A Short-Sale Specialist’s Survival Tips

Since shifting her focus to short sales, Sabrina Sullivan of Michael Saunders & Co. in Lakewood Ranch, Fla., has developed strategies to make her job easier. For instance, she places phone calls to lenders in the evening when their lines are not busy, rather than sitting on hold for hours in the morning and afternoon. She says the Equator system used by large lenders has simplified the short sale process by enabling agents to scan and e-mail the numerous documents required by lenders in stages, with the short-sale authorization and the offer sent first. Sullivan says it now takes about 120 days to process a short sale, whereas it took as long as a year to push through a short sale in 2009. Although short sales can be a headache, Sullivan emphasizes the need for homeowners to make decisions that fit their financial needs. If homeowners whose property values have plummeted want to sell, she says, “They will either have to bring cash to the closing table or do a short sale.” | Read More