9-month old short sale is finally closing!

This has been a heck of a ride! I’m working on the buyer’s side of this short sale, and I still remember the very first time my buyers stepped into this house. This was the home for them. The vibes were good. The wife said ok. The kids picked their rooms.

The buyers were serious in their intent, and have even acceded to deposit money into escrow while waiting for the short sale approval. We even increased our offer to meet the list price, as urged by the listing agent, in order to save the offer/counter offer exchange later on. We had the impression this was going to be a quick one, the listing agent was confident about it.

Fast forward to 3 months, my clients had already moved out of the home they were renting, as its own short sale was already closing escrow. They were forced to do a short term lease at a nearby hotel, and kept most of their belongings in storage. Although they were not expecting a synchronized closing, they were not prepared for their offer’s short sale to take this long!

Needless to say, emotions ran high throughout this whole journey. There was frustration, anger, disappointment, regret…but still there was hope.

During the wait we continued to look at other properties, made several offers, mostly short sales, but nothing really came of it, except for one that got an approval. My buyers made several more trips to the first house, and were all the more convinced this was the one they want to call home. We had to let go of that other offer, and stay with their preferred home.

Fast forward to 8 months, we finally got the approval we want! There was still an exchange of counter offers with the bank, and we ended up with an increased purchase price. But at least, we were on our way to closing!

Then there was the hiccup on the appraisal value that threatened my buyer’s loan approval. A field review came in much lower, and after a determined challenge by the loan officer (the field review was based on an auction that sold at court steps!), we finally got a clearance to go to docs.

And so, like a pregnant woman on its full term,

this baby is finally coming out!