If you are contemplating using an attorney to negotiate your short sale instead of your Realtor, beware. These legal companies are popping up everywhere and they will charge you thousands of dollars to do what an experienced short sale negotiator Realtor will do for free. A Realtor is paid by their commission from the sale of the home and the home seller pays nothing. The seller's lender will pay the commission.
However, when a seller uses an attorney, they pay the attorney directly to negotiate the file. In my own experience as a Realtor who negotiates my client's short sales, attorneys do no better than an experienced Realtor. I have a short sale listing that my sellers paid $4,000 to an attorney to negotiate their short sale.
I believe having this attorney has actually hurt their negotiations. I have ended up telling my client what to tell the attorney to get the file properly negotiated. It's been a complete nightmare. Part of negotiation is letting the bank know the market. An attorney, even a real estate attorney, who is not in the trenches practicing real estate cannot understand the market better than an experienced Realtor.
Monday, August 16, 2010
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