The Nadir of Short Sales

I've written a lot about short sales in the last few months. While they certainly remain an option for distressed homeowners, they are not without their frustrations--for the seller, buyer and agents. Two examples from the last few weeks:

1. On one of my short sale listings, the bank rejected the contract (at $195K,) saying that the property was worth at least $235K and they wouldn't take anything less. Unfortunately, the property simply will not sell at that price. If it was worth $235K, it would have flown off the market in April when it was listed at $229K. The bank has put my seller in the impossible position of demanding more than the property is worth.
   
2. I have just taken another short sale listing and have been informed by the bank that the maximum will pay in brokers commissions is 4%--substantially less than the industry standard of 6% which was listed on the contract. This will no doubt affect the amount of traffic we receive (many buyers' agents don't appreciate getting paid less than industry standard for their work and simply won't show the listing.) Realtors provide the valuable service of facilitating the sale of property and our commission is the price of doing business. By cutting that commission, the bank has again put my seller in an impossible position.
   

If either or both of these properties goes into foreclosure, the bank will receive far less than they would have had the homes sold with a short sale discount. This is a lose, lose, lose situation for everyone.