The other day, I got a new property assignment. "Hmm," I thought, "that address looks familiar." Turns out, I had done an interior BPO on the property back in December of 2007, for a short sale. That was kind of a puzzler - I know I turned in a value higher than the contract price (the seller's agent met me out at the property and said, hey, this is our contract price) - but considering the location and lot size, the value I gave it was fair to all concerned.But OK, say that my valuation was hire than the contract price, and the buyer was not willing to come up. Strangely enough, this property was never listed for sale on the MLS. Incredible. Here you are, facing foreclosure - and you're not going to list the property for sale on the MLS to at least even try to get out from under a foreclosure?The whole strategy of "pocket listings" of short sales kind of confuses me, to be honest. I really think a Realtor is doing a disservice to their client by keeping a short sale a secret. Perhaps in some cases the client insists that nobody know - but c'mon, what shame is there in doing a short sale these days? About 1/3rd of all the listings on the MLS in my area are short sales or straight-out REO properties.Hmmm. Well, I've ended up with what should be a nice listing in a popular area. So thanks for that, but I'm sorry things had to work out this way. Now instead of being the nice Realtor who came to take pictures of your house to help you get out from under this burden, I'm the nice Realtor who's going to negotitate a Cash for Keys to get you out of the house. Sigh. All in a day's work, I guess.
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