I am certain that, if you are reading this, you are in the business and know that the majority of residential transactions are short sales today.  So the question I commonly have is why do some Realtors really hate short sales?

I do know the answer. We all know short sales are not a lot of fun (for me it is, but I am a sick individual!). Short Sales are a lot of work.  From faxes, emails, paperwork gathering, negotiating with lenders, BPO’s, all that stuff associated with getting an approval letter is hard work.  Lots of I’s to dot and T’s to cross. Still, we find a good number of real estate agents really hate this.

The challenge becomes working with and managing several short sales at once. Just about anyone skilled in the real estate world could get through completing a short sale. Getting several short sales done simultaneously is a much more daunting task and I think is why so many Realtors hate short sales.

What’s the trick? SYSTEMS! Having systems in place which allow you to track files is one of the major keys to working these real estate transactions. Just a couple years ago, we had all paper files, putting loan numbers and other info on the top of each page to be faxed to lenders, feeding these pieces of paper through a fax, trying to make sure none of the pages stuck together. Was that ancient times or what?

Scanning all paper documents, using an online fax system like eFax, keeping track of files online—these are all ways to make your short sale business run easier. An online tracking system like Transaction Point is one of the essential keys to growing your business and allowing all parties of each short sale to stay up-to-date. My advice is to look at each part of your short sale business, remove as much paper as possible and use systems to increase your productivity.