03-29-2012, 03:11 AM
Before the house is even considered for short sale, the listing agent should have experience in these types of sales. That being said, your listing agent should have a document included in the listing packet that includes the basic "permission" slip for dealing with the bank at hand. In addition, after a listing agreement is signed but before the home is even marketed, the agent should have started a dialog with the bank to discuss presentatioins of offers, and, if they will discuss, what price they are willing to accept. Most banks wont, but you pretty much have your answer when the agent presents an executed contract to the bank. I have personally had an offer on a home in Puna where the seller (mortgagee) accepted an offer 10K below the asking, then the bank hem-hawed around and couldn't get an answer, so I recinded offer and moved on to another home. Two weeks later I came to find out the bank had approved the sale amount after I had a contract on a different home. I went back to look at the listing, and the listing price had been reduced to the price I had offered. Please do not construe any of this in any way as legal advise. I would recommend that you consult a RE attorney in addition to an agent as well as a CPA. The agent gets paid by the seller for getting home sold...and unfortunately the buyer gets a good deal while the person trying to get out from the note is the one that gets the hit, on credit, a bill from the IRS and/or the bank for the deficiency. The 6% listing commission doesnt matter to the seller unless they expect to walk away with cash in their pockets or owe a huge deficiency. The banks will generally work with someone to a point...they are in the business of money, not selling homes. More often it is in the banks interest to take the initial hit rather than take the home back in foreclosure plus the added expense of taxes, marketing, and having a stale home on the market and having to sell for less than what they would have gotten pre-foreclosure. The whole purpose is to save what credit they have left and to walk away from the home with as little money left owed. just my two cents