Well, our little team gets to feel really good about being real estate agents this week. We got to help a family avoid a foreclosure on an investment property they owned.
When we got the listing, the property was already in pre-foreclosure (bank had notified them foreclosure is pending). The owners had bought it as an investment but had not had good luck with being landlords.
—-Personally, I think they needed to take my Landlord 101 class.—–
The team worked with them and found that they could agressively price the property and still come out in the clear. They wouldn’t make any money, but they wouldn’t lose any either. The total time on market was 75 days. Michele and Steve, who headed up this one, new it had to sell fast, so it didn’t take long to get a few price drops in the middle. They got all the agents in the office to tour, they held brokers-opens and two open houses. We marketed on Craigslist, Postlets, my blog, CENTURY 21, and many others, hitting it hard and fast.
In the end, things ran down to the wire. We got an offer in, but it was going to be tight. The auction had been scheduled… for May 1st and our closing was scheduled for the 6th. Steve spent about 3 weeks following up with Ocwen and moving up their chain of command to get a delay on the auction. He even managed to get hold of the CEO and leave a message. They were not much help and were surprisingly inflexible. We had contract in hand and they would receive a full payoff! No SHORT SALE! Hard to believe they wouldn’t be willing to work with us.
In the end, the escrow company (Prestige Escrow), ended up being more help. The buyers were able to get loan docs in early, Prestige put a rush on everything and got everyone in to sign early, and the deal closed on April 30… the day before the foreclosure auction!
It was great to know that the sellers get to move on without a foreclosure or short-sale on their credit history. The long-term affects of that are incredible. It’s great to be part of the team that kept that from happening. This is the kind of thing that makes me proud to be a real estate agent, when so many folks question the value of us, as professionals (and sometimes, rightfully so.) Great job Michele, Steve, and Kathi!
Jason Hershey, Commercial Agent
Commercial Sales and Leasing
CENTURY 21 North Homes Realty, Inc.
13322 Hwy 99 South, Suite #201
Everett, WA 98204
Cell: 425-417-5389
Fax: 425-223-3148
www.nwcommercialre.com
Follow me on Twitter @PlumcrazyRE
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