There goes our commission again!

March 24, 2010

Treasury revisesagent commission rate on HAFA short sales
The U.S.Dept. of the Treasury recently made an unexpected change to theShort Sale Agreement Form used in the Obamaadministration’s Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternativesprogram. The form, which notifies the homeowner theyqualify for a HAFA short sale and states the acceptable termsand conditions, now allows the loan servicer to decide theacceptable real estate commission. However, if thehomeowner signed a listing agreement with an agent and has ashort sale offer that was accepted prior to receiving a HAFAShort Sale Agreement, the homeowner can submit an AlternativeRequest for Approval of Short Sale to the loan servicer allowingthe commission stated in the listing agreement to stand, up to 6percent.

C.A.R. and NAR are opposed to this change and are working to express oppositionto the Treasury Dept.

Looks like we'll continue to work harder for less money. If it's the lender decision to decide our commission how little are you willing to work for? 1.5%? maybe .5%???

Hi Jan,

You may not have come across this but, we already have agents working at below 1%. This trend of less and less commission isn't going to change until a company out there forces the change or until we as agents say enough is enough.

Now, as for a company making the change, it will never happen. As I have often said, these AM companies aren't offering their clienst (the serviers) anything different from the next AM company so, this industry is going to have to stay focused on reducing expenditures to stay competitive and the easiest way to do that is to reduce commissions. Why is this so easy to do, because we have a huge amount of desperate agents out there willing to work for pennies because they can't go get a real job due to the economy so, they are locked in and will do whatever they have to for a check.

As for agemts making a stand.......not going to happen because of the exact reasons I just listed so, it puts us between a rock and a hard spot.

Now, I do believe this is all going to change and REOPro is going to be leading the way. We will come out swinging at the 4th annual mortgage servicing conference. For more details, you need to attend the VIP Poker Party.

Replies

Jesus (Jesse) Gonzalez March 28, 2010 at 4:16am

Hi Jan,

You may not have come across this but, we already have agents working at below 1%. This trend of less and less commission isn't going to change until a company out there forces the change or until we as agents say enough is enough.

Now, as for a company making the change, it will never happen. As I have often said, these AM companies aren't offering their clienst (the serviers) anything different from the next AM company so, this industry is going to have to stay focused on reducing expenditures to stay competitive and the easiest way to do that is to reduce commissions. Why is this so easy to do, because we have a huge amount of desperate agents out there willing to work for pennies because they can't go get a real job due to the economy so, they are locked in and will do whatever they have to for a check.

As for agemts making a stand.......not going to happen because of the exact reasons I just listed so, it puts us between a rock and a hard spot.

Now, I do believe this is all going to change and REOPro is going to be leading the way. We will come out swinging at the 4th annual mortgage servicing conference. For more details, you need to attend the VIP Poker Party.
Jose Rivas (DGRA) CDPE, SFR March 27, 2010 at 2:50pm

OK, I hope this is just a rumor, according to the original HAFA if the lender appoints a servicer then the servicer gets part of the commission. I know some of those servicers charge from 1% of the sale price to 25% to 50% of the total commission for the listing agent.
We have to make sure we read the fine prints before signing any agreements with those servicers.
Crystal M. Bush March 27, 2010 at 1:20pm

What's the reference site for this article?
- Jan Baron, RDCPro, CSP, BPOR > Crystal M. Bush March 27, 2010 at 1:55pm
  
  Crystal, This is a news update I received from the California Association of Realtors via e-mail.
  
  C.A.R. Newsline California Association of Realtors March 24, 2010
  
  Brought to you by the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
  
  The form the article is referring to is the "Short Sale Agreement (HAFA SSA)"

This reply was deleted.