Buyer's Brokers: The most important step in buying a short sale

We get many questions from buyer's brokers about things they can do to make sure their client's short sale offer is approved. The single most important step you can take as a buyer's broker to ensure success in a short sale is this: Qualify the listing broker.

If the listing broker is unfamiliar with short sales, no matter what you do on your end, the chance of a successful outcome decreases dramatically. If your client is interested in a short sale property, call the listing broker and ask them these qualifying questions:

1) Who will be negotiating the short sale?

2) How long have they been negotiating short sales?

3) How many short sales have they closed?

4) Do they have experience with the HAFA process? (HAFA provides incentives for the seller such as a $3,000 relocation incentive, and an agreement by the lenders to forgive the debt, which increase the likelihood of seller participation in the short sale.)

5) What is their system for communicating with you, the buyer's agent, so you know how the transaction is progressing?

Asking these questions will help you determine whether the broker has the level of experience needed to successfully negotiate a short sale-- and it can save you and your client a lot of time and frustration.