Video 97: I applaud the Arizona Department of Real Estate for issuing a Short Sales" href="http://deansellsaz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/ss-seller_advisory.pdf" target="_blank">Short Sales Sellers Advisory. They have included a lot of good information such as scams to avoid, options to short sales and advising you to get legal and accounting advice. The one thing I did not agree with them on is their recommendation to hire an agent with a short sale designation. While a designation is not a bad thing to have, there are plenty of good agents who do not believe in the money making aspect behind designations and may not have a designation, but may have as much experience and/or knowledge as someone with a designation. The best way to hire a Tempe short sale agent is to talk to a few agents, ask them their process and see what they share with you. You will quickly be able to tell by their short sale process which agent to use. Would love to hear your thoughts, you can leave a comment or e-mail me Dean Ouellette.

You have tried the loan modification process and have had very little luck so now you have decided that your best option is a short sale. While a short sale may not be the best option for everyone, if you are going to do it, do it right.

A short sale in Arizona is different than a short sale in many other states. Arizona is an anti-deficiency state so as long as the bank does not sneak it into the final contract, they will not be coming after you for the loss. That being said, an Arizona short sale is not about getting top dollar for your house, it is about getting a fair market offer and getting it sold.

That brings me to last week when I was calling on some listings for a buyer I am working with I came across one in Gilbert that appeared to me at first look to be overpriced. The home was listed for $250,000 as a short sale and had just recently been reduced from $260,000. At $250K I thought this Gilbert short sale was overpriced so decided to check on a few comps and wouldn’t you know, according to the recently sold comparables the value I thought the house was worth was close to $230,000.

This house had been on the market for over 130 days and had no offers. This Gilbert short sale was originally on the market for $290,000 and the house had over 40 business cards on the counter. Knowing not every agent leaves a card you can be assured there were many more showings of the home than that, yet, no offers. Meanwhile the home sits vacant, moving closer and closer to a date with foreclosure.

If you have a short sales agent working with you and you are not getting any offers, you need to ask your agent why. If you are a short sales agent and you know the price of your listing is $50,000 over market value you need to do a better job explaining to your sellers how the price of the home is hurting them, as long as it is within a reasonable range of market value. A short sale is about getting the seller out from a financial mess and avoiding a foreclosure on their credit, not about getting absolute top dollar for the house.

As always when considering a short sale talk to you accountant about tax ramifications.