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Short sale, are the banks still playing games?

I am a Realtor here in St. Petersburg Florida and what I see when it comes to short sales is just unbelievable.

Everybody says

"The banks are hurting so much"

"They have to take back all these properties and they do not want them"

"They would rather go for a short sale than a foreclosure."

"A short sale process is much cheaper for the banks than a foreclosure process."

Even Donald Trump again and again said,

"Negotiate with the banks; they do not want to own your property"

Do not get me wrong.

I think Trump and all the others are right, but my questions is

What are the banks doing?

I have been on the buyers and sellers site a few times in a short sale situation and every time, yes, every single time, I nearly pulled my hair out when it comes to negotiating with the banks.

Sometimes I think the case workers take a sleeping pill before they come to work in the morning. A short sale takes forever, and that is not because of the seller or buyer, it is because of the banks. If they really do not want to go into foreclosure and if they do not want to own your property, than WHY does everything take forever, Why do you have to make 20 phone calls before you can actually talk to a live person? I am sorry, Yes, the banks are loosing money right now, but I just can't feel sorry for them. If they were hurting so much they would adjust their attitude and get going on the short sales. Times is of the essence and every day the short sale folder sits on someone's desk at the bank, it cost money for the home owner and the bank. Qualified buyers get frustrated by weeks and weeks of waiting and they just walk away and find another deal.

Anne Hensel

Posted by Anne Hensel Real Estate Broker St. Petersburg houses and condo for sale on 06/30/2008 01:18 PM

Comments (3)

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3 Comments on Short sale, are the banks still playing games?

JUN

2008

Anne,

I feel your pain!!! We're in "negotiations" right now on a property that was described as a "short sale," though the listing agent (5 weeks post-offer) still doesn't have an answer from the bank for us.

We've advised our buyer that in order to complete a purchase before the end of August (his request) we may need to move on to another property.

I think part of the problem is that the listing agent doesn't really have the right to describe the home as a short sale. The bank and seller have to exhaust other options before agreeing to a short sale.

We've successfully completed a couple of short sales, and the key was to have the ear of the right person at the bank. Otherwise, you'll never get an answer. The other component of this is the sheer number of distressed sales the banks are having to process. I think they just don't have enough people to work them.

I'm not saying that you're not getting the run-around, but that there may be other reasons you're not getting quicker responses. Good luck!

Amy Salisbury

JUL

2008

Hi Amy

Thank you for your comment. and you are so right, in a short sale situation , you need a cooperative seller, one that does not stick the head in the sand, you need a person at the bank that does not hide behind the answering machine and you need a buyer with a lot of time.

I hear it all the time, the banks are overwhelmed by the number of short sales, well that is something I do not understand, when they were giving loans to everybody, they were not overwhelmed, this short sale situation has been going on for over a year and if the banks really wanted to help and work thinks out, they would have adjusted by now and hired and trained more people.

So, yes, a short sale can be frustrating, but it usually is a very good deal for the buyer and right now it is the only thing that really moves property and gets the market going again, so let's work on them and get them sold.

Anne Hensel

MAR

I have to agree that the banks are playing games -- they continue to be a bunch of greedy people who are out of touch with reality. No wonder we are in such a big mess. My young early 20s son was fully approved to purchase his first home in Northern Virginia through FHA. The short sale home listed for for 129K so he offered 130K, AS IS, no closing assistance (even though he was approved for FHA). The offer was submitted, then they came back and increased the selling to 143 so he offered a bit more, they took the offer and then over a weekend they now say they don't take FHA. Why would they do that, this house has been sitting for more than a year. If they were not willing to work with that type of loan they should have made it clear from the get go and stop wasting people's time.

It's frustating and it just seems unethical.

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