Relationships rule and big isn't always better...

Las Vegas, NV - Relationships rule and big isn't always better.  What I mean by this is that a Realtor I know had been working with a buyer for over a year on a short-sale purchase and this buyer had a very sad tale to tell including the recent death of his wife and B of A misreporting his mortgage payment history due to a screw up on their end regarding the credit life that he had through them.  B of A also happened to be the lender on the short-sale end who finally approved the short-sale while at the same time was proceeding with the foreclosure. If it wasn't so sad, it would have been funny.

The buyer was being transferred and his company was going to pay closing costs if he used Chase.  In the end, Chase was quite non-responsive (typical of so many big banks) and the listing agent urged the Realtor I know to have the buyer use his lender.  With about 15 days to go before the foreclosure sale date and the credit issue of the misreported mortgage, the listing agents loan officer didn't want to mess with it - I don't get this because he missed out on the opportunity to earn a commission and, more importantly, to provide his Realtor partner a great service by saving a deal and the Realtor's commission.  

The buyer's agent (who also couldn't believe the lack of commitment from the listing agent's LO) finally told the buyer that if he wants the house, he needs to call me.  After I took an application for an FHA loan and got a feel for exactly what we were up against, I called the owner of my company and the VP of Operations (with whom I am very close) and told them what needed to happen.  They were on board right away and said that we'll get it done.  To make matters more difficult, my processor went on vacation for five days during this period.

The happy side of the story is that everyone worked together and we got docs to title on day 13 and were able to fund the loan on time and avoid foreclosure.  There are a few things that I left out to keep this from being too long, but the story was even more sad and could have had more negative ramifications if we didn't get it done.  It's a great feeling to do something like this for someone and I'm not tooting my own horn as much as I am tooting the horn of my operations people and to point out how important it is to have a great relationship with them (and the borrower and the Realtor).

I worked at Bank of America for about 8 months last year and we wouldn't have had a prayer of getting this done because the systems aren't in place and no one cares at B of A they way they do at a smaller company where everyone can have the relationships and the freedom to make things happen.  Relationships do rule because people want to do things for people when there is a good relationship.  This kind of story makes me love this business all over again.  Bonus:  I have an appointment with the listing agent this morning and he and his assistant were thanking me up one side and down the other when I contacted them yesterday.