This post by Melissa Zavala was originally published on the Trulia Pro Blog for Trulia.com. Follow Trulia Pro on Twitter: @TruliaPro.
Some properties just won't close quickly or efficiently -- or at all
New and old agents alike dream of listings. After all, you’ve probably heard the old saying, “If you don’t list, you don’t last.” It’s true that listings are the bee’s knees. A single agent working alone can handle many more listings than he or she can buyers. That’s because many aspects of the listing can be handled from a desk — taking phone calls, preparing advertising materials, posting to the Internet. But the buyers need to actually go out and see the homes, and this takes time (which is why top-producing agents focus on obtaining listings).
The truth about listings is that you’ve got to be able to determine whether the listing will actually result in a closing. Therein lies the rub. There are certain types of listings that agents should never take. Watch out for these; if you take these listings, you may not last.
1. There are too many existing liens on the property.
You’ve taken a listing for a lovely property. It shows well. The sellers are divine. The property is priced right. The only problem is the title report. After viewing a copy of the title report, you see that there are two mortgages and several other liens (abstracts of judgment, tax liens, city and county code citations, and an HOA lien to boot). Once the value of all this debt it totaled, it equals well more than the sales price. If the seller is not willing to pay the difference, this may be a hard deal to close. While short sales are fairly common these days, negotiating eight liens may not result in a quick and efficient closing. Your time may be better spent looking for new leads.
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