Naples Florida Short Sales - Naples Florida Short Sales Expert Benjamin Sovacool Discusses The Impor

Naples Florida Short Sales Series

Yesterday I was doing an interior BPO on an occupied property for a short sale. While I was doing my inspection the homeowner was sharing her situation with me. She was telling me about falling on hard times and how no one was looking at her property. She's had it on the market for months and not one showing. I asked her how much it was listed for and she told me it was just reduced to $101,000. I instantly knew the property was severly overpriced, but it's not my place to say anything. She's under contract with another agent and I have to respect that.

Later that evening I was working on the order and realized just how overpriced the property was. Comparable units were selling in the $30,000 range! No wonder she isn't getting any showings! I did some digging to try to understand how the agent came up with the high value. I mean anyone pulling comps would easily see that nothing in the nieghborhood is selling for even half that much. After a few minutes I found it. The agent priced the home according to last year's tax assessor's value. This homeowner is going to lose her home because the agent didn't take the time to prepare a proper CMA.

Unfortunately this  homeowner isn't alone. I can't tell you how many short sale experts I run into that don't know how to price a property properly. Some list the property for the amount the homeowner owes on the loan, plus 6% commission. Now tell me if the home was worth what the homeowner owed, would it need a short sale?

There is no secret to pricing a property for a short sale. It's no different from a fair market sale. You have  to price the property based on comps. The bank sends BPO agents out there every month once you miss a mortgage payment to value your propery as a drive by. The bank knows exactly what your home is worth. They aren't going to work with you if it is priced 300% above market or 50% below. They have too much on their plate to mess with homeowners who don't appear to be taking the process seriously.