Does Your Real Estate Agent Have the Training to Really Help You?
If you are a property owner trying to get out of an untenable mortgage situation, does your agent know everything they should about your options? The truth is, very few Maryland agents are trained in handling distressed properties. Only about 4% of homes that are marketed as short sales actually make it to closing in Maryland. That number is astonishing, considering there are record numbers of homeowners trying to sell their homes in a short sale.
The statistics for agents who have a CDPE certification is vastly different. Among those trained agents, 77% of the short sales they market actually go to settlement. Does your agent have the training he or she needs to really help you get to settlement?
Two homes recently went into foreclosure right on my street. Both homeowners had lost their jobs, and were in desperate situations. In both cases, their realtors had no idea how to communicate with the banks and get these homeowners what they needed to do a short sale. Both homes languished on the market, overpriced, because that was the amount the homeowner paid for their home. Neither agent knew how to negotiate to get these homes approved for sale at an amount "short" of what was owed, nor how to properly place these homes on the market. 
The sad fact is that these homeowners suffered a loss on their credit scores of between 300 and 350 points because of the foreclosure. In a short sale, the loss of credit is about 50 points, a loss which is much easier to recover.
If you are in a distressed situation, make sure your agent is CDPE certified, and knows everything they need to know about your options.
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The Highland Group
Chris & Karen Highland * 301-831-9947
Turning Point Real Estate – 301-831-8232
email us: isell4u2@msn.com
Text Us: 301-401-5119
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