We just completed closing another short sale this week and the experience was...... let's say.....A MIRACLE! After 5 long months and many sleepless nights, it's done, finished, closed. Did we say closed escrow? We must be dreaming.............. Although closing a sale is always rewarding, this one took years off our lives.
The reason you ask?
The loan officer! Yes the incompetent lender! Here is a loan officer who every week for the past 3 months had promised, even guaranteed that the deal would be done but could not deliver. "Promised but could not deliver," how many times do we hear that about people???? The scary thing about this guy was that he was arogant, confident, full of himself, talked the talk but in the end proved nearly worthless. What we found interesting about this was that the family had used this particular loan officer in the past. Why?.... Do they not know any better? Do they think this level of service is what they can expect from all lenders? Do the buyers even realize that their loan officers performance almost cost them the house? That this caused the sellers to lose thousands of dollars that they did not have? That the agents contributed thousands of dollars to keep this moving forward? NO and frankly they should.
Although there are fewer loan officers out there because of the Real Estate meltdown, you still need to be very careful about who you choose. Just because someone talks a good game doesn't mean a thing. Buyers beware. Stay on top of the lender. Be diligent. Expect the unexpected. Be compliant and truthful. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Most importantly, keep your agent in the loop as they are your partner and will help keep the lender on the path to a successful close of escrow.
