Home : Blogs : Chris Giddings : Chris's Blog

Countrywide Short Sale Secrets Exposed!

So you got a short sale with Countrywide, you get assigned a case worker. a telephone number with an extension is given.

They don't answer, you leave a detailed message and wonder if they really are getting the whole thing.

Heres how to get through.

In the spirit of sharing with active rain

Get the correct spelling of your workout persons name, First and Last.

email them Firstname_Lastname@countywide.com

remember to use the UNERSCORE ( _ ) between first name last name. If you want to get fancy use a read receipt option from your outlook account.

Use the loan number and owners last name in the subject line

Make sure your return phone number is easily displayed, you will get a response every time.

Good Luck

and keep saving the homeowners one deal at a time

Chris Giddings

http://www.erealestateexec.com/archives/august

Posted by Chris Giddings on 09/27/2007 10:29 PM

Comments (111)

Post is included in group: The Lounge at Active Rain
Post is included in group: Short Sales and Forclosures ONLY
Post is included in group: Short Sales Pre Foreclosures Bankruptcy and More!

111 Comments on Countrywide Short Sale Secrets Exposed!

SEP

2007

This is great sharing. Thank you. I just happen to have a Countrywide client and I need all the help I can get. I hear they are not that easy to get in touch with or negotiate with -- when and if you get to talk to them.

Chris- I just attended a seminar today where Hank Lopez of Countrywide spoke. He said on average they are getting 200 new cases daily so to please be patient with your assigned negotiator. As an agent, I found it very insightful on what to expect from Countrywide in a Short Sale. Most importantly they offer several ideas on how to keep people in their homes. It was very encouraging.

They (the THEY being all lenders) make it so hard to work with them at times.

Agents and owners, we need all the help we can get. I have not worked with them, yet. I am sure at some point I will have to deal with them in either a pre-foreclosure, short sale or an REO listing situation. THanks for sharing!

Chris, you are a wealth of information. Thank you for enlightening us all!

Sneaky! Thanks for the info. I am lucky enough not to have any right now, but I am sure that will change.

Chris, thanks for the heads up info. will keep this for a short sale I am getting this week with CountryWide. Good Luck

Thank you for sharing this info. I will be attending a Short Sale and Foreclosure Seminar on Monday, sponsored by and given at our local Countrywide Home Loans headquarters. I may have another client interested in a loan modification or short sale by then.

SEP

2007

Thanks for sharing this, Chris! I'm guessing it's shorter than a phone call, plus we have written evidence of the communication. I'm going to pass this on to our short sale administrator.

Christi: I Recently inquired with countrywide about such a seminar for agents. At this time they told me they had no plans. It may appear i was given incorrect information. Christi, for the record, Out of the 27 listings i carry 11 loans are with countrywide and overall they get 2 thumbs up.

Rosemary: Glad the information can help you and you client . good luck !

Chris: I so agree with you, perhaps this might make it a little easier. Keep up the fight.

Carmen: With countrywide being so big you're right , it's only a matter of time!

Barbara:Thanks for the words, I'm making an effort to blog on more of a regular basis , and always ready to share the knowledge. We have an epidemic on our hands and I believe now is the time for us, as a group of professionals, to band together and help resolve the challenges ahead. Active rain as a platform is playing an integral part. I encourage all lenders agents to stop making it about them, share the knowledge they have and ultimately helping the homeowners, . We as Realtors can and will make a huge difference in pulling the economy away from a recession.One Homeowner at a time.

Edson: Great news Edson, glad to be of service. would you blog later in the deal and let us know how it works for you please.? Thanks!

Dawn: When you do let me know if i can help at all. The same goes with anyone else reading.

Barry:Great stuff Barry, how do i get invited to the seminar? :)

John:You're welcome, by the way did you get that one in the trade winds subdivision closed yet? Keep on saving the on homeowner at a time.

Chris-I agree with you on the two thumbs up. As I said, what I heard was very encouraging.

OCT

2007

Chris,

Thanks for the tips! I am glad I found your posts and the group you started here. This is an excellent forum you started here with this group. Lots of helpful advice and great information! I actually have a shortsale with Countrywide that I am working on with another agent. We are trying to get an offer first before presenting it because Countrywide won't consider or provide the shortsale package until we show them an offer at hand. This is what they told us. We have made 4 price reductions thus far for a total discount of $60,000 from our original listing price and we still do not have an offer. Grrrrr! I think we need to drop the price again because there is not much time left.

Dave

Thank you for the information. I have one a short sale that has one loan with CW. The other with wells Fargo, its a pain getting in communication w/ their loss miti dept contact.

OCT

2007

Just found this group...Highly interested in this aspect of real estate...Thanks for sharing the knowledge.

OCT

2007

very practical information. Thanks for this post.

Chris, good to know...thanks for sharing

OCT

2007

I'm in the middle of a short sale negotiation with Countrywide. It's very frustrating. You can email the negotiator - they are not allowed to email you back. As for them calling you back - good luck with that. If they do call back & leave a message for you to call them, you still have to go through the main line - explain who you are, loan #, homeowner information - before they will connect you with the negotiator.

And - even if you bring them an offer over their own counter offer , they will try to discount your commission from 5% to 4%. Yeah - this is fun with Countrywide.

Don't be in a hurry - it's been 2 months & we still don't have things settled. They are overwhelmed with files & have no sense of urgency. Even if potential buyers will walk away from great offers.

JAN

2008

I attended the Hank Lopez seminar 4 weeks ago.

He says:

expect a 6 % commission, reasonable hoa and pest fees, and $3000 to the second mortgagee.

expect landsafe appraisals to do the appraisal... which mean a wait.

there is an expediting team that can be contacted if things get bogged down.

if you know a countrywide loan officer... have them call your loss mitigator / work out negotiator - Hank says it helps

JAN

2008

That is great advice. I had a Countrywide short sale in the past where that would have been helpful. However, I don't think any thing would have help with my case because the case worker was change at least from time in one week. Then, when it did reach the final case worker had to send everything again and then it still took two months to get a response. Luckily the buyer was an investor so he stuck around, then Countrywide countered higher than he wanted to pay and then said have him counter, by then he was tired and did feel he should counter. Long story short a waste of time.

JAN

2008

Thanks for Sharing... Countrywide Loss Mitigators are the HARDEST people to get in touch with!!!

JAN

2008

Serena: Ouch! if ever you venture in to the caves of countrywide again and you get the run around, people have found it helpful to by pass work out and go to the supervisor.

Tana: glad to be of help, by the way dont be scared to ask for Sundra James A.V.P home retention, her email is used the same way!

Thanks Chris, I will remember that....Any help is good help!

Tana

care to join in this? :)

http://activerain.com/blogsview/334211/Short-sale-negotiators-popularity

JAN

2008

Dont forget, sometimes they use their middle inital. Great Post however!

JAN

2008

See what you've done Chris? You exposed Countrywide's secret and they had to be bought out by B of A just so they could all get new e-mail addresses! You're just a big trouble maker! LOL.

Seriously, this kind of post is always helpful. Thanks for sharing!

JAN

2008

Thanks for the great tip!

MAY

2008

Hi there,

I am currently 3 months behind with my Countrywide mortgage and considering a short sale with them..Can someone tell me how much of a price reduction Countrywide is known to accept on an offer..I currenty owe $185,000. the homes in my neighborhood were going for 190-205K 2 years ago and now I see them being listed for 160-165K.

Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Sally ~ They usually will take a "haircut" of up to 20% off today's market (appraised value)...

MAY

2008

Thanks, I am working (buyer side) on a Country Wide short sale. I'll pass this info to the listing agent. How often are asset managers changed?

I've used that formula for few months and I must say how well it has worked for me. With EMC, as far as my files, have been Mitigators with email at Bears.com

MAY

2008

I am attempting to have countrywide ok a short sale on my home in Florida currently and after initially oking it they are now saying that they only "Service" the loan and that an actual other bank holds it and they will not ok the short sale unless we are behind in payments.... this sounds outragous to me as they are, in effect, asking them to not pay them.... has anyone else run into this problem? and if so what can be done....
It would be in EVERYone's best interest to just ok the short sale because they will be losing less money..... the only other option would be for me to not pay them.

I was able to get them to tell me the name of the "Investor" they claim put up for the loan.... "Bank of New York" But otherwise they are trying everything possible to dance around this..

CAN ANYONE HELP ME???

thanks in advance

Sorry that last one was from me.... Fred V.

Fred,

This is a typical scenario in the short sale world. Many of the loans held by the large lenders are not theirs, they are merely "servicing" or babysitting them. That is a big reason why these sales take so long. It has to pass through many hands before it can be approved. The lenders point of view is that if you are making your payments then that must mean that you are not a short sale candidate yet. You can be sure that there are many people who have the means to pay their mortgage but try to work a short sale to try and get away from a bad financial decision. A short sale is a vehicle used for homeowners that show they can't continue to pay their mortgage due to a hardship. They will tell homeowners who call and have not missed a payment that they do not qualify. The reality is that you can still be making your payments but if you can show that in the near future you will not be able to maintain the mortgage current then they will typically process the short sale. Let's say you lost your job or you got sick and your income was affected. With that, you should be able to show that you can cover your expenses on a temporary basis but eventually your finances will not sustain that level of debt.

Lenders do not approve a short sale until AFTER you receive a contract and all the necessary paperwork is submitted including a letter explaining the hardship and financial papers showing the income and debt status. Do not wait for an approval before you get a contract. The lenders will not do that they won't tip their hand.

I hope this helps!

MAY

2008

thanks....

short salesa re hard eneough without extra phone tag...

MAY

2008

Countrywide is really not that much more difficult to work with than other banks. Its just that Countrywide is so much bigger than most other lending institutions that it seems to be more difficult to get responses or your case worker on the phone. In the age of technology, there are so many more ways to communicate than just the phone or e-mail. I love text messaging. Oh, and you can send text messages to any cell phone if you have internet access. You can login to AIM and send a text message to someone's phone so you don't even have to pay for the service. By the way, people that are serious about their job, will do whatever it takes...including Countrywide. I have closed a number of short sales this year, and I personally find Countrywide easier to work with than some of the internet lending companies or "local" banks that are not local to Virginia.

http://www.robsellscharlottesville.com

http://www.theaverygroup.com

MAY

2008

great post! i am currently working with CW with a client and so far have had a great experience working with them

MAY

2008

Hello all, I am an agent for a major short sale solution company based out of south Florida and WAS having trouble throughout the short sale 'process' as well with countrywide. What I can tell you is a couple months ago I was given a contact that is actually the head of the shortsale department. I struck gold! All she does is manages the shortsale group. If you contact her and leave a voice mail she will return your calls, however several messages should be left on her voice mail until you have a returned call. It seemed as if the more times you called her the more of a priority she took in the situation. Her name is Janie Inman, Her direct number is 9724985451. It would not hurt to follow up each phone call if you don't get a hold of her with an email as well. Her email is Janie_Inman@countrywide.com .(There is an underscore between the first and last name) However just a word for the wise..tell her you were "ADVISED TO CALL HER " by another phone rep. If you tell her you found out this info. on a web blog, she will probably just ignore your request. Just be persistant and firm when leaving a voice mail or when talking to her and you will find success.

JUN

2008

I am currently processing approximately 50+ short sale files and of those 16 are with Countrywide. I talked to someone there the other day and they said that up until last month they had close to or over 1200 files for each negotiator!!! They have since hired 200 negotiators and divided up the files. Be sure when you talk to them that you ask if your negotiator is still the same. I had files that, for the last 6 weeks were changing negotiators every week. It seems to have settled out now and the negotiators are responding better and working quicker. I have responses on some of my new ones aleady and old ones still sitting. I'm seeing less than a 30 day response time now, where before we were waiting for months with no responses. It seems to be getting better but they are still the longest ones to deal with. Always make sure you call and ask them to check ALL the notes, the notes that the customer service people have access to are not always the same as the short sale department unless the short sale team (the Hope Team) connects their notes to the normal file. This is something I learned a few months ago and has made a big difference in our success rate and time in connecting with the lender. Also, ask which dept you are talking you. We love helping people get out of their situations so short sale work is meaningful to me. Its not easy work, but I always try to make it as easy on everyone as possible
At Countrywide you may end up with customer service, collections, loss mitigation or foreclosure when you enter the loan number, depends on what the status of their late payments is.

Hope this helps everyone. Our company processes short sales for realtors and homeowners so if you have any other questions, we would be happy to help!

JUN

2008

We have a short sale with CW as well and we had negotiator switch last week. Makes sense now. ~Rita

JUN

2008

What a great and simple little technique to use! Thanks!

JUN

2008

Thanks for the info...The email trick works with a lot of companys

JUN

2008

Guys i started this post back in September,,, and have I ever got some news!!

http://activerain.com/blogsview/565971/Every-Short-Sale-Trick

JUN

2008

What exactly happens to your credit if you go through a Short Sale with Countrywide? My condo was just reassessed by the tax board for over $100k less than what I bought it for in 2005. I don't really want to continue throwing money at a bad investment, but I also don't want to trash my credit.

TIM--Most of the damage is actually done from the missed payments of the mortgage and not necessarily from the Short Sale. The Short Sale itself will bring down your credit approx. 50 points. Countrywide is one of the lenders, as of today, that will not consider a short sale unless there has been a missed mortgage payment. There also needs to be a "hardship" in which you can demostrate that your income cannot cover your expenses. Making a bad investment in itself in not a qualifying hardship.

Also, you need to keep in mind that since this is an "investment" property the lender will send you a 1099 next year for the difference between the amount owed and the ultimate sales price. That amount is considered taxable income by the IRS.

JUL

2008

Thanks for the post. I just got a name and direct line Thursday Afternoon. And the new supervisor has even said he W A S going to call me Monday with a R E A L I S T I C timeline for closing the cash offer I have on a home. Won't take long to see if they do really call. So far I have spoke with 27 people in about 6 different departments and zip-nothing! Sheriff Sale coming up at end of month. A commission would be appreciated about now...

JUL

2008

This is a good tip. However, I found that the negotiator I was working with had a middle initial!!!!

example: John_T_Doe@countrywide.com

have to have that middle initial if they are using that. AND if with that.... they don't reply to the emails or at least that is the experience I have had.

JUL

2008

I do a ton of short sale negotiations and of course, loads of them are Countrywide. I discovered this email scheme myself a long time ago (every single lender has a scheme, so just look at any email you get on anyone int he firm and more than likely the rest are all the same pattern).

I just wanted to point out, however, especially at Countrywide, that not all fo them actually read and/or respond to their email. Some will actually return a call before an email. Some just completely ignore all email from a realtor. With others it's like magic and you're all of a sudden communicating 10 times faster than you had been.

Just wanted to be sure everyone knew that this is not a cure-all for communicating with CW's negotiators. Doesn't work a lot of the time.

Watch for the email pattern with all of the banks you deal with though!

JUL

2008

HELP!

I am renting a property in South Florida that is a townhome. My landlord called me and said he is doing a short sale. He said he would qualify for one in a few months?What does that mean? Does that mean he does not make his payment and attempts to sell the property?

The other issue is.. I am no longer on a lease.. I am month to month.. and the last issue is that he did not pay the homeowners dues this month which include the water and cable. the hoa informed me if they are not paid they will shut both off...do I keep paying the landlord or can he evict me?

GEMMA-- Your landlord seems to be in the midst of putting the property on the market for sale. Once he gets an offer it can take several months before the sale is approved by his lender. In the meantime you seem to be in a tough situation. If he is indeed in the process of selling his property, you should consider moving on. It is much easier to have you removed from the property if you do not have a valid written lease. It seems time to move on. Give me a call.

JUL

2008

I have a short sale with Countrywide right now. They are a little difficult, but things are moving along slowly. Has anyone had any experiences with Nationpoint? I have another short sale with them, and they are VERY uncooperative, and after faxing the package three times, I am still waiting for them to recognize me as an authorized person to speak with them.

ROBIN--In the future, one of the first steps you should take is to contact the lender to get "payoff" information on the mortgage and sending them the "Homeowner Authorization" at that point. What that will do is to let you and the lender know that you will be the point of contact for that particular mortgage and it is recordered on their end. You will not get the payoff information without the authorization.

This does work. I did it myself. Too bad it does not work with all the lenders.

JUL

2008

Hey TIM:

Usually, debt that is forgiven or cancelled by a lender must be included as income on your tax return and is taxable. The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 allows you to exclude certain cancelled debt on your principal residence from income.

Your lender should send a Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt, by January 31, 2008. The amount of debt forgiven or cancelled will be shown in box 2. If this debt is all qualified principal residence indebtedness, the amount shown in box 2 will generally be the amount that you enter on lines 2 and 10b, if applicable, on Form 982.

With this Act you can exclude up to 2 million dollars of debt that is forgiven or cancelled.

JUL

2008

Lets always keep in mind the bankruptcy laws, and whilst in bankruptcy the seller/debtor is considered insolvent and very likely exempt. No wonder filings have tripled this year.

JUL

2008

Chris: GREAT INFORMATION.. Please feel free to post this and other short sale post in the Short Sale Support Group !

AUG

2008

REALTORS - Here is some good news for you!!! We have an awesome program in place for the Realtors that are out in the field working hard everyday to make a living and there are no costs invloved for you or the homeowners, we have taken the sting out of your Short Sale Deal Processing. You bring us the listing and we do all of the processing for your plus we Guarantee a definite no bars held (3%) Commission for just being the Agent and it doesn't stop there we also Guarantee and Additional (3%) Commission for bringing the End-Buyer to the closing table as well. Zachary (6%) Commisssion is Guaranteed. Our turn around time for our Short Sales are (35 - 50)Days depending upon the Bank/Lender.

THE STATES LISTED BELOW---WE DO NOT PROCESS SHORT SALES:

Alabama
Colorado
Idaho
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Maine
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
North Dakota
New Mexico
Oregon
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Tennessee
Vermont
Wisconsin
Wyoming

REALTORS - all other STATES WE DO PROCESS Short Sales!!!

I hope this information is helpful for you and that it will benefit you greatly because we do all the work for you and you go out & get the listings because (1) Short Sale per month can bring an extra $100,000 + Per Year!!! You can contact me direct @ 1-888-474-6781 Ext. 137.

AUG

2008

I have several recent closings on CW short sales, and I find them slow, but not that difficult to work with. Anything less than a 20% loss is almost a rubber stamp approval.

BTW, a great trick for getting negotiator e-mails is to call some random customer service rep and tell them that "your negotiator, Jane so and so, gave you here e-mail to submit an improtant document, and you mis placed it, and can you get it for me?" If they tell you they can't give it out, ask them, "Well isn't it name.name@lender.com?" Sometimes they will slip up and "correct" you, thereby revealing the e-mail address.

http://activerain.com/blogs/short_sale_expert

AUG

2008

We just went through a short sale with countrywide and yes it closed on wednesday this past. However it took 8 months. We went through several negotiators and getting through was the most frustrating thing. The Realtor and the Title Co were amazing, without them, I would have completely lost my mind. Good Advice on the emailing, phone calls never worked with them.

SEP

2008

Not so, I have sent emails and left messages and did not get a response, for days and days, until I called again and someone answered the phone.

SEP

2008

Thanks for the help. I've got to rush with countrywide cuz our foreclosure sale is in 3 weeks.

SEP

2008

REALTORS - Here is some Good News for you!!! We have an awesome program in place for the Realtors that are out in the field working hard everyday to make a living and we work directly with your homeowners for you & we have taken the sting out of your Short Sale Deal Processing. You bring us the listing and we do all of the processing for your plus we Guarantee a definite no bars held (3%) Commission for just being the Listing Agent and it doesn't stop there we also Guarantee you an Additional (3%) Commission for acting as the "Seller Agent" by bringing the End-Buyer to the closing table as well. The (6%) Commission is Guaranteed. Our turn around time for our Short Sales are just (45 - 60)Days depending upon the Bank/Lender. Let us help you move even more properties
and make even more Commissions in the market place. "THE TIME IS NOW"!!!!

REALTORS - We Now Process In All The US STATES - "WE DO PROCESS" All Short Sales!!!

I hope this information is helpful for you and that it will benefit you greatly because we do all the work for you and you simply go out & get the listings because (1) Short Sale per month can bring you an extra $100,000 + PER YEAR!!! You can contact me direct @1-866-872-1981 Ext. 213

From the buyers point of view:
My husband and I have had an offer pending with CW since July 11, 08. We waited and waited and on Aug. 27, 08 our agent was informed by the sellers realtor that our offer was accepted and that we would receive our approval letter within 48 hrs. We didn't receive this letter till Sept. 10th! Then found out that it wasn't even our approval letter. It was for an offer that was withdrawn in May for a completely different buyer!! Needless to say we were/are furious! The sellers realtor tried repeatedly for a week to get ahold of her contact/negotiator at CW with no luck, she simple/blatantly ignored her emails and phone calls. The sellers realtor on Monday finally went to someone else and received a response. Come to find out our offer was missing documentation including the HUD that we know for a fact was sent 3 times to the previous CW negotiator. The sellers realtor seems like she can't be bothered to contact the negotiator but maybe once a week!!
This was suppose to be a exciting experience for our family. It has turned into the biggest frustrating experience we have ever encountered. We have been staying with family for almost 3 months and our stuff has been in storage just as long. Our daughter is enrolled in a school zoned for that home and we are praying that our offer gets accepted ASAP. We would like to close before she is due to graduate from HS (she is in the 2nd grade!) We are hoping that our patience, tolerance and perseverance will get us into our dream home within the next month.
Thanks for letting me vent and maintain a shred of my sanity...

NOV

2008

Very interesting... I will be using this information shortly.

Thanks!

NOV

2008

Any info helps at this point. It's all worth a try. Thanks.

NOV

2008

Short Sales are not rocket science! They are just a pain in the ARS! Realtionship with the servicers are not as important as people will lead you to believe. The turn over is to great to establish long term realtionships. The key is to have reputation that your sales will close...

I use NORTH WEST LOSS MITIGATION SERVICES LLC. to negotiate and facilitate all my Short Sale's because they understand each and every aspect of the transaction from title issues to the buyers's financing eligibility. NWLMS is not an investor or a want to be, NWLMS is not an Escrow company, Mortgage Broker or Real Astate Agent trying to capture your listing or suplement their income. North West Loss Mitigation Service's is a third party negotiator wjere negotating short sales is all they do.

I have closed over a dozen Short Sales this year. I will close another three to six by the end of the year. North West Loss Mitigation Services get's them done!!!

visit nwlossmitigation.com

The email tip is correct. I figured this out a long time ago. The problem is that even when you email the negotiators, many times they don't respond.

I specialize in short sales and I have quite a few short sale files with Countrywide. They are one of the worst lenders to deal with! Out of all the different lenders I have worked with on short sales, Countrywide seems to be the most difficult and they take longer than any other bank.

NOV

2008

wow a lot of great info I copied tidbit. I will repost consolidated

FEB

Hello!

Does anyone know what the secret to getting a short sale through with Home Savings of America? I recently wrote an offer that was rejected by them. They said that they don't approve ANY short sales at all! They prefer to foreclose on the home (instead of having the loss of a short sale) then rent it out until the market gets better. Have you ever heard of a bank doing such a thing?

FEB

andrea that does not make sense. the rent will probably not cover the monthy interest of the loan so they and/or their invetsor will lose more money in addition to cost to acquire a tenant and maintenace cost. Foreclosure cost and attorney fees would be a minmum of $5,000.00.

FEB

Chris-Thank you for this information on Countrywide. I have a ss offer since Dec 8th 2009 and still no answer, is there a current update on tips as they apply to Feb 2009?

FEB

Thanks for the inof. Our clients are in the middle of one and it is just draggin on, now we can understand why.

MAR

Good info.

Thanks so much for sharing.

I have a little inside information with some of the banks on dealing with short sales if anyone needs it also.

Ralph,

Why don't you just go ahead and share this info with us that you may have. I am sure most of us probably already know about it, but it's worth a shot to tell us anyway. Feel free to send me a message if you do not want to post it in public. Thanks.

MAR

Check out www.ShortSaleNation.ORG. It's a FREE online short sale, self service tool for agents and their clients. You don't need to interact with anyone and you are in total control of your short sale.

MAR

We have established a relationship with Countrywide. We are able to (1) close the short sale in 3 weeks (we have a team set up at Countrywide), (2) include anti deficiency language on approval, (3) get 6% commission on all fannie mae loans, (4) get some termine repair accepted, and (5) get some relocation costs.

We would be happy to help you negotiatae your short sale. Visit us www.360realty.com and call me Stephan Sabbah at (800) 399-9659.

We currenlty have 200 active short sales in negotiations. Check our website.

Stephan,

All approval letters I have received have had the language about no deficiency judgement. We all have access to a minimum of 6% commission on all Fannie Mae loans now. I even get 7% on many of my short sales.

APR

Len,

With all do respect, I don't think everyone can get it done in 3 weeks. If they could nobody would be on this message board. I also can get up to 10K to second mortgage on every transaction. Termite repairs, unheard of.

I am the only broker with a relationship with Countrywide. If you need help one day. You are welcome to call. (323) 954-8900 ext 313.

www.360realty.com

Hello!

On some of the transactions with Countrywide, I'm noticing that they are paying for termite repairs sometimes. I think it depends on the negotiator.

Just curious, has anyone gotten the CDPE (Certified Distressed Property Designation)? Although I have experience with short sales, I'm going to attend and see what else is new.

Andrea Harlan

Keller Williams Realty, Thousand Oaks

Oh, I'd like to share that might help someone dealing with Countrywide. Recently they've started requiring a pre-qualification of the seller prior to receiving the short sale package and offer. If the person who calls the seller isn't able to get permission to run the seller's credit and get certain questions answered, Countrywide just throws the whole package away with no notification to the agent. Luckily we call them 3 times a week at 5 a.m. so we found out before it became a problem. Just wanted to give people a "heads up" to prep their sellers. Hope this helps.

Stephan,

Why would you be the only broker that has a relationship with Countrywide?

Why don't you explain some of your strategies on here if you would like to help some people out?

APR

I would be more than happy to help anyone with a specific question. That is why i am on this message board.

Fire away.....

APR

My client has made a full price cash offer on a home. Today should be the coe. Countrywide is unresponsive to both sides and they could care less nor can the supervisors or the nmanager of the short sale dept.. Everyone experiencing the same should file complaints all the way around. NAR, Congress, Fannie & Freddie all need to hear from us. They don't seem to get what is happening in the real world of real estate. I will never deal with this company again if I can help it.

APR

I have been dealing with the short sale department at Countrywide since January. I've called at least once a week sometimes 2 and 3 times a week since then. Every time I call I get a different rep. I think they say anything to get you off the phone. This file has gone from Phase 1 to Phase 2 and back to Phase 1. I have faxed everything to them several times with the loan number on every page, called a week later to confirm and they confirmed they received it all. One document I emailed to the Phase 2 person which was the preliminary HUD. After I emailed it I got no response as to the confirmation. I called the rep and left several messages and did not hear back...until a week later when I got an email from the Phase 2 reps "assistant" stating that the short sale was denied because they did not have all the info. The worst part about the email was that at the end it said "do not respond to this email". So of course I called again and got yet another rep who seemed very helpful. She had me email the HUD to her so that she could download it into the file. I sent it to her and got a confirmation back. This was on March 25th. So again I called every week sometimees twice to see that everything was OK. All 7 of them said everything was in the file and that I should hear from them anytime soon. Of course every one had a different time frame. Today I called again and this new rep said that the file was about to be denied again because the still did not have the HUD.

So long story short......to late I know. DO NOT TRUST ANY OF THEM. They say anything to get you off the phone as quickly as possible. Make sure that everyting you send them by fax or email has the loan number on EVERY page. Incidently that's a great idea about getting first and last name of every person you talk to. Send emails to firstname_lastname@countrywide.com with the under score between the first and last name

MAY

It's now firstname_lastname@bankofamerica.com

MAY

Just a quick correction. It is Now FirstName.LastName@bankofamerica.com. Dot instead of Underscore. :-)

Yes, the Bank of America emails are FirstName.LastName@BankOfAmerica.com.

Anyone working with Countrywide or BofA should know this by now anyway.

Their process still sucks though...lol.

JUN

I am representing the buyer of a short sale waiting for Countrywide approval. They have been telling the selling agent for the last three weeks that they have all the documents and that they will EXPIDITE IT. It has not been assigned to a negotiator and they say it will go next for investor approval. We have had this offer in for 2 1/2 months with no end in sight. Needless to say my buyer is impatient with this process. Very frustrating.

JUL

I have been trying to buy a short sale property since January. The loan mortgage is with CW/BOA. We have been told at least 30 times the short sale approval would be comming in a few days.

Six weeks ago my agent called me with "good news" the selling agent called & said the bank approved our offer. Only to find out a week later that wasn't true...the BPO was not done like she said it had been. Actually the BPO agent called wondering where the lock box & keys were. Come to find out the selling agent had never been to the house...the lock box belong to the previous Broker and finally retrieved his box with the keys. The sellers agent had to come out to the house & ever since she has been a pain in the A**. She has repeatly asked us to sign a release. Our contract (3rd extension) expired on the sixth & she has hound us to get Inspections & appraisals done before should would get the Addendum to extend the contract. All that is done & still no extension...now the A/C unit has been stolen.

I would love any advice...this would be the first sale for my agent so she is very lost & her broker refuses to get involved.

School will be starting soon...I would love for the kids to start in the new school instead of switching schools.

MIKE,

From the outside it seems you are being strung along. It seems they have several offers tha have been submitted and you are one of the remaining. They might have another offer that is higher than yours and that is why they want a release.

If the A/C has been stolen then I imagine there are many other issues with that property. You need to ask yourself if it is worth the money you agreed to pay for it. Once you purchase the property you will be stuck with the problems too.

I know you want the kids to be in their new school on time but is that worth getting your family in a situation that might not be to their benefit in the short term, must less long term.

If you need a quick sale, then you might want your agent to look for REO or Bank Owned properties that can usually close in 30 days.

Mike,

It does sound like you are being strung along. I don't think I would want to be involved in that side of the transaction either. This listing agent sounds like they have no idea on what they are doing in order to get the job done right, especially since you started this event since January. It doesn't normally take that long unless something went wrong.

I agree that you may want to think twice before you move forward with this deal. It seems like it may be too much of a hassle. I know that you feel that it will be a waste of 7 months of your time if you give up, but look at it this way. If you move forward with this deal and things get worse, you are only going to get more upset about it and have to make quick decisions later. Stand back and re-evaluate the situation and do what is good for you and your family. If that means walking away, so be it.

I wish you the best of luck. Keep us in the loop if possible.

JUL

Sorry. The spam is very bad everywhere. anyway really enjoy your site. Help me! Looking for sites on: Trade hack mu. I found only this - statuts association gratuits. Lovells asset finance team has particular expertise in - online client services. The following information will be required. THX :o, Bin from India.

JUL

I have written a half dozen or more offers on short sales with Bank of America and I ave, or I'm currently the listing agent on almost a dozen short sales with B of A. They have everything they have requested, yet I doubt this current one will close because NONE of the others have.

During these transaction I have had the bank counter offer higher than the listing price or simply reject "due to insufficiant offer".

Does Bank of America actually want any of these off their books or do they want to continue looking like a wounded animal so the federal governement will give them more money? Or dothey simply want to hang onto these properties to sell them as REO's?

The craziness continues....

JUL

I have not had a Countrywide short sale yet but I am sure one of these days I will get to work on one with them. So, thanks for the info I will keep it in mind.

AUG

No more BofA deals or Wells deals for me unless the prop. is REO. I have a client who's last payment (Countrywide 1st & 2nd) was April '07. No, that's not a typo, '07.

They've gone through 3 offers which they rejected two with counters higher than the list price AND higher than their own appraisal and the third the buyer walked away. The owner has tried twice to modify as well. At the time of the first offer the property was worth $310K. Today, the prop. is worth $190K. Three offers of 300K, 275K and 240K and they couldn't pull it together.

Two years of HOA dues, property tax, and Mtg. payments not being paid while the value diminished by 40%. Who's the winner here?

They still haven't foreclosed yet, go figure!

PETE,

If the Note is not owned by the Lender, then the Lender is making out because although the mortgage has not been paid the Lender has been collecting their fees every month.

Sidney,

This is not at all true for most "lenders." With most servicing agreement, the servicer collects payments and forwards them on to the investor and collects a fee. The investor demands payment regardless of weather the servicer collects or not. Servicers forced to pay investors for defaulted loans is a big part of many pass through lenders failing. In the beginning, the servicers had athority to grant short payoffs, that has now shifted and now most servicers must get investor approval before approving a short sale. Sometimes the investor must also get governmental (Fanny, Freddie, HUD) on top, so it is little wonder with all these layers why short sales are taking longer and longer.

www.short_sale_expert.activerain.com

Wow, I've been up since 3 Am, no wonder my grammer is terrible!

JOSEPH,

LUCRATIVE FEES MAY DETER EFFORT TO ALTER LOANS...N.Y. TIMES REPORT

That is very interesting Sidney, and thank you for posting it, however investors have gotten wise the the servicers scams and are no longer allowing many of these things. Indeed, the power has been shifted to the investors, and servicers many times have no leeway on decision making anymore. Furthermore, the article pointed out that the fees were foreclosure related in which fee gouging is certainly true. Short sales are not foreclosures, so it doesn't necessarily apply.

When the mortgages were securitized and sold off they did so with servicing agreements written by these same Lendersas part of the package. It may be that some of these agreements are being challenged but they fact of the matter is that they are still collecting these fees in most instances. As well as fees to process the Short Sales, Loan Mods or any other work out programs.

You are probably right Sidney, with your insider mortgage lending management and secondary market trading experience, you have probably seen alot of things the average person doesn't know about. One this is certain, guidelines agreements are being re written daily, and the investors are taking control.

I don't have any inside information. But you're right...when the only one making momey are the Lenders, in time, everyone else will start to question their motives.

AUG

Great information. CW is probably one of the most difficult banks to work with. What I find amazing is that realtors are actually shining away short sales. They dont take them on because they think they are too difficult and time consuming. Maybe they are right. I am a short sale specialist and at Real Property Solutions we manage the short sale for all real estate agents and brokers. The agent would actually make more commission by submitting the short sale to us than doing it on their own. Our investors purchase the short sale with an immediate offer, the realtor gets their commission from the seller/homeowner to the investor, then the investor relist the property with tha same realtor. Hence, double commission.

Real Property Solutions will take the hassle out of your short sale. Get the short sale and pass it to us for full service management of your short sale. We take care of all the headaches associated with your short sale. All you have to do is get the short sale, pass it to us, and you still get paid double commission. Call us to find out the details.

Real Property Solutions
13636 Ventura Blvd Suite 324
Sherman Oaks CA 91423

Crystal Gomez, M.A
Short Sale Specialist
818-5671-4655 cell
888-571-7854

www.go.managemyshortsale.com

SEP

I just get amazed daily when sale dates are postponed or terminated, then reset. This week one of my listing which is set for action in January 2010 got a nice new set of locks and keys. Kinda difficult to show a home when you don't have the keys to get in the house. Luckily the company was quick to overnight me a key.

Should I send my next offer to these outside companies as well as Bank of America? Attempting to keep them in the loop. Could they have any input or influence on B of A to actually follow through with a short sale. I have presented 8 offers on this property thus far.

help!

OCT

Countrywide is, by far, the most difficult bank to work with. It's always better to gather up all of your CW files and call on them at one time. Talk with the Customer Service Agent who picks up the call. If they are not helpful (or they are not forthcoming with "extra" information), then I thank them for their time and call back until I get a great CS agent. I build a rapport with them and have them give me status on every file (which is fine because the whole time, you're talking with them and joking around, etc).

It may take a bit longer, however, I get much more information (that I can use), I get results on escalations, I get negotiator/manager names and contact information, and I get information on things that they aren't as forthcoming with (like their portal for uploading docs directly into the system, bypassing the fax machine and emailing the docs to someone who doesn't upload them, saving time).

In fact, I've gotten to know a couple of Customer Service agents with whom I've built a great, casual email relationship with. If I need some files uploaded to the system ASAP, I know that I can email those files to the agents and they'll get them up immediately, helping move the files onto the next phase.

Just because you get information from a CS agent, doesn't mean that it is ALL the information you can get. There will always be an agent who is overflowing with information and wants to share it.

Also, to update the original blog post, Countrywide and Bank of America use this format: firstname.lastname@bankofamerica.com (I've seen some strange variations on this, but this is the basic model of it).

NOV

Hi all. Experience is a good teacher, but she send in terrific bills. I am from Peru and learning to speak English, give please true I wrote the following sentence: "The director also asked that they participate attorneys where you can surrender forms which benefit to a provincial district that has a such refund high-income.I occur the refund to pay this pre-amendment inglet without sale." With respect ;), Idana.

How are you. If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else. I am from Equatorial and also am speaking English, tell me right I wrote the following sentence: " Price indicated by stein, drawn by galvis that the lawyers be depleted as charged." Regards :-D Marmara.

NOV

How can I find out about Fran Lopez next seminar?

Leave a response…

Name:

Email:
(optional)

Comment:

What does the graphic say?