Comments on: Short Sales: A Commission Modification Agreement can protect agents from liability

By: Konrad O

Konrad O — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 17:42:29 +0000

I cannot believe what I am reading. Dave I am under impression you are NOT an agent and you have no idea what you are talking about. “agent should be thankful there is any money at all” ??? Sound like you blame agent for the fact that Buyer overpaid for the house, that greedy lenders make millions of dollars on nonperforming loans giving them away to anybody knowing the loan can NOT survive terms and now they making money again on Loan Modifications and Short Sales. So now by your standards Real Estate Professional should come to work in the morning, work all day long with the expectation to be paid at the end of the day 3% commission base on the signed LEGAL contract with Principal – LEGAL owner of the property, but instead to be paid what he should be, agent should accept whatever the bank rep decide to approve (by the way Mr. Bank Rep is taking home his full check not sharing the losses of his employer). By your standards, Mr. Dave, legal contract has no value. State license and years of experience has no value. Legal responsibility and risk to be sued by anybody involved in the RE transaction should not be compensated. The value of RE agent work is less then teenager’s flipping burgers in MacDonald. $500 for days of work and 6 to 12 months waiting for payday. Now Mr. Agent is coming home to his family with the half of his paycheck, falling behind with his mortgage, telling his worrying wife and starving children: Don’t worry, we cannot be greedy and like Dave Arnold said we should be happy I was paid at all. Title company take their cut, lawyers get paid, bank get money from the transaction AND from insurance, Mr. Dave get his paycheck, so… my starving kids we should be happy we get something. As somebody said: “something is better than making zip”.
Just please tell me one think Mr. Dave. What would you do if one day your boss will tell you that he will pay you only half of your paycheck this month because last month he went to Las Vegas and gamble a lot of money and now he needs to be compensated for his losses. Just remember – DON’T BE GREEDY.

By: Ken Lawson, JD

Ken Lawson, JD — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 00:06:44 +0000

Not all loans are owned by Fannie Mae. Additionally, not all servicers abide by the (secondary market) investors’ rules. So, while you may be right in that regard, we run into many situations in which the servicer attempts to reduce agents’ commissions to 5-, 4-, even 3.5%.

Thanks for your comment.

Ken

By: Bill Carmichael

Bill Carmichael — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 23:37:29 +0000

Well, aren’t fanniemae servicers required not to reduce commissions below 7%? I just read that in thier Servicing Guide dated March 2009 part VII section 504.02

By: Ken Lawson, JD

Ken Lawson, JD — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:09:11 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Dave.

Ken

By: Dave Arnold

Dave Arnold — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:04:00 +0000

I think that this is a most elegant solution. Agents are myopic and protective about their commission but quite often lose sight of the fact that, in a short sale, the commission is not controlled by the listing agreements and the industry, as in the usual market transaction. With the bank or note servicer as a force to be dealt with, agents have to agree to agree and be thankful there is any money at all.

The agents I talk with complain mightily of deals gone bad. Well, it turns out they go bad because of greed and lost opportunities. Making $500 is better than making zip.

Thanks for the sharing of your experience and solutions.

David Arnold, J.D.