It's been a while

It's been a while since I've posted anything, but for the last 3 months I've been living in a place that I call 'Short Sale Hell'. Or it might be purgatory because it's a place that short sales go to torment the people involved; not quite dead but definitely not near consummation. It's a place where real estate agents of buyers are left completely in the dark as if dropping a contract into a deep well with no end in sight. After all the talk of leveling the playing field, of transparency and protecting the consumer, we are actually no better off and in some cases, worse off then before. Even after the infamous 'stress tests' in which the larger banks were instructed to raise capital, lien holders are still holding onto properties, inflating inventory to an all time high. Also despite increasing sales, deals stay in a pending status for months and months and there is very little reported about the number of sales that actually close with buyers receiving the keys to their new homes.

It has, however, created a blooming industry of REO experts offering their sure fire ways of making a bundle off the misery of others. They alone have the key to unlock the coffers to the banks mysterious methods of doing business in uncertain times. My in box is laden with offers of webinars and easy to follow downloads that will give you instant access to the decision makers and the key words and phrases that will unlock the safe to actually closing sales. It's pure insanity. The longer these listings stay on the market with more looming near foreclosure, the longer prices will continue to drop. Yet lien holders hold on to them as if they haven't read a newspaper or seen a financial broadcast in years.

In my frustration, I wrote a petition stating the frustrations that I'm sure many other real estate agents feel. I've placed it on the Care2 petition site - Short Sale Hell. The text for my petition is as follows:

We, the undersigned real estate professionals and potential home buyers are weary of the insanity going on in the real estate lending industry. We have stood by and watched lenders peddling exotic loan products designed only to bilk consumers out of their hard earned money with zero accountability. We have read of scheme after scheme involving millions of dollars in real estate while we continue to toil for just enough to stay afloat. We have represented clients with the ability and desire to buy a home forced to wait for months and sometimes years for a place to call their own only to have a lien holder accept and then later turn down a legitimate offer. We have stood by while lien holders make promises, talk about 'due diligence', add condition after condition, hoop after hoop only to then turn their noses up when anyone dare to question their complete lack of good sense or basic math.

In the last 12 months property values have continued to plummet, yet lien holders seem to be living in a fantasy land where values are determined by their desire to get the highest price possible. Huge profits were made in recent years by adjustable rate mortgages with sky high caps, late fees and loan costs, yet they want more. Billions of tax payer dollars were poured into an industry that still refuses to accept any blame, yet they still sit on the fence holding on to properties worth a fraction of what they were worth a few years ago.

Home sales by all accounts are increasing but mean nothing because most of these sales stay in a pending status for months and sometimes years. Closed sales on the other hand continue to drop - why? Because lien holders will not allow them to close, forcing agents to drop purchase and sale agreements into a black hole with absolutely no way of knowing what happens to them and no way to adequately represent their client. It's exactly like being on a flight that never lands but continues to circle the airport with an occasional announcement to hold on a decision to land is forth coming. And then of course when you do land you’re back where you started only with less money, less time and more stress an aggravation.

We demand an end to the madness. No more incentives - banks do not care about $1,200 per closed transaction. No more writing deals without any end in sight. No more hoops, conditions, phone calls, urgent emails. We demand that lien holders look at the current numbers and trends and base their decisions on those numbers - like legitimate appraisals, auctions, and home values that continue to drop. Finally no more reneging on their promises. If you agree to a price, you should be forced to accept that price. Enough is enough. We will not stand for another short sale that goes bad at the last minute and we will not deliver another message to a hopeful home buyer that some arbitrary decision has been made after a buyer has gone through an arduous approval and vetting process and waited patiently for the privilege of giving another lender their money. NO MORE.

Pretty heady stuff, I know, but I was angry and tired and had been dealing with a short sale transaction for veteran of 2 wars - Vietnam and Desert Storm. If there ever was a more worthy group deserving of a home to call his home, it does not come to mind. Does not matter to the powers that be who have come no closer to defending our country than the television remote control in their hands. I had to face this gentle giant week after week with absolutely no knew information other than please hold on. Talk about feeling completely useless and powerless. My broker told me to take a step back, not to get so involved. But in real estate, you are dealing with a very personal asset. A place where the most intimate details of your life unfold. How not to get involved and invested is my question and struggle. It's not like we're selling suits at Men's Warehouse where if the suit you had on your eyes on is available right down the street.

Well enough ranting, I have an angel asleep upstairs who is counting on me to maintain order in the home, provide an never ending supply of bagels and cream cheese and ferry rides. No more time to fuss. Till the next time.