I got a frantic email from one of my past clients yesterday. My initial thought is, "YEAH! Another Listing!!"
But, then I had to pull out the "human" card and talked with them about their situation. They want to sell because they're having hard times with their payments. I'll set the scene...
Thanksgiving 2004, these Buyers closed on their first house, and it was a brand new house. We went to the design center several times to pick out just the right colors for things within their house. It was very personalized. Their car even broke down on the way to closing and I had to go pick them up from the side of the street in order to get them to sign the documents.
While going over their loan details, I reminded them SEVERAL times that their first year's payments would be based on unimproved land only since the tax district didn't know there was a house there yet. We discussed several times about how they needed to put an extra $500 a month aside as they wait for their new breakdown at the end of the year which would show their real payments for the next year. I explained this is great detail so I could prevent the email I got yesterday.
It's now 3 years later, and they're having problems making their payment. Apparently they talked with the mortgage company and they wanted everything caught up within a couple of months and split the payments to where the owners would actually be paying over $2000 a month just to catch up.
Yes, I could have told them I could help them sell, but all that does is put them into an apartment as their credit is screwed for being late so many times this past year. I talked with them for a long time yesterday about who to call at their lender and what to say. I told them over and over again that I would not sell their home unless they jumped threw every hoop from the lender first. They were VERY grateful that I didn't see them as a lost cause and just list their house.
Just another reminder that I'm about education and not about closing a deal just to close a deal. If it doesn't sound like a good situation, I'm going to talk you through it and find the best solution for you.
Remember, I work all of North Dallas County and Collin County including Richardson, Plano, Allen, Frisco, Carrollton, Garland, Rowlett, McKinney, etc... my car will take us anywhere you need to go!!
ARE YOU PACKED YET?!
Ugh!! I hate this about the business.... something needs to be done about the escrow shortages. I have had the same problem with clients.... one took out a loan last yr to pay the shortage.
And I know I told them 20 times to plan for the shortage.....