If I hear the term "our mutual client" one more time, I'm gonna puke. OK, not really. But you know the sentiment. I get a lot of mortgage loan officers bugging me because I sometimes suggest that buyers start the loan process prior to approval. The horrors. I do this so the buyers can close. That's because short sale banks and mortgage loan officers are rarely in sync. The banks give us shortened periods of time in which to close, and mortgage loan officers tend to want a minimum of 30 to 45 days. We can't always get a short sale extension if the mortgage company can't perform.
These MLO guys can get pretty desperate. They clamor for that letter of approval. Over and over they email me begging if they can speak to the short sale bank. That tells me they know next to nothing about the short sale process. I don't know how one can be in the lending business in Sacramento and not be familiar with how short sales work. I'd venture to guess at least 30% of all transactions in Sacramento are short sales. As a Sacramento short sale agent, I close my fair share of them.
I have to tell them no, they cannot speak to the bank. And please stop nipping at my heels like some damn Yorkie. But I don't say that; I just think it. Even if they could talk to the bank, they couldn't tell them anything I haven't already delivered. I am not hiding the approval letter or delaying the process. I don't want them emailing or calling to ask if I've heard anything. When I hear, the MLO will immediately know. It's not something I'm likely to space out or forget about as I go about my daily short sale business. They should be calling the buyer's agent anyway, not me.
I got short sale approval yesterday on a home that is headed for auction next week. Because this is a Fannie Mae short sale, the bank will not postpone the auction. That's our government at work. We have to close prior to the trustee's sale date or it goes to foreclosure. This means we have to close in 8 calendar days. This wasn't a problem during negotiations because the buyer was paying cash. At the last minute, a few days before the approval letter arrived, the buyer announced he would like to get a loan.
Talk about a heart attack. There is no talking about a heart attack. I may as well just keel over now, gasp my last breath and collapse.
This was a property we had multiple offers for, lots of buyers crying for it. Thank goodness the buyer's agent has a level head. She helped the buyer start his loan early and docs are going to title today. One day after we received the short sale approval letter. How's that for swift action? But don't think about trying this for yourself. Getting a loan approved in record time like that is about as rare as a summer rain in Sacramento.
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