Short Sale Lenders - Well Qualified Buyers are Getting Tired of Waiting

We have a buyer that has an offer to purchase in on one of our short sale listings.  This is the second buyer for this property.  The first one walked because the process was taking too long (as so many short sales do).  The second buyer completed his home inspection and termite inspections.  He received his formal loan commitment.  But, when it came time to do the appraisal, the  house did not appraise for the contract price approved by the short sale lender.  The reason: the short sale lender has taken so long on this transaction, the seller's short sale VA appraisal was over 120 days old by the time the buyer's appraisal was completed. 

Brevard County is still considered a distressed market.  Although, we have seen stablization, we are still in a declining market.  Thus, the short sale lender's VA appraisal is higher than the buyer's recent appraisal. 

Immediately, upon receiving word that the house did not appraise, we went back to the short sale mitigator, and asked for either a new short sale seller's VA appraisal or for an adjustment of value to today's comparable sales. The mitigator said she would send it off for a decision on how they would rectify the matter.  Our short sale facilitator has called and called and called and called some more, in addition to sending one e mail after another with today's comparable sales.  That was 30 days ago.  She has been in touch with supervisors.

There still has been no resolution.

This isn't rocket science, review the recent sales and adjust the value or get another seller VA appraisal done, whatever it takes.  Let's get this short sale property off the market BEFORE it becomes a foreclosure and COSTS TAXPAYERS MONEY!

We have a ready, willing and able buyer.  We were 4 days away from closing. The closing was supposed to take place at the beginning of February. 

I have spoken with the buyer's agent.  The buyer has both time and money invested in this transaction. He has paid out of pocket for a credit report, appraisal, home inspection and termite inspection.  He has down payment money sitting in escrow. But, he's getting tired of waiting. 

She indicated that he's a first time homebuyer and wants to take advantage of the up to $8000 tax credit.  He knows he has until April 30 to get a home under contract, and he must close by June 30.  She said that this is the second short sale property that he has tried to buy and at this point he is worried that the lender may not be able to close on time.

Why is it that some of these short sale lenders seem to have such a difficult time just wrapping up the last of the transaction and finally getting to closing?

It's absolutely mind boggling! 

Sandy Shores REALTOR®, Melbourne/Palm Bay FL Real Estate

Brevard County, Florida's Space Coast Real Estate & Investing

I specialize in Residential, Investment & Relocations. 

We have a team of professionals that can help facilitate your Short Sale.

I buy, sell, rent, own and manage Investment Property.