A question came up today about an owner who had placed his home on the market. The home was a short sale. Shortly after the home went up for sale, he got a call from his lender offering to do a loan modification. His question: Can he take the home off the market? He wanted to keep the home, but he knew the listing agent had gone to a lot of trouble and may have been out some marketing expenses.

The answer is--yes, he can, most likely. Most agents doing short sales know that many of them do not close, for lots of reasons. They're ready for it. Second, most agents would rather keep the goodwill of the owner and agree to cancel the listing. The owner might, in vary narrow circumstances, owe a commission, but most listing agreements require payment of a commission with full-price, cash offers. Not likely in this market.

Another question that keeps coming up: "Can I do a short sale if I'm in the middle of negotiations for a loan modification?" The answer is yes.

The Mortgage Rescue Cafe is about foreclosure avoidance. People contacting us need to decide (a) if they want to try to keep the home, or (b) if they want to let it go. We can advise in either circumstance and not be infuenced as to whether or not we can collect a commission.