Have any of you been involved or heard about doing a third party simultaneous close on a short sale?
I was contacted today by an investor who has the following business plan:
1. Find potential short sale sellers
2. Investor writes a low offer to be submitted to the lender(s) along with the hardship package
3. Once lender(s) approval is obtained, if the lender approved sales price is much less than market value, put the home on the market with an aggressive price so it sells quickly.
4. Do a third party simultaneous close whereby the investor closes with the seller and the lender gets their proceeds, and then the same day, the investor sells to the buyer at a price higher than he paid, so investor pockets the difference. The investor may be under the guise of a "land trust".
This scenario appeals to me as a listing agent since I do not get involved until the short sale has already been approved. So no long wait, and no concern of the short sale terms being unreasonable. It would also appeal to buyers since they do not have to wait either.
Do you think this is defrauding the lender? Could a lender write an approval condition that would prohibit this simultaneous sale?
A long time escrow officer I spoke to did not want to get involved and I have hesitation also.
What do you think?
4 Comments on Third party simultaneous close on a short sale
Sounds like a problem waiting to happen. These were common when home prices were skyrocketing, but I find it hard to believe it will work into todays housing market.
Sean Allen
they must be buying them way below value to even consider doing this. I would think that once the bank receives payment it is not their problem anymore. I don't know how this new buyer gets financing considering FHA & Fannie Maes flipping rules.
We've been involved in a few of these with "investors". The problem is the simultaneous part. The two transactions don't always move at the same speed. We have found buyers for the property, but the bank hasn't officially signed off the proposed price. The timing is the pits. It's virtually impossible for the timing to coincide.
It's not impossible. I did a transaction like this a few years ago in Phoenix. I do agree tha that it would be tough in this market considering current values.