Discussions about the "real estate bubble" and "mortgage meltdown" have led to another hot topic in real estate: short sales.

As a result the National Association of Realtors has invited local Carleton Realty broker Robert C. Kutschbach to speak about short sales to 30,000 real estate agents and brokers at the NAR national convention on November 13 in Las Vegas.

A short sale, sometimes known as a short payoff or pre-foreclosure sale, occurs when an owner does not have sufficient equity in a property to sell that property and then pay off all loans, liens and selling expenses.

Some mortgage holders are accepting short sales rather than foreclosing on the property because lenders want to minimize the amount of real estate they own in this weak housing market.

"Short sales may represent an opportunity for real estate agents to help sellers out of a bad situation and find good values for buyers" says Kutschbach, "but it is important to recognize that a short sale is a potentially high risk transaction for real estate agents and their clients."

The process of a short sale requires a lot of paperwork and may hold hidden risks for buyers such as property defects and unforeseen expenses.

Sellers may also face unexpected tax issues if the dollar amount short in the sale is considered income by government agencies.

Real estate attorneys now indicate that short sales are resulting in an increasing number of complaints and lawsuits for real estate agents nationwide.

Kutschbach will cover these issues and discuss the importance of real estate agent education at the NAR's annual meeting.

Other speakers and performers scheduled to appear at the convention include Bill Cosby, Lou Holtz and James Taylor.

In addition to being a broker, Robert C. Kutschbach is one of Ohio's leading real estate educators having taught 40 different real estate courses and over 39,000 students for Hondros College. He opened Carleton Realty in 1990 after years of working in the banking industry.