The big question from our clients these days is whether they should try a loan modification or a short sale.  If you are an investor and offering short sales pay attention.  If you are offering any services other than loss mitigation or loan modification like short sales or FHA short refi’s you should be offering your clients an option to stay in their home.  Here at ALMS we see many different scenarios.  We negotiate both loan modifications and short sales for investors helping Foreclosure clients.

When we train a new investor one of the first things we teach is how to best help the client.  Lenders are much more open these days when a homeowner has fallen into default and facing Foreclosure.  Our investors first take an application containing the homeowners finances to ensure that, whatever the clients choice, we have been able to make an informed decision about what options are available.

If the application is turned down by our loan modification than a short sale certainly is an option.  An investor can be tempted to try a short sale first because of the great deal of money that can be earned.  My question to those investors is this - Wouldn’t you rather help a client save their home from Foreclosure and earn a little cash flow through a referral program (not having to handle it yourself) than to find out a week before close that the homeowner wants to back out because they have rethought the situation or the bank has called and offered them a deal they can’t refuse?  How many times has this already happened to you?

We all like to make money but at what cost?  We train investors nationwide on short sales and the Foreclosure business in general but our focus is always the homeowner and what option best suits them.  I sleep very well at night knowing the good we are able to offer our clients and the countless deals we have been able to work out allowing the homeowner to keep the home.

If you are an investor, realtor or mortgage broker you should give serious thought to the services you are currently offering your clients.  Get the facts.  Know what is best for your clients and make better use of your time for those clients that really need your help.

Written By:  Donna L. Atwater of American loss mitigation Services, short sale Training, loss mitigation Referral Program, Facing Foreclosure