Short-Sale Negotiating

Key Steps in Short-Sale Negotiation

1. Assembling the short-sale package
   1. Call the bank to determine appropriate contact info (fax) for submission of SS package and 3rd party authorization [not always the same fax number]
   2. Only gather what documents are required by bank
   3. Put the loan number on EVERY PAGE of the package
2. Confirming receipt of the package
   1. Call the short-sale/home retention/or customer service department to confirm receipt of the documents. This process may take a few days. DO NOT WAIT TOO LONG, KEEP CALLING REGULARLY
   2. If after one-week the documents have not been received, RESEND THE DOCS!
   3. NEVER NEVER NEVER be so stubborn so as to refuse to resend something more than once, twice, or as many times as you have to. YOU are the PROFESSIONAL, suck it up and do the work. IF YOUR SHORT SALE ISN"T GOING WELL, WORK HARDER!!
3. After the short-sale package has been received
   1. Determine if the bank needs any additional docs
4. Getting the BPO ordered
   1. After all the docs have been received, and you're sure the bank doesn't need any additional docs you will need to get an appraisal, or Broker's Price Opinion ( BPO, not always done by Broker either, usually just realtors or licensed real estate professionals)
   2. If the bank you are working with has the negotiator order the BPO thens steps 4 and 5 will be reversed for you
5. Getting a negotiator assigned
   1. This is one of the most arduous processes of the entire transaction; second only to getting the final approval.
   2. This is a difficult stage to escalate and manage and requires careful execution of your plan for SS domination
   3. Find out what the timeline is for getting the SS negotiator assigned
   4. Be sure to call at least every other day to ask whether or not the negotiator has been assigned
   5. Regardless of the bank's timeline, after 2 weeks if there isn't a negotiator assigned then you might consider escalating the file to corporate.
6. Escalating the file
   1. Talking to the manager of your normal bank contact may prove to be any one of the following;
      1. Impossible
      2. Time-consuming
      3. A complete waste of time
   2. I recommend instead contacting the corporate headquarters of the bank you are dealing with. Ask to speak with the "Executive Resolution Department" or let them know you are having difficulties dealing with customer service and you would like to speak to someone who can help you. Let the operator transfer you to the correct person.
   3. Once you are on the phone with this person, whomever you may reach, kindly explain your situation, your past efforts, and the desired outcome. 
   4. It has been mine (and my colleagues) experience that most corporate level employees are very capable, helpful and genuinely want to help you and your client.
   5. If you are still having trouble escalating the file contact me and I can let you know other ways to get your file attention that my colleagues and I have used successfully with past clients.

I hope this information has proven helpful. All statements above are opinions of an experienced real estate professional

Paul Hitchings

www.hitchingsconsulting.com