According to the Wall Street Journal, 2010 could be called “The Year of The Short Sale.”

In many markets today short sales make up a large percentage of the transactions, and this trend looks to continue into next year as well.

Here’s a “special edition” article with the 4 BEST agent-submitted strategies for Short Sales, organized by the following categories…

1. Finding Sellers Who Want To Do A Short Sale
2. Speeding Up The Short Sale Process
3. Attracting Short Sale Buyers
4. Setting Short Sale Buyer Expectations

From trying to sell homes to buyers interested in short sales, to working with distressed sellers, check out one or all of these strategies to avoid common hassles, save time and make money from short sales…

1. Finding Sellers Who Want To Do A Short Sale

ARTICLE:  A Quick Short-Sale Strategy

This article has a quick and easy strategy for finding distressed sellers that can work in any market.

Click Here To Read More…

2. Speeding Up The Short Sale Process

ARTICLE:  The ABC’s of Getting Short Sales Pre-Approved

This article has a step-by-step process for getting ‘pre-approval’ on short sale offers, which can help you avoid many common problems with short sale transactions.

Click Here To Read More…

3. Attracting Short Sale Buyers

ARTICLE:  These Signs Make Your Phone Ring With Buyers

Here’s a simple idea to get your short sale listings noticed (and sold faster!).

Click Here to Read More…

4. Setting Short Sale Buyer Expectations

ARTICLE:   Agent Discovers Easy Tool For Educating Short Sale Buyers

This article has a download for an example booklet that educates short sale buyers on the process, and it can also be used to set expectations with sellers.  You’ll want to make your own booklet for your local market that positions you as an “expert” and helps you avoid frustrations with buyers (and sellers) by giving them the BIG PICTURE of the process.

Click Here to Read More…

PLUS:

What’s YOUR best strategy for Short Sales (or Foreclosures)?

I want to hear from you, so email your very best strategy to share with our community — and be sure to attach an example image, pdf, or template in word.

Click here to share your idea…

In most markets today buyers are considering short sale properties with no experience and generally UN-realistic expectations about the the time frame and details involved.

Agent Nancy Biel Stewart uses a unique tool to educate buyers of short sale properties. Using a simple “short sale booklet” she gives her buyers an overview of the process and sets their expectations up front. This helps her diffuse their frustrations with the process AND is a powerful way to communicate her knowledge and value to clients.

Here’s Nancy’s description (and sample that you can use as a model to make one for your market)…

“Selling real estate today can be challenging in many ways. Many of our listings are in short sale situations. I represent buyers most of the time, so I have taken several classes on short sales to better help them. I use the handouts from these classes, combined information from my experiences and created booklets to give my clients who are considering the purchase of a short sale property.

One key to selling these homes is managing your client’s expectations. I let them know up front that they may not get an answer from the banks on their offer for months and that other buyers may submit competing offers even after the seller has signed the initial offer.

My booklet explains the process from both the seller and buyer side so my clients know what they are getting into! If they proceed and become discouraged or anxious, I just refer them back to the book and calm their anxiety. Most read the booklet thoroughly and have a better understanding that all parties involved are under much stress and patience is the key to a successful closing.”

You can click on the image to see a sample booklet as a pdf:

You may already know that short sales can be a long and involved process, and frustrating for everyone involved.  The secret to eliminate many common headaches is getting the property ‘pre-approved’ for a short sale offer, while gently guiding the sellers in order to avoid potential disasters.

Would you like a quick reference for exactly what you need to get short sales pre-approved in record time?  Agent Terrence Hassett explains how to do just that in three simple steps.

Here’s Terrence’s description in his own words:

“Co-op brokers are wary of short sale offerings, due to the risk of last minute fall-out or problems over commissions.  By counseling your sellers to submit EARLY, you can usually get a ‘pre-approved’ short sale offering, and head off some of these problems.  Here’s the best way to approach this…

A. Start by obtaining the submission package from the lender or have your own, including:

B. Counsel your sellers as to the potential problem spots up front, like:

C. Let sellers know that the lender will likely ask for:

If you can get your short sale pre-approved, you can offer the listing with a higher probability of closing.  And these three steps will put you well on your way to a complete package for an offer submission.”

Do you remember the value of educating clients from this article? An educated client is worth 8 to 10 times more than an UN-educated client.

Today, many buyers are considering buying short sale properties but they are “UN-educated” and often UN-realistic about the time frame and details involved.

Agent Nancy Biel Stewart uses a unique tool to educate buyers of short sale properties. Using a simple “short sale booklet” she gives her buyers an overview of the process and sets their expectations up front. This helps her diffuse their frustrations with the process AND is a powerful way to communicate her knowledge and value to clients.

Here’s Nancy’s description (and sample below)…

“Selling real estate today can be challenging in many ways. Many of our listings are in short sale situations. I represent buyers most of the time, so I have taken several classes on short sales to better help them. I use the handouts from these classes, combined information from my experiences and created booklets to give my clients who are considering the purchase of a short sale property.

One key to selling these homes is managing your client’s expectations. I let them know up front that they may not get an answer from the banks on their offer for months and that other buyers may submit competing offers even after the seller has signed the initial offer.

My booklet explains the process from both the seller and buyer side so my clients know what they are getting into! If they proceed and become discouraged or anxious, I just refer them back to the book and calm their anxiety. Most read the booklet thoroughly and have a better understanding that all parties involved are under much stress and patience is the key to a successful closing.”

You can click on the image to see a sample booklet as a pdf: