Ken Harney writes and interesting post re Short Sale Fraud, but I didn't like the particular way it uses common terms. When he says

A comprehensive new study estimates they will lose more than $375 million this year alone when they sell undervalued houses to tag teams consisting of real-estate agents and investors

he seems to be targeting any and all real estate agents and investors. The article starts with "Are banks and distressed home sellers getting rooked" and they answer is, that they certainly are by a few unscrupulous agents and investors , but for the most part banks have screwed themselves by completely complicating the homes sale process with legal entanglements and ineptitude.

For two hundred years the real estate industry has been developing in this country and the industry has done all right, thanks. For years the banks have wanted to play a bigger role. Most of the industry has seen that having the loan originator, the title processor, the escrow closer, the realtor, the appraiser, and the inspector as separate unconnected businesses is a good thing and provides many levels of cross checking to keep fraud at bay.

There are big real estate companies which own title companies or have lending wings. Some companies even call themselves home and loan establishments in hope of convincing the consumer that one stop shopping is convenient and therefore better for the consumer.

So what is going on with the banks and short sales. The bank gets to control the seller like a puppet on strings. A short seller's home can be put at a reasonable price and the minute the realtor discloses that it is a short sale, no savvy buyer that is buying a home to live in will touch it. Why? Because it will take 9 months or longer to close and these buyers are buying a home to live in now.

Besides taking nine months to close, the sale might not ever close. Why? Because the banks lose money on a short sale but if they foreclose, there is the insurance that will pay them for their loss. All of that time is wasted and the home goes into foreclosure.

So, about the fraud? The banks are totally inept at handling real estate transactions. Multiple listing Associations across the country have developed forms over the years that work regionally and within state and federal laws favoring neither the seller, nor the buyer, but anticipate bringing a mutually acceptable contract on real estate to closing. Banks on the other hand have taken the position that their obligation is to their stockholders, and the bank's attorneys have left no avenue unexplored on how to extract every dime from every real estate deal that they can get their hands on.

• Banks feel they are above the MLS rules and regulations, so each bank has it's own rules to be followed.
• Banks have no respect for anyone one so they pay everyone involved fees they would pay their entry level tellers.
• Banks have to have control, and they get it when the have the right to approve a short sale.
• Banks take forever to complete any task.

With all of these control issues the banks have created a system ripe for fraud and there are people who saw that and they became real estate agents and investors and are now all over the banks with their game. If any of these bounders is ever brought to trial and found guilty I am almost positive that you will find that as a whole these people got into the real estate industry after 2007, and that none of these people ever acted like a true real estate agent whose job is to help a seller market their home and to help a buyer find and buy a home.

Most agents have the best interests of their clients at heart. We've always had a few bad apples, like every profession. You know who the bank caters to by virtue of having investors. And that includes every big bank. Feel sorry for them if you must. I surely don't.

Also published on Seattle Real Estate with Glenn Roberts

Today I met with Mike Carpenter for coffee and I think we each had a concept in mind. A few years ago Mike showed up on my radar and very successfully preformed his role as loan officer in a transaction that was causing me some small logistical issues. I've learned since that Mike is the kind oflaon officer that is not working some kind of a numbers game, but is totally willing to give each client hours and hours of his time, and reams (kilobytes these days) of information to help them make the proper decision when moving forward with purchasing a home or not.

Once I had Mike in my radar, of course I was in range of his. His presentation is interesting and unique. His delivery is remarkable and reliable. If you live in the Puget Sound area, this is one place to go for competent and excellent personal home loan service.

But all of that is another story. For various reasons really unknown to either of us, we hadn't chatted for a while. A question came up on Facebook that triggered a somewhat related question from me, and so I asked Mike to educate me on a loan officer's perspective of the new federal regulations regarding loan officer compensation. We exchanged a short dialogue...no one else jumped in to this public social media exchange.., and that was it. Then I received an email from Mike and he proposed a coffee get together. We agreed to meet in the Roosevelt Square Starbucks this morning.

Our conversation took its own course. We are both somewhat concerned about the way communication is headed and information is passed in this modern world of email, texting, twitter, and the cloud. Simple confession, no surprise to anyone...we are both over fifty, and yet, both consider ourselves computer literate (or we know the means to affect that).

The upshot of our hour and a half conversation is this:

In the good old days, (10+ years ago) you could engage a contact, schedule an appointment (face to face) and in the course of 1-3 hours establish a relationship which allowed for proceeding with doing what we know well for the benefit of the client we had only recently met. In today's marketplace, with this generation of buyers and sellers we don't get 1-3 hours to establish a relationship that the client feels comfortable relying on.

Why?

1. Too much information is available on line, so everyone seems to think they are an expert on everything.
   
2. Everyone gets too much information constantly on their smart phones from Facebook, Twitter, Mom, Their mechanic, The library, A politician, The dentist, etal. There is no focus.
3. Whatever it is that anyone wants, they are used to getting it right now. For example a) I need a pre-approval letter this afternoon. b) Can you show me this house today? c)What is my home worth? I have a buyer.

The current generation of those active, or those who want to be active in the real estate arena don't seem to be willing to take time to discuss their peculiar set of circumstances with a professional in order to make the right forward thinking moves. We don't know why. Not enough time in the day? Not enough ability or desire to focus on one particular issue at a time?

So I'm asking my Active Rain contacts, are you finding it difficult to sit and spend time with new clients in order to explain all of the nuances of the real estate transaction or loan process these days? And I'm asking the public, why is it difficult for you to interview agents or loan officers so that a complete understanding can be reached as to the best way to help you achieve your real estate ambitions?

It's time we all moved toward a better understanding of how to assist non-owners into an ownership position, and how to help sellers realize a true market value for their major investment.