BiggerPockets

Looking for contract negotiator for my short sales. I am trying to see if it would make good business sense to farm out the negotiation segment of my business and consentrate mainly on marketing and aquisition.

I use a company in florida, Short Sales For America. its free

I use a company in florida, Short Sales For America.

The real questions is, how much are you losing by using a negotiator?

When I work directly with RE agents where there is a retail buyer, I have yet to NOT get an approval. It is like shooting fish in a barrel.

I do not know anything about Short Sales for America, but they do not publish their investor program on their website. Seems to me the $250 cashback is a gimmick based on my own track record.

I want to know, if they are "free" for investors, what kind of spreads can they get? Perhaps Brad can give us some examples of deals closed where their "free" can actually be quantified. Or, at least share with us some of his successes.

Let's face it! To actually close one where an investor is profiting that is the challenge.

When hiring a negotiation service, check to see if they have success with short sales in an investor scenario. Because, if your service is doing mainly retail scenario's, they are really a mediation service or processor not a negotiation service.

Are they countering two or three times per deal?

Are they utilizing third parties to offer support for your offer?

Are they familiar with auction sales as a percentage to traditional sales?

If they cannot answer those questions chances are they are not a true investor service.

If you can outsource it then you definitely should. My only problem is I have searched and searched and cant find a good commercial negotiation company. I would maybe look into the services some of the guru's offer

Brian Haskins

Originally posted by Brian Haskins

If you can outsource it then you definitely should. My only problem is I have searched and searched and cant find a good commercial negotiation company. I would maybe look into the services some of the guru's offer

Brian Haskins

I have done two commerical SS deals for myself. One of them I wholesaled it to a developer. It was a large restaurant (failed) with a good location but terrible access. I was going to turn into office space, but this developer that I contacted to do the redevelopment made me an offer instead . Since I am a primarily a residential investor, I felt a bit out of my element. Instead he turned into a charter school and has a long term lease and is flowing like a cow with 12 udders. Should have JV'd this one.... Pisses me off everytime I drive by it.

The other was a franchise store where we were able to SS the secured assets and assume the franchise rights, and negotiate a write-off for the arrears plus a reduction in the lease. We flipped to a couple that was laid off from their jobs and paid us in cash from the 401Ks.

Commerical negotiations from my limited experience is much more about credibility. A lot of commercial loans are assumable and they can be assumed for less. They also require a turnaround plan when the asset is ill-performing.

The deals I was able to get were more about business strategy. Think of it more like a bankruptcy plan.

In commercial, you need an end-buyer before you approach the lender and as stated above, you need capacity and you need to add value. I can certainly help present the numbers to a lender, but it is more market analysis and business strategy and less about negotiation. The commerical loan officers you deal with generally have MBAs or have more than a decade of underwriting experience.

I would not work on a contingency basis due the time involved. Not sure anyone would.

I have performed a few commercial Short Sales. It took lots of my time and took many, many meetings.

I also agree with Scott, I will not work on a contingency basis either. I will discuss working the deal. But, it will only be on a case-by-case basis.

Outsource it to the pros doing it every day. Just my oppinion, but I see them for funding from both directions and believe it may be the most cost effective function of your R.E. business that you can outsource. Focus your time on finding the next target.

Steve Londeau, a member here, is a great short sale negotiator.