With the ever growing short sale market in today’s real estate community, it is important to have an incredible short sale negotiator that is part of your team. This person will assist you in handling all of the day to day communications with the lender, the mounds of paperwork, provide constant status updates and will allow you to focus your time on income producing activities. While partnering with a SS negotiator, the type of relationship you forge with the negotiator is so important. We’ve found one important dynamic of a successful transaction is that the SS negotiator and Agent’s relationship should be built on trust. The negotiator and real estate agent must trust that each other is going to do exactly what they say they are going to do- it’s a two way street.

As a short sale administrative company, we suggest the Real Estate Agent permits their entrusted negotiator the ability to “quarterback” the transaction. The negotiator is normally the one that’s in contact with every single person during the entire transaction (lenders, sellers, Title, Escrow, Buyer’s Agent, Buyers lender, and HOA company… just to name a few). Yes, this is a lot to handle, but a good negotiator can easily perform these duties.

Here are 10 tips to ensure a successful relationship:

1) Allow the negotiator to have direct contact with the sellers – This will expedite the request for documentation and also will allow status updates directly.

2) Allow the negotiator to coordinate the HUD-1 with the Escrow Company.

3) Allow the negotiator to work directly with the buyer’s agent.

4) If the agent does receive a call from the lender, immediately refer the call to the negotiator. This will eliminate incorrect information being transmitted to the lender. In the end, it will help the short sale run smoother.

5) Respond to all document requests within the allotted timeline provided by both the lender and the negotiator. Again, this will only help the transaction.

6) Always remember that your short sale negotiator is on YOUR team. Short sales can be frustrating at times, but the negotiator is your teammate and will ensure that you and your seller’s interests are of the utmost importance.

7) Trust that the negotiator will escalate the file when it is needed. Being specialists in the field, they understand lender timelines well and know when a file needs to be pushed a bit harder.

Ensure that all documents are complete, and have all signatures before submitting them to the negotiator.

9) Be patient with the lenders requests for documentation. Short sales require a lot of paperwork. There are times when the lender states that they didn’t receive documentation, the information was not legible, or they recently updated their forms and now they need the new version – most of these are out of the negotiator’s control and the only thing to do is quickly adapt and fulfill the lenders requests.

10) Always keep communication open. If you are frustrated or worried about something, voice it. This way the negotiator and you can build that trustful relationship. The last thing anyone wants is to have a stressful transaction. Clear lines of communication will further assist a great working relationship.

Being a successful short sale negotiation firm, we understand the frustrations behind short sales. We also know the importance of great communication and positive relationships. These factors are often the reasons behind successful transactions.