Dear Wells Fargo... Congratulations! You Bought a House for $8,000 less than offered!

I don't understand them sometimes. I bought a short-sale a couple years ago. We made an offer and the bank counteroffered us for $2,000 LESS than what we offered. It made no sense but I appreciated the extra $2,000 in my pocket.

So this is what I am up against now that I have started my first SS with "Wells", have done numerous others, but this is the first with them.

OMG!! Absolutely fantastic. You have made my day:) When all is said and done and this chaos has levelled out we will look back on these times and clearly wonder how we survived them. Thank goodness for humor! At the end of the day we still have our smiles:) Thank you.

I can see WF BBQing now - burning their extra cash as fuel, obviously.

I realize that your story is true and that there are many players other than well fargo but this is all such a sad state of affairs initially started by some silly people that thought trading mortgages based on the chance that they would fail or succeed was a good/ethical idea

Hi Jennifer, Too funny!  I had Wells do the same thing and the same buyer got it in better condition for ~$20k less!

Hi Jennifer,

I'd be happy to start a group if you think it would catch on! At this point, just need a name for it. Suggestions?

• The Bank Screwed my Short Sale Sellers
• Foreclosed on my Sellers
• The Bank did WHAT?
• Loss Mitigation Bloopers
• What are these Banks Thinking??!

It's still early in the morning, so those are the only names that quickly came to mind. I'm sure someone can come up with something more catchy :)

Jennifer...I feel your pain. Had a very similar situation with Wells Fargo in the past. Offer was for $110,000 before the home went to Sheriff Sale. Seven months later, after the expense of foreclosure, carrying the utility cost, taxes, insurance, snow removal,etc. The home sold for $108,000!???!!

There is no logic in this whatsoever!!!

Fabulous post.  I am so tired of trying to explain to my buyers why the short sale they offered on is now bank on the market as a bank-owned at a significantly lower asking price than the one they offered 8 months ago.  There has to be a method to the banks madness and i think it centers on all the money they are making in their litigation branches.  A pox on them all!  (except BB&T who has been very easy for me to work with.)

Great post! I love the humor ... but we all need to have that when dealing with the banks on these short sales. They tell us they are improving their systems to better handle this but, unfortunately we are not seeing improvement. Regression is more like it.

Jennifer - How pathetically funny is this post?! I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the absurdity of it all. <sigh>

I just wrote a blog that might answer 90% of the questions asked here as to "WHY??" banks did what they did as described by Jennifer -  http://theweymouthgroup.com/2012/01/12/some-think-banks-are-dumb-yea-dumb-as-a-fox/ 

How many of you remember when banks wanted to get into real estate and start brokerages but were beaten back by NAR? Beyond the obvious reasons, the main reason one is this: Next time you read in the remarks of the MLS listing of a REO property, pay special attention to: ALL BUYERS MUST BE QUALIFIED THROUGH (name of bank here), then it will sink in.

Hi Jennifer and thanks for taking time to write a great story about what appears to be the irrationality of banks with regards to foreclosing despite valid and higher net value short sale offers.    It's so hard to explain to people why this continues to happen.    Certainly a waste of everyone's time and energy, and a drain on the lives and emotions of the sellers and buyers.

$8,000 less is actually a smaller number in my experience; I ran into it several years back with Wells when we had a short sale offer in escrow that was closer to $20,000 above what they ended up selling the house  for after foreclosure.

At the risk of repeating myself, there are hidden economic incentives that these lenders can take advantage of behind the scenes.    It makes their actions appear to defy logic, but in the end banks are pure capitalists.   Plus there are oftenand "GSE"s and "investors" kept hidden behind the curtain, whose motives vary too.  

I am proud of those who put the effort in to "occupy Wall Street" - but it seems to me there needs to be "occupy Capitol Hill" too.    Our government is deeply entrenched with the lobbyists and buinesses seeking advantages for themselves.     It's a systemic problem, and I don't see a way out of it.    

But thanks again for telling the story in the way you did...looks like people are distributing it widely - which has to help.

Jennifer, just in case you hadn't noticed:  Your sarcasm is dripping.

Some sad humor there.

I'm sure there are hidden economic incentives for the banks somewhere!

Not surprising and will continue to happen likely unless the incentive for working with people cost them less than not working with people.

  Why should the big banks sell to someone when you can probably get some welfare payments from the government or insurance/guarantee to cover some costs and play a gamble.

Or for that matter that expert appraiser that was the lowest bidder and had to call you for dam directions tells the bank its worth this amount and then you find out this appraiser came from 120 miles away.LOL:)

Also, I think the BPO process is flawed but what do I know.  Pay someone like $50.00 who is actually local and they give the banks the more appropriate realistic price. Then they give the listing to some other company that is a buddy of a sister in law who lives 70 miles away.  

  Just like the "Shadow Inventory" I believe there has to be "Shadow Insurance" for the banks.  It's there hidden in some mysterious form but no one wants to talk about or admit it I believe and assume.  

Wow, only $8,000 less?  I've seen them foreclose on my short sales and end up taking tens of thousands less...and end up holding it for months longer. 

I love it. WE had one turned down on a counter offer only to see the bank listed it for less than our offer just a week later, the same buyer made another offer a few thousand less and they accepted the offer. Not Wells Fargo however.

Lets see, we make an offer, discover some really bad stuff is going on, disclosed it with a lower offer to cover it, they turn it down, and then list it for less than our offer a week later, and were willing to let us negotiate a bit lower after refusing to negotiate and sell faster a week earlier. There is just no rhyme or reason. I think it must be personalities. 

I had a seller's agent visit me at my inspection telling me the negotiations have already been done on another property, then I found misrepresentation in his listing. When we counter offered lower, he didn't even ask the seller, he just dropped the price and sold the home. I guess he did have the power to negotiate when it was his error. lol