Not All Short Sale Homes in Elk Grove Should Sell as a Short Sale

The number of Elk Grove short sales are declining

Why would a homeowner in Sacramento or Elk Grove do a short sale if the homeowner didn’t have to? That’s a question that’s been plaguing me because from a logical point of view it just doesn’t make any sense. What kind of real estate agent would railroad a seller into short sale status if that seller could sell as a regular traditional sale and not take the hit to her credit report, much less her emotional state of mind? As a Sacramento REALTOR, we are all required by the Code of Ethics to do what is in the best interests of our sellers.

To be fair, railroad might be a strong word. An agent might be completely clueless, I suppose, or an agent might be tempted to take the path of least resistance, that which seems easiest to her. Selling a home on the edge of a short sale as a regular sale can be tricky and complicated, but it can be done because I do it. Fast appreciation from spring of 2013 has turned many would-be Sacramento short sales into equity sales. It makes my heart break when I see a home sold as a short sale within a few dollars of being a traditional equity sale. It makes me wonder why a little more money could not have been squeezed from the sale, and why nobody tried to do it. It is laziness? Ignorance? Or, does the term railroad apply?

Take this homeowner in Elk Grove, for example. This is a guy who wanted to put his home on the market last fall because his wife was losing her job — a typical story in today’s real estate market. They called because they wanted to hire the best Sacramento short sale agent they could find. The problem was the home was cluttered, not that it needed to sell as a short sale. OK, every room was filled to the brim just about. Bedrooms filled with boxes. It was like a person came home from the grocery store to unpack the bags and just never put anything away except stuff that needed refrigeration.

The sellers were told to move out and into their rental property. Once the home in Elk Grove was vacated and the carpets were shampooed, it would show very well. The sellers were fairly well positioned to salvage credit and make a tidy profit. Instead, shortly thereafter, the sellers hired a “friend of a friend” and sold the home as a short sale . . . and a fixer, to boot. Later, the sellers sheepishly apologized to their first real estate agent and admitted they had probably done the wrong thing; they had panicked.

What’s done is done. No need to say anything negative about their present real estate agent.

My mother always said if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. Of course, our REALTOR Code of Ethics requires it, too.