One thing for sure about this difficult market for us agents -- in pure Darwinian fashion, the cream has risen to the top and the strongest are surviving.
It's also unfortunately elevated many agents that in previous years were at the "bottom of the barrel"...to high levels of production that they'd never been accustomed to.
I guess I write this based on my experience this past year so far in seeing how these bottom-dwellers are managing to survive -- these "short sales experts" were experts at nothing 3 years ago, but somehow got an "in" at lender, and many are now the go-to agents for all the short sales coming out of any particular lender.
So it is with a wee bit of vitriol that I rail against these "short sales experts". Granted, there ARE some good ones out there. But the 'good ones' are unfortunately hugely overshadowed by the lack of professionalism, ethics, common sense, attention to detail, and common business courtesy that is so commonly present in these "wastes of space".
Rather than mention the numerous tales from the trenches, all I'll recommend to anyone out there who is considering selling their home via a short sale: make sure you talk to a "real" professional.
Be initially wary of anyone who says they are a "short sale specialist", or even CDPE-certified (CDPE is Certifed Distressed Property Expert). Do your homework as if you're doing a normal sale -- talk to their references; see how many homes they sold not THIS year, but 4 or 5 years ago (HINT: if they've sold 12 homes this year, but ZERO homes in 2004....run away FAST!).
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