What Happens When a Guild Mortgage Short Sale Cuts Commissions

Just because a Guild Mortgage short sale cuts your commission doesn’t mean you have to pass along the insult.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had a bank try to discount our real estate commissions, but a Guild Mortgage short sale shows the bank is not in tune with Sacramento short sales. All of the federally insured mortgages, including the HAFA short sale program, pay 6% commission but not a Guild Mortgage short sale. By the time I’m through paying my assistant for handling all of the paperwork, the net result is pretty minimal.

The MLS instructions allow the buyer’s agent to share in that forced reduction. Sometimes, depending on the transaction, including how much work I have to do on the buyer’s side, I let the buyer’s agent share in that reduction, but I have not done that for a long time. Generally, I am generous. I often will absorb the full hit myself rather than pass it along to the other agent. Especially if that agent has cooperated fully with the terms.

No joke, we ask buyer’s agents to hop through hoops before getting into contract on a short sale. That’s because with few exceptions, the short sales I work on close. When the #1 short sale agent in Sacramento takes on a short sale, that buyer better be committed to waiting for approval and fully qualified to close escrow. Although, I worked with a seller recently who decided to bring his loan current and keep the house. So anything can happen.

It’s not as easy as it used to be to start over on a short sale when the buyer flakes out after approval. That is the worst kiss of death that can happen to a seller. But I am not worried about the buyers for this short sale. They are working with an extremely competent buyer’s agent who asks all the right questions and refers top mortgage lenders.

I ask other short sale agents in Sacramento to consider the other side when working on a Guild Mortgage short sale. Just because the MLS rules allow you to hit the buyer’s agent with a commission reduction, is it really necessary to do it? If the agent is a jerk, well, that’s a different story. But if the agent is making your transaction happen, maybe it’s a good idea not to reduce their commission just because the Guild Mortgage short sale doesn’t honor the same fees other lenders do.