Short sales are bad for business

Editor,
 
Short sales are bad for business in two ways. First, buyers want the lowest price for a home so they are drawn to a short sale price for what is usually a home larger than they could normally afford. Consequently, genuine sales – homes that are not in pre-foreclosure – aren’t seen as often because buyers vie for short sale bargains. As the time periods to close on homes get extended, cash isn’t moving, commissions are taking longer to be paid, if at all, and banks have to deal with a mass of under-qualified sales associates trying to make a living in a banking/mortgage area (short sales).
 
Second, most MLS listings for short sales don’t promise a commission at all. They think that a statement like 50/50 commission split will allow the listing agent to get out of paying a full commission to the agent, and there is now a lot of discontent between Realtors about commissions.

We are supposed to be the leaders in initiating policy on how the real estate market should work, so why are we allowing banks to dictate commissions? I thought we were trying to keep banks out of the real estate business. It sure doesn’t seem that way to me!

Chris R. Marchesini
People’s Choice Realty
Tampa
 

Letters to the Editor posted on floridarealtors.org are opinions expressed by the letter-writer in response to news articles and not necessarily those of the Florida Association of Realtors® or other local associations and
boards.
 
Floridarealtors.org reserves the right to edit letters for length, accuracy and grammar. Some letters are not published due to legal considerations or limited space.
 
For more information, please read the Editorial Guidelines page in the News and Events section.