Garth Evans

Galleria Fire from CBS News

No alien abductions, no terrorist attacks, only some crazy kid that played one too many video games and knew how to start a fire…Thank goodness that nobody was physically hurt! I am sure some mental anguish took place for some people not being able to get their Nordstrom fix.

So now that the dust has settled to some extent, everyone is asking “When will the Galleria Mall open?” To be honest with you, my concern is not about the lack of immediate shopping options, but for the people that are currently out of work due to the fire. My daughter, on the other hand, has been worried that she won’t be able to frequent her favorite stores. I hear a lot of the rumors going around about when the mall will reopen and there are mixed opinions. I think the most reliable sources are saying that portions of the mall may be open by the end of the week. The parts of the mall that have the most damage, JC Penney and Macy’s, will take much longer to open. I feel bad for the people who are out of work, but as with any catastrophe, new opportunities are created. I am sure that some of the people working to restore the mall could be amongst those who were praying for work. Hopefully things will work out well for those directly affected.

So I was thinking about this the other day as my stack of short sale files is getting higher and higher (Don’t despair if I am working one for you, I am closing them but they are taking time). A lot of agents are complaining about the banks not working with them, basically making life difficult and sometimes foreclosing in the middle of a deal. I have yet to see that happen on any of my files, but I have learned that representing a seller on a short sale is not for the faint of heart. A short sale definitely isn’t short and is nothing like a sprint.

Last month, I had the chance to run my first marathon. The route was full of elevation changes and at a much higher overall elevation than I am used to running.  Just like in a marathon, there are times in the short sale process when you feel great about the progress then times when you feel like you can’t finish and want to give up. What I have found is that if you can push through those times without too much frustration or longing to quit,  the desired results are generally attained. Let me know if there are any questions regarding the process or different phases and I would be happy to answer based on my experiences over the last couple years.