What Is a Short Sale Negotiator?

What is a short sale negotiator?

A short sale negotiator is the individual or team that works to obtain short sale approval on the short sale transaction. It can be either a third-party (such as an attorney or real estate broker) or the listing agent—depending upon how the short sale listing agent structures his or her team.

Why are short sale negotiators important? What do they do?

When you think of the word ‘negotiate”, you may think about your last trip to purchase an automobile or perhaps even the last time you bought an item on Craigslist or at a yard sale. Usually that negotiation involves arriving at a price that is agreeable to all. That same definition holds true for short sales as well.

When it comes to the short sale process, there are often occasions where an individual (either the third-party short sale negotiator or the short sale listing agent) will have to work with the seller’s mortgage lender in order to arrive at an acceptable price and terms for the subject property.

However, the truth is that when it comes to short sales, the word ‘negotiation’ or ‘short sale negotiator’ may take on another meaning as well. The word ‘negotiation’ when used with respect to the short sale process also means to navigate.

Most short sale agents become exceedingly frustrated as they attempt to navigate the wonderful world of short sales. The process of navigation (or negotiation) often involves sending multiple faxes, following up with different departments, escalating requests to management, getting past (frequently misinformed) gatekeepers. This difficult navigation is one of the biggest challenges of the short sale transaction.

While it is true that there may be some traditional negotiation of price and terms that happens within the short sale process, it does not occur on each and every transaction. Often times, the biggest difficulties include getting the bank employee to return a phone call or having the employee locate the document that you have uploaded 27 times. And, this is what seems to make the a real estate agent very frustrated.

If you are looking for a first class short sale negotiator team that knows how to navigate the short sale process, feel free to contact your friends at Short Sale Expeditor®.