image: artur ciesielski

I long for the first days after the summer when the morning air will be nippy.  Summer is nice, but it's time for it to pass and fall to come - alas there's at least a month and a half of heat left, but maybe a nippy morning somewhere in there.  This Saturday sure was cooler after the previous days monsoon storms.

It was a nice morning for a bike ride to show a home in Windsor Square to someone interested in moving into the Central Phoenix from the suburbs.  It's not the first such showing where 2,200-3,000 square feet worth of stuff needs to fit into a home of 1,200 square feet and where the large couch not flitting into the living room is the final decider.

It's not unusual for us to show homes on bikes: not common though, but this Saturday was a nice day to do it. 

I combined the showing with taking photos of the metro light rail station for a series we're doing at inPhoenix.com

The miles of cycling induce the inevitable pangs of hunger which were quelled by the breakfast offerings at Giant Coffee. 

What I liked is the fact that the breakfast burrito, though already prepared, was not warmed in the nutrition killing microwave, but the slower, yet much better, oven.  Together with a latte the cool interior provided a nice place to take some notes, watch the few people hunched over laptops and muse about the day, trying to fight of thinking about real estate yet again.

While the whole gamut of people in a short sale are important: the Realtor, Legal Counsel, Buyer, Investor, Servicing Co., the Seller is the key person.  

Without the full cooperation of the seller the prospects of completing a short sale are zero.  That means being prompt with providing information, providing all the necessary documents, communicating constantly, taking care of the property and simply being part of the process.

This is not like a foreclosure where you think you can simply walk away and others will clean up after you.  You have many responsibilities and they are not completed until the home has transferred ownership.  

There are sellers that start the process and don’t provide documents on time, don’t make the effort to return vital calls and requests and neglect the property: these are the failed short sales that eventually end up as foreclosures when that is truly unnecessary.

There is a lot of hurt when one has to do this: the short sale.  It’s easier to simply let go to put the painful event behind us.  Truly, the extra time you put into this process will be worth the effort.  Some sellers who don’t neglect paying the mortgage and do a short sale are able to purchase again quickly if they choose so there are benefits to a short sale over a foreclosure, even beyond how it benefits you individually.

It’s understandable that some sellers lack funds to give the property it’s fullest attention, but at a minimum the utilities need to be turned on and the cleanliness and safety maintained.   These don’t take much money.  

If you were advised by legal counsel and your CPA that a short sale is the best course of action then it is to the seller’s benefit to do it properly.

In other words, if you don’t want to do anything, but wash your hands of the property, don’t even bother starting the short sale.