Title Companies handling Short Sale "negotiations" is the new trend in my area. I quote "negotiations" because they don't really handle negotiations at all. Instead they do what Title Companies do....shuffle paperwork. Here's an excerpt from one National company's solicitation to agents.
Now folks there may be Title Companies that are doing a good job with Short Sales but I have yet to experience one. I guess the issue is that handing your Short Sale over to a Title Company is handing it off to a 9-5 Monday through Friday hourly employee. They are NOT going to spend the time required to push your particular Short Sale through to closing. They are NOT negotiators. They are office workers. And there's nothing wrong with this unless.......you are counting on them to help you avoid foreclosure and salvage your credit.
Just yesterday I had a Title Company contact me on one of my Buyer side transactions. They were asking me for the Buyer's personal information including his first 5 digits of his social security number. Agents that handle Short sales everyday know this information is being requested because it is a Bank of America Short Sale and the Title Company is getting ready to initiate the Short Sale through the Equator system. Entering the Buyer's details is one of the very first tasks. Nothing wrong with this either except for with this particular transaction we have had the property under contract for 2 months!!!
This means that for 2 months this file has just been sitting. Two months of wasted time. Two months closer to foreclosure for these unsuspecting Sellers. Heck....my experience with Equator tells me that this file could have already been approved in this amount of time.
Agents that handle their own Short Sales from beginning to end do NOT sit on a file for 2 months. We are proactive. We follow up on our Short Sales at least twice a week if not more. We push the transaction along we don't just wait for things to happen. And most importantly we DO negotiate "the terms of approval and acceptance on the Seller's behalf." That's our job. That why we get paid.
So folks, if you are facing foreclosure, PLEASE hire a negotiator NOT a paperwork shuffler. You'll be glad you did.
Are you facing foreclosure in Florida?
Do NOT be foreclosed on! Avoid foreclosure. Short Sales DO close.
Want to find out more? www.CentralFloridaShortSales.com
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Tutas Towne Realty has already successfully negotiated Short Sales with the following Lenders and Investors.
Chase Short Sale,Sun Trust Short Sale, GMAC Short Sale, Wells Fargo Short Sale,Bank of America Short Sale,USA Bank Short Sale,PNC Bank Short Sale,Citi Short Sale,HomeEq Short Sale,Fifth Third Bank Short Sale,ING Direct Short Sale,GreenTree Short Sale,Capital One Short Sale,ASC Short Sale,First Horizon Short Sale,E-Trade Short Sale,Transland Financial Short Sale,US Bank Short Sale,IBM LBPS Short Sale,
Nationstar Short Sale,BAC Florida Short Sale,Real Time Solutions Short Sale,Fannie Mae Short Sale
FHA Short Sale,Selene Finance Short Sale,DTA Solutions LLC Short sale,Flagstar Short Sale,IndyMac Short Sale
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Tutas Towne Realty, Inc handles Florida real estate sales, Florida short sales, Florida strategic short sales, Florida pre-foreclosure sales, Florida foreclosures in Kissimmee Florida Short Sales, Davenport Florida Short Sales, Haines City Florida Short Sales, Poinciana Florida Short Sales, Solivita Florida Short Sales, Orlando Florida Short Sales, Celebration Florida Short Sales, Winderemere Florida Short Sales. Serving all of Polk, Osceola and Orange Counties Florida. Florida Short Sale Broker. Short Sale Florida.
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That is incredible! I have nothing against title companies--I work with a couple of fantastic escrow officers--but this is not the kind of thing they should be doing.
Cheers,
Robin
It's like a commercial where the guy has a steak knife in hand, is on the phone and being told the steps in surgery that is will be doing by himself in his own kitchen as he sits at the table with a little over the phone guidance, maybe a youtube video playing on the lap top or droid. And he asks the doctor..."Shouldn't you be doing this, not me?" But gets assurances its not that complicated, hard. Really. And the guy in the bathrobe looks bewildered, scared with a knife held up nervously waiting for help, more guidance. You need a guy wearing the "R" the hardest working letter in the alphabet at that kitchen table.
wow - another thing I did not know about how Bank of America is handling short sales - I never heard of a title company doing this - title companies I deal with do closings and more closings and still more closings - but they sure don't negotiate!
A title company in Phoenix contacted me wanting to be my short sale negotiator. After asking a few questions they finally admitted that they don't negotiate the price and terms.
Could having a title company as a "negotiator" be considered a conflict of interest? Don't they also make more money on title policies when the price is higher? Even if they don't negotiate price and terms, couldn't putting themselves out as a "negotiator" be some consdered risky?
Bryant, I am working with a Title Company in Ann Arbor that I have used for 16 years, they recently started doing this and have been excellent.
They call...update me, my sellers and I in turn update the listing agent.
Three for 3 ain't bad, and I have been able to focus on other things beside sitting on the phone. I know of another title company in town that is charging the sellers upfront to do this. Mine does not charge one penny more.
It is a huge help to Realtors in our area, the gals are well trained, great phone skills, no what they are doing. They do not talk to my sellers at all...I do.
This trend has already come and gone in our area! A friend of mine attempted to throw them some short sales, unsuccessful! Last year NV passed laws about short sale negotiations. It is officially a licensed activity now!
After I worked with 2 short sale deals representing the sellers I was over that. We don't have many here anyway. I would refer them to an agent that doesn't mind all the time-wasters(banks) that block their progress. It wears me out.
There is always someone trying to get a slice of the perceived pie, even when they have no knowledge of how to do it.
More greedy people looking for a piece of the pie. YUCK! I feel like I just got slimed...
Same thing here in Northern Virginia. If you aren't a lawyer or a licensed agent, you have no legal business negotiating contract terms on behalf of anyone. And, as you say, I've not had a successful deal going through these channels either.
All too true! My huband's buyer put in an offer just 4 days prior to the scheduled sale date. Auction was on Monday at 10am PST. Listing agent had severe challenges getting the sale date pushed back as there was no negotiator assisgned to the file. Weekend arrived. No progress. You can bet your bippy that agent was up at 5am calling the East Coast banks. He was successful in getting the sale delayed because he didn't adhere to a 9-5 workday schedule.
Hi!
Interesting...we haven't had this in California. What we do have is pathetic, unregulated escrow companies...and you can bet that the escrow company that is piling on garbage fees is in southern California. Sadly, among us northern California Realtors, we pray for a local escrow company. Anything else is inviting thousands of dollars in additional fees to the buyer that comes as a big surprise at the very end of the escrow. Now THAT is something that the government should be regulating!
I have been dealing with short sales prior to the "gold rush". Once a niche market it now does appear that everyone os doing them, especially a wave of title companies (as I have seen the same trend as well).
I have created a whole division that onced reached over 4,000 agents nationwide in the facilitation of short sales. We put a ton of resources to develop systems to keep all parties abreast of actual real time statues 24x7, offering transparency in a very "grey" process.
They doing what they can to drum up business, and as a result more home will be lost to foreclosure. While im sure there are some good title co's out there, I have not expericencd many (any) I we are blessed to have a lot of business.
Bryant - I've seen that in my area, too. There is a disconnect when you add a third-party, one step removed from the agent in the trenches.
Love your post. When I am at a short sale listing appointment, I stress to the homeowner that I will be the one working with the bank and negotiating on their behalf. If for some reason the bank does not agree to the short sale, I have to know I did everything I could to help them.
Seeing the same thing here with title companies wanting to do short sale "negotiating". I personally don't feel the level of trust for someone unlicensed to conduct that vital of a role for my sellers.
I LOVE being in control of my Short Sales..it's the Listing side as we all know. California does not seem to have this Title trend going, but who knows? The REO Escrow Companies have to be watched closely as well as mentioned above, but in a SHort Sale, it is hard enough to keep on top of dates/dead lines/ counters and even more ridiculous demands made by the Lenders. I cannot imagine handing this off to a Title Rep. Yikes!!!
Bryant, excellent post. Many other reasons, too. The title company processor will not know the flaws of the property. The title company paralegal will not stay current on the daily changes to loss mitigation industry. Also, the listing agent who tosses the negotiations over the wall to the title company will never become a true expert. You have to be in the daily grind to respond to the shifting realities.
Bwahahahaha. Comment #17 has chided BB saying that BB needs the commenter's help with technology. As you hover over the link, the commenter added the tag:
"Pooerly (sic) optimized website"
Spelling mistakes through out the comment too - Now there's the way to sell your expertise.
Title companies do short sales to retain business (the closing). They are not negotiators and their vested interest is to get it closed - period.
Sellers need advice on what they got themselves into. Few banks give clear cut short sale approval letters, and if you have a 2nd lender involved or mortage insurance, the transaction and seller issues usually mount.
Knowlegeable brokers and the advice of an attorney should be in every short seller's team bag when undertaking a short sale / deed in lieu.
I too use an attorney and title company and the provide a website/portal that all parties can log into and check the status of what has been done on a daily/weekly basis. Very helpful for all involved.
Bryant, in my little neck of the woods, we have some outstanding attorney offices that do an excellent job of negotiating. Much better than when I was doing it myself. They are out there and it saves me a lot of time and energy.
Here in Idaho, our Title Companies are supposed to be an impartial third party.
I have also been asked twice for my "buyers" first five numbers of their social security number, birth date and home address on BofA transactions where BofA is the sellers' lender not my buyer's. I have requested BofA's privacy statement and intent for that data (assume they are running an illegal credit report since you are supposed to have buyer's written permission to do one). My work around so far is to have the listing agent input "000-00" and the contract date instead with a note in the file why.
Hi Bryant:
Great post. As you know, in Florida you have to be a licensed Realtor or an Attorney to legally negotiate any Real Estate contract unless you are selling your own property. That makes me wonder how the title companies that try this tactic skirt the law.
Another great point to make with Agents who are negotiating a short sale. If the lender comes back and asks the seller to sign a note, that is negotiable and MUST be emphasized from the first meeting with the seller seeking foreclosure avoidance. If you forget that point, and I have, you may have a seller in a "tizzy" and breaking off negotiations.
I'v had sellers who flat out refused to respond to a request for a note, and the bank approved the offer without comment.
Bryant, I handle all my short sales, I find that much easier for the short sale in hand while giving me new perspective on handling the next short sales. I just had a BofA short sale approved in 40 days, longer than needed because the negotiator went on vacation, otherwise it would have been much faster.
Our Prudential office has created a short sales company within the brokerage. We are very excited as they are handling our first negotiation!! We will see how it goes.
I am in northern Ca and have not seen this yet. My title officer is helpful in communicationg with the banks in short sales, but she does not negotiate, or initialte short sales.
I have used negotiators and I am using a Title Companies services. The Title Company is doing a better job. I understand there are some things they cannot do, but they can move paper work and get it to the right people. When I need to do something (negotiate) they put right to the right person and I do not have to spend hours on the phone.
I guess it is how you view it. I do not expect my Title Company to be full service, just good at the part they handle.
BB, I saw this the other day now that you mention it & never gave it a thought. This could really be dangerous to the seller & their credit.
#17: MLX is an IDX solution - it is a templated website provided by most MLS services to be used as a tool for agents to allow their clients to search for homes - not for a primary website. If you google Broker Bryant's area and his speciality (Poinciana and Short Sales) you will definitely find that he is the Poinciana Short Sale expert with all his different blogs and static website owning that page organically.
Two Months to upload the buyers information under Equator?
That's Crazy!
In my area there are short sale "CATTLE CALL" listing agents who want the buyer to pay for these "3rd party negotiators".
Hii BB, I'm working on a short where the listing agent wants the buyer to pay a fee to a third party negotiator. It seems like they might be practising real estate without a license ? Hmmm
Bryant, Our title company just launched a Short Sale program. I'm happy to turn over the day-to-day, but I still call them regularly to make sure they've done what I know they should have done! So far so good, but I expect to be the negotiator because, yes, they specifically state they will not negotiate.
I have seen more than 5 of you talking about title companies helping with short sale, but no gave the name of one. Why? I'am in Oregon and I don't know of a Title Co that would will help with short sale. Please let me know what title companes are offering the short sale assistance.
Thank you
As a title rep, this is not the case in CA. We must always remember that real estate is practiced differently in different parts of the country. We (title companies) do not act as short sale negotiators in CA. Title insurance is highly regulated industry (as are all aspects of RE) and those regulations, of course, vary from state to state.
I would encourage anyone who isn't sure of their state's rules on this practice -- check with your Department of Insurance, Insurance Commission or whatever the state board may be in your state for regulating title companies. Just because one can do something in one state doesn't mean they can in another.
Cheers!
Nicole
Hi Bryant. There are some title companies in Tampa Bay that are claiming to negotiate on behalf of the sellers but they are really pushing for a closing. Some do not know what they are doing.
I agree - whenever I've done short sales with a title company doing the 'negotiating', it's been shoddy. Along with the '3rd party investor'.
We use attorneys with extensive experience and expertise in the area. Some attorneys tried to jump onto the short sale bandwagon but I wasn't going to let them cut their teeth on the backs of my clients.
That sounds about right. Title Companies should not be negotiating short sales. Actually according to the Florida Office of Financial Regulation negotiating short sales is actually not something title companies should be doing. We just had a deal from hell where it took about 45 days to finally clear a borrower to close because it was a somewhat difficult loan. We finally make the financing and are clear to close, only to find out on the closing date that the title company never negotiated a second lien. Incredible to think that a title company who did all the searches missed the fact that there was a second mortgage. What a colossal wasted of time, money and resources. To make it worse, there has been a change of circumstance on the borrowers part which effected the credit, and there window for purchasing a home is now closed. So no new home, no more loan, and we are all out luck. Nothing scares me more, then when I hear a title company negotiating short sales. Big Red Flag.
When I saw the subject line I thought you were simply going to talk about experience short sale agents vs inexperienced. This whole thing with title companies getting in the mix is new to me! I hope I don't see that happening in my market. So far, so good!
Thus far, I've personally handled all the negations with my short sales. However, recently I have been introduced to a title company and a legal group that focuses on negotiating short sales. I guess when I'm at the point where I need to turn these transactions over to someone else, I'll definitely do some homework prior to selecting a company. Your post has given me great insights. Thank you.
what a complete waste of time. I have a full time short sale coordinator on my staff who gets paid upon successful closing. Beats the upfront cost
what a complete waste of time. I have a full time short sale coordinator on my staff who gets paid upon successful closing. Beats the upfront cost
I just closed one yesterday -- I had the listing and my broker had set up a relationship with one of those companies. I fired them within two weeks of receiving an offer...their answer to every question was "It simply takes months to get a response from the bank." I was able to get response from the bank within two days -- and the response from the bank was that they had never received the offer from the short sale company. Once I took it back from them I was able to get it closed in about 60 days. This was my first short sale on the list side, and I realize now that it is not brain surgery...you simply need to have systems in place and be persistent.
Title companies should stick to issuing title insurance policies, and escrow companies need to remain neutral. It would be hard to do that if you were busy NOT negotiating short sales.
O so I guess I was a terrible blog host on this post!!! I am sure there are title companies that do a good job withthis. I just haven't heard of one in my area that does. And if they aren't negotiating then what do they do?
Bryant, our title company just rolled out a program to do this but we have been hesitate to jump on board for the very reason you stated. We have actually taken away negotiations from attorney offices who had delegated it to the kind 9-5 employees who were not negotiators and not getting very far. There was one title company here who did a good jog - girl moved up from Miami ~grrr... but they got too busy and service went down the tube. So far, we like the results when we do it - over 95% closed :)
Bryant,
Great blog or can be "hire a paperwork shuffler" and you can be the negotiator ! :) then you have more control over the file and just the processing someone else is handling it
I can't help but wonder...
If BoA (Bank of A-sHoles) CEO had a bad experience with a licensed RE Professional. It just seems as if BoA holds some kind of grudge against people in this industry. Hey, maybe their tired of being called Bank Of A-sHoles. Nah. They were doing this crap before I dubbed them with their new nickname :)
TLW...ROAR!
FYI--CDPE is promoting the use of title companies as negotiators as of the class I attended in May.
Hello!
Sorry to hear about your bad experience with that certain Title Company. However, I must say that I am the Closing Manager for a Title Company and I directly "negotiate" the Short Sales on behalf of the Seller at no charge to the realtor or Seller. We have been very successful in getting these Short Sales approved and strongly believe that if a realtor negotiates a Short Sale from beginning to end, they are just taking up time from marketing and getting business. However, you are right, i have numerous clients that have taken their Short Sales from other Title Companies and given them to me because those Title Companies have no idea of what they are doing. If any realtors in the Florida area wants to give our company a shot, feel free to email me directly. You will definitely be satisfied as you will be updated constantly on your files.
Genesis Amador - Closing Manager for Bankers Choic Title, LLC
genesis@bankerschoicetitle.com
Preach it Bryant!!! I have to chuckle every time I have a title company try to get my business by telling me they will "negotiate" my short sales. HA! There is a huge difference between being a paper pusher that faxes docs to the bank, and NEGOTIATING short sales...and the homeowner is done a major disservice when this task is handed over to an hourly employee at the title office. Great post, my friend!