorney will attempt to collect a fee of $2,500 from short sale lender at closing. If lender should refuse to pay any amount of said fee, Buyer shall be responsible for the difference between $2,500 and the amount paid by the lender.”
My first thought was that such detail would discourage buyers from looking at these properties, which would be a reasonable presumption if there were a proven, no-cost, no-obligation-if-it-doesn’t-close short sale solution (which there is of course!) currently in the marketplace.
Curious, I put the question to our database of successful real estate professionals and to a short sale-focused online forum. Responses were quick but thoughtful.
