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Another Bank of America Short Sale in Elk Grove is Pending After 6 Months

By
Real Estate Agent with Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker DRE #00697006

bank of america short sale in elk groveAfter trudging around in the rain yesterday from 9 AM to 6 PM showing property, it was a welcome relief to come home and change into dry shoes. Note to self: wear boots in this weather! Our Sacramento storms have not let up, and tomorrow is expected to be worse than today.

But the good news is one of my buyers wrote an offer last night, I received an acceptable cash offer on another Sacramento short sale, and one of my Bank of America short sales in Elk Grove received approval.

The incredibly patient buyers for this Elk Grove short sale signed an offer in early August. In all fairness, though, Bank of America was a little messed up last fall and has since straightened out those problems by hiring third-party vendors to handle the paperwork. Once we finally got a negotiator assigned in November, the file was processed pretty smoothly.

I've heard some agents say I am really hard on buyer's agents. I simply want the buyers to commit to the short sale process. If these buyers had not committed, instead of going into pending status today -- after 6 months of work -- this home would be going back on the market and my sellers would be back to square one.

My commitment to my short sale sellers is steadfast. I push hard for short sale approval. If the buyer really wants the home, I'll do everything within my power to see that the buyer gets it. Asking a buyer and the buyer's agent to wait for approval is not out of line nor unreasonable.

I know there are Sacramento short sale agents who won't touch a Bank of America short sale with a 10-foot pole, much less a Countrywide short sale. This Elk Grove home had 2 original Countrywide loans. It's what I call a double-Countrywide. But Bank of America is now streamlining its short sale process, so future transactions should not take as long. However, my sellers and I will still insist that buyers commit. That's never going to change.

But I do hope the weather changes. At the moment, it's very windy and still raining. And I'm off to Lincoln this morning to shoot interior photographs of another Lincoln Crossing short sale. I'm gonna wear boots.

Photo: Elizabeth Weintraub

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Elizabeth Weintraub is co-partner of Weintraub & Wallace Team of Top Producing Realtors, an author, home buying expert at The Balance, a Land Park resident, and a veteran real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown, Carmichael and East Sacramento, as well as tract homes in Elk Grove, Natomas, Roseville and Lincoln. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put our combined 80 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at RE/MAX Gold. DRE License # 00697006.

Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of RE/MAX Gold. Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice; it could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.

Comments (5)

Jeanean Gendron
The Address Realty - Redding, CA
Specializing in Selling Unique Properties

Elizabeth, sounds like we've been on about the same time table. I just completed a short sale with BofA that took 6 months also. It just closed. Now I hear that it is all going to be different....once again! This was pasted at the bottom on my last email from the closer.

*****

Bank of America has changed the process on how we handle and complete Short Sales. In an effort to streamline and enhance the short sale process Bank of America will now process all NEW short sale files in Equator. If you are not currently registered with Equator please visit WWW.EQUATOR.COM and complete the free registration. Once you are registered you can initiate your short sale directly from WWW.EQUATOR.COM by logging in and clicking the "Initiate Short Sale" link on the navigation bar. Please note that you must register as an "Agent" in Equator to be able to initiate, and manage all your new short sale files with Bank of America. Any questions please contact us at 1-800-669-0102.

*****

Are we having fun yet?

Jan 19, 2010 05:50 AM
Steve Shatsky
Dallas, TX

Hi Elizabeth... sadly, I am getting more and more inquiries from agents on who the short sale lender is before they will write an offer and if my answer is BofA, it's usually a very short conversation.  That having been said, I have had successful Bof A short sales, but they do take longer than many. 

Jan 19, 2010 10:22 AM
Christianne O'Malley
Dickson Realty - Reno, NV
Exceptional Service - Delivering Results in Reno!

Elizabeth - I often have agents call and ask how many loans there are. If there are two, they often walk away. It's really quite sad because I can get firsts and seconds - even with different banks - even with lender purchased portfolio PMI - approved.

I have found more often than pre-qualifying the seller for which banks they have loans from that it's important to pre-qualify the buyer's agent to make sure they know what is needed to get a short sale done. They need to keep the buyer's expectations realistic and keep the buyers engaged. Without that, you have nothing. And I would have thought it would be harder to get short sale approval from multiple lenders...but it's not. It's getting good agents to write offers and keeping the buyers in the deal.

Jan 19, 2010 10:57 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Hi Jeanean: Bank of America had a bit of trouble transferring files to Reo Trans (which later changed its name to Equator). But that system seems to be working fairly well. You should know that not every Bank of America short sale is handled by Equator. If it's Freddie Mac, it goes to Titanium.

Hi Steve: I'm getting those calls, too. Which lender? How many loans? Do you have approval -- when the listing is brand new. LOL.

Hi Christianne: It doesn't matter too much whether there are 2 loans, but some agents seem to think it makes a difference. It's just a juggling situation so the expiration dates match on the approval letters. What matters more is whether the listing agent knows what she or he is doing. And, of course, as you say, qualifying the buyer's agent. If the buyer's agent can't manage the buyer's expectations, nothing else matters.

sacramento short sale agent

Jan 19, 2010 11:07 PM
Terri Poehler
Realtor - Coral Springs, FL
Coral Springs Real Estate Agent

Elizabeth, I was told by another agent the same thing about Bank Of America moving their short sales quicker. He said it was a system called Equator. Does that ring any bells? and have you seen improvement?

Feb 11, 2010 03:56 AM