Home : Blogs : Nestor & Katerina Gasset Realtors® Wellington Florida Luxury Homes : Wellington Homes and More...

CountryWide Short Sales- Mitigating The Damage Of Streamlining!

Has anyone had their short sales from Countrywide denied lately? Has anyone had their file just closed suddenly? How about finding out your negotiator is no longer on your file when you were just talking to him the day before? short sales wellington florida

If you read my post about Countrywide opening a new preshort sale department to have short sales get through their system faster than snail pace you will know that this step was supposed to help make things go smoothly at Countrywide.

Well, get ready for this!

The preshort sale department is in INDIA!!!!! So I guess they are going to replace incompetent employees who speak English for employees that not only you can't understand but are notorious for going down a scripted checklist and when you don't fit into their peg you get tossed aside!

Countrywide wants to streamline short sales so they have implemented BPO's before the offer comes in. The BPO will be done in the preshort sale department.

While many agents hail this as, it's about time that they BPO is ordered right away so they know what to list the house for- well- that is a double edged sword, not one we are willing to cut with while trying to save our homeowners from foreclosures. The reason is that if you order a BPO too soon in the process, and you don't get an offer for 2 to 3 months, that BPO is obsolete! The prices went down more and now you won't get a buyer because the BPO is outdated already. So unless you get an offer right away with a sure deal buyer- well- let's just say we won't be tooting the celebration horns any time soon.

But these BPO's being ordered out of India, hmmm, any guesses where they might get their BPO's from?????

How about maybe Zillow???? So we can have another wrench added into the mix! I have not ever seen Zillow on target with house values in our area. Maybe the streamlining of the BPO means just that, no more interior BPO's. And how do you think the employees in India can relate to our real estate market and values?

It gets even better, NOT! One of our files was turned down for missing documentation according to the system. We said this is not true, better check your file better, then the story changed to our homeowner got denied the short sale due to her income. Yet, we have an acceptance letter for this same seller, same property from 3 months ago when a deal fell through. She is making less money now, not more!

She was turned down for a modification because she did NOT make enough money and now she is turned down for the short sale because of making too much money? I don't think so. So we started climbing up the chain to discover these files are being sent overseas and closed out and denied for reasons that are not true.

Countrywide is mitigating this glitch by sending out memos to negotiators that this is happening. But how many agents have short sales sitting at Countrywide and don't make the calls, don't do the due diligence and don't follow up only to find their clients are being denied short sales. They would have no idea that there is a glitch.

Following up on your short sales at least 3 times a week is very important. You have to do damage control as soon as you get a whif of fire coming down the pipeline.

We are alive to fight another day!

For more information about how to do a short sale and what it entails please read our short sale series at Short-Sales-Florida.com.

Contact Nestor Gasset and Katerina Gasset, CIPS, Realtors®, International Properties and Investments, Inc. Licensed Realtors® in Florida at 561-753-0135 to list your property for sale or to purchase a property in Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee, Lake Worth, Hypoluxo Island, Lantana, West Palm Beach and the rest of Palm Beach County Florida and Port St Lucie Florida. We are accepting referrals.

Call us today at 561.753.0135 or Toll Free 800.444.3316. Contact us by email if you prefer by clicking on email me on the right side of this page under our profile.

To view all the Wellington Florida Luxury Homes For Sale Click here and then click on Search For Homes We know Palm Beach County and St Lucie Country; we will help you get your home Sold if you need to Sell your home and help you buy your Wellington Home or Land ; call us today.

Disclaimer:The information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice. Wellington Homes Blog does not guarantee or is any way responsible for its accuracy, and provides said information without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Entries on Wellington Homes Blog represent the opinions and ideas of the author(s). Wellington Homes Blog does not express the views of International Properties and Investments, Inc or those of the broker.

P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Palm Beach County Florida and Port St Lucie Florida make sure you hire an agent who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. Call us at 561-753-0135 to find out more about Palm Beach County Short Sales and Port St Lucie Short Sales.

Posted by Nestor & Katerina Gasset Realtors® Wellington Florida Luxury Homes on 11/18/2008 11:07 PM

Comments (30)

Short Sales Countrywide in the Real Estate Investing Channel

short sales wellington florida, short sale expert, short sales florida, wellington short sales, short sales, countrywide short sales

Originally posted at: South Florida Real Estate and...: CountryWide Short Sales- Mitigating The Damage Of Streamlining!

This post has been included in Florida Information Palm Beach County, FL Information Wellington, FL Information
Post is included in group: Short Sales Specialists
Post is included in group: Short Sale Specialists & Pre-Foreclosure Education
Post is included in group: Short Sales and Forclosures ONLY
Post is included in group: Short Sale REALTORS®
Post is included in group: Sharing Information of Short Sales

30 Comments on CountryWide Short Sales- Mitigating The Damage Of Streamlining!

NOV

2008

Whoa! That's a lot of middlemen to get through. Talk about a bureaucracy!

Oh, the horror stories I could tell you. I just turned 40 and when I did short with CW I was at least 1p years younger. But. I had to take off all the anecdotes on my website. I actually talked with the president about one short sale. He wouldn't even begin to explain why they wouldn't take a PA for far over the appraised value. (I think it was right before he got his "golden parachute" and didn't want to jeopardize anything.) Having been purchased by BOA certainly didn't help. And, everything is being off-shored these days, so are we surprised? Not. Hang in there, this, too, shall pass. In the meantime, learn from the wise.

We have one file with Countrywide, and luckily we work with the attorney, and they are good, but it takes just incredible amount of time.

I just read today that four of our top local CW agents are switching banks, wonder what's up?........

There has been a long thread on this topic in REaltTalk lately...it is titled: "Countrywide, They lie, cheat and do everything to avoid a successful closing"

http://www.realtown.com/community/RealTalk/view/00DCFH

It sounds like things are still getting worse before they get better!

Persitance does pay off , but short sales can be trying.

NOV

2008

Inda?

Well that's convenient they can talk directly with Zillo! If they have computer problems, maybe the girl I tried to talk to today about my laptop can stop by and help.

It can't be any worse than here, Brenda and I ordered breakfast an McDonalds this morning, trace egg Mc Muffins, we kep saying three, that didn't work. We held up three fingers, she heldup one. We said trace, it worked. I handed over a $5 bill I didn't count my change.

Intresting article.

Bill

I just closed a short sale with Countrywide...started in March...and I have never dealt with such incompetency, starts and stops, changing of stories, LACK OF COMMUNICATION...AS IN COMMUNICATION ONLY FROM MY SIDE, inconsistency...and this list goes on and on. I am convinced that the only reason we finally closed was because I spent 10 days, for at least 2-4 hours a day (calling 5-8 times each day) talking to someone. If one person told me that they couldn't help me anymore, then I would call back, get the same department with a different person and start all over again. I really think it also got put together because through my contact at AR, I found the number of a short sale manager for Countrywide and called her. It truly was the most ridiculous way to conduct business that I have ever experienced! And now you tell me that they are going to India...it just keeps getting better!

Paula- We have closed a lot of short sales with CW. All of them have been hard but we know the VP of short sales and when we have had enough, we contact her and she gets the ball rolling again. Can't do it every time, cause it is like the boy who cried wolf. The only way short sales closes is by persistance on the listing agent side, like you said, call every day, talk to someone else, etc. Katerina

India has proved to be efficient in handling many outsourced businesses. However, the time difference is so large it is hard to handle this kind of department. It will be interesting to see how this pans out.

Oh for crying out loud. That's just crazy. Their idea to streamline the process is to turn it over to a non native-English speaking person to handle? Truly? The only thing I can say is they must sit in a room trying to think of ways to make short sales more difficult.

I have to tell you, when I am showing homes that are subject to a short sale I do some digging to see if CountryWide is involved.

The horror stories are too frequent and too many to ignore.

This isn't good news for me either. I depend on listing agents to be able to get my clients offers pushed through all the red tape that comes along with short sales. Just when you think you got it figured out, they change the rules!

Countrywide is the most difficult I have found to work with. yes, the case negotiators CONSTANTLY change and they don't transfer info - ALWAYS starting over. Extremely frustrating!

Katreina,I have several files with CW right now. So far it seems things are going well.But it's early. It is imperative that we call them constantly. They now have a recording that tells you "the file has been assigned and they will contact you in 30 days. Please do not call back during this time or you will cause delays" At the end of this message just start hitting "0" and you will get through.

I have one with them going on for 6 months and finally approved after we lost both buyers....we are now due to close with a lender approved price. The problem was when we kept calling asking why after two months of the BPO we still didn't get a call from the negotiator we were assigned...we found out after grilling those stuuuuuupid people in the loss mitigation department that the negotiator just got up and quit leaving everything behind......can you believe it? We lost 30 days because of their incompetence. Now they are moving to India? How in the world are they going to know whats going on here? What a joke...they really must be losing their minds...this is one of the reasons some short sales never make it. They just don't care.....now banks are offering some stupid way to modify a mortgage but you have to be pate at least 90 days...give me a break. I'm so tired of these lame excuses. We call them twice a week,

Interesting enough we have one with WAMU that changed over to JP Morgan yet it only took them 2 weeks to do everything and hopefully we will be closing soon.

Katerina, I just submitted a file yesterday and Monday to Wells Fargo, 100% complete package. Have you dealt with them before. I did it myself as I could not get any help from any of the short sale specialist that I have been dealing with. Put a sticker on every page and had every document. You say call 3 times a week, thanks!

We doomed!

Melody- I have not had the same experiences with outsourced calls to India. In fact, most of the time I have to tell them to transfer me to someone in America who can fix my problem. The people in outsourcing departments in India have a set of guidelines and they are very obedient to that. If my issue does not fit into their list, they start going down the list anyway, it is very frustrating.

Lenn- I hope we can get them to work this out. CW supervisors yesterday told us they had memos circulating about the issue of closing files for no reason, those files were not supposed to be sent to India.

Melody- I love to outsource certain projects to India, like help in developing an online software program, putting together a simple ebook with instructions, and things that are allowing the person I am outsourcing to, to use their brain and creativity. Such will not be the case for short sale processing. Can you imagine trying to explain to someone who lives in India about a subdivision here in Wellington called Olympia and why that neighborhood has more foreclosures? Based on my business experience, I don't see it happening as has already been shown in just a week of operating.

Missy- call and call even when they tell you not to call. Wells Fargo is worse than Countrywide. They will take 30 days just for the very first step! We constantly have to go up the food chain at WF to get any answers. This is how bad they rate, it goes like this, WAMU is the worst, second is WF and then CW. Stay on top. Also you have to find out who the note owner is. If you want me to have Dawn work on your file, let me know. She has contrats at Wells Fargo.

Bryant- Never stop calling no matter what they say, that is all bogus that it will take longer. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Period. We have closed a lot of transactions with CW with no problems until this week! We have 3 right now, they were going smoothly, all of sudden, yanked and now we have issues. We even had to file a complaint against a negotiator who had the BPO sitting on her desk since Oct 16 and never sent the deal out to the investor and now says it will be another 15 days, I DON'T THINK SO!

BTW- We have a VERY strong contract to purchase, effective and executed on the referral! Will tell you more later.

Neal- Chase is absolutely the best to work with, we love Chase short sales. Chase negotiators get paid a commission to close short sales so they work smarter and harder because there is something in it for them. The other one that we can closed fast is HSBC, although they are horrid with what they want and they always reduce ours. We just had one who said he was working on our CW file, told me that it was in their review board because we contested their BPO; he represented to me that he was the negotiator, and found out yesterday, he NEVER was our negotiator on this file!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He out and out lied to me!!!!!!!!!!

Katerina-I just closed one with them not too long ago and I found...I needed to follow up everyday...on top of that we had a title company who got in there..and we got it done. I think short sales are not for the faint of heart...and who knows..there is a chance..I might have one for you pretty soon! :) Either they get their loan modification or I'll be sending you a referral!

Lisa- I feel for you! :) You are a great buyers agent!

Leesa- I know what you mean. It has been getting worse, not better.

Kris- Find out where in the short sale stage they are at first. We have 2 CW files, already approved, just waiting for a buyer and we can close.

Jesse and Kathy- Actually, India is the second largest English speaking country in the world, we just can't understand them with the accent. But that is not what makes them inefficient, it is the fact that they can not relate to our situation.

William- Pretty sad commentary when people move to this country, they need to learn to speak English.

Pat- I will go and read the thread. Thanks for letting me know.

Sally- You wonder? Hmmm, what a pain in the rear this is becoming.

Jon- We are very good at what we do. Nestor is at the top of his game with getting things done with these lenders.

Sabinske- This is the way it goes these days, everyone passes the buck, no responsibility, but we get great results with going to the top.

Keisha- Definately is! They say they are streamlining processes only to make them worse, go figure.

Midora- Thanks! This is a tough niche we have found ourselves in but we still have not lost one yet and do close them every month. But when they change things on us, that is just not right. We don't give up, we sink our teeth in and don't let go until the answer is yes!

Nestor & Katerina - have you found that Chase is starting to cut the commission to 4% - I have agreed to such a reduction and it has definitely held up a file while we haggle over commission but one of my colleagues in Tampa has noticed the same thing from Chase - trying to pay just 4% commission.

My jaw is still on the ground when you say that you have SPOKEN to the negotiator at CW. I can't even get a conversation. It's like the "Wizard of OZ". They deserve to go belly up.

I agree with Ellie...I spoke with my negotiator a total of 5 times...and all but one was because HE called ME. I found out from one of the other operators (for lack of a better term) that he kept his headset on his desk rather than his head so he didn't hear the phone! Now there is a great communication habit!

I just attended a seminar for Short Sales & BPO with Countywide.

1) Find out whom the true note holder is.

2) 64% of the mortgages are held oversea............so expect at leat a 6 month settlement time!

3) Document, Document, Document, mail, certify mail with return receipt, fax, fax, fax, call, call, call,

4) Stock up on Tylenol, Advil, Aspirin and what ever pain killer you will need.

5) GOOD LUCK

NOV

2008

Julie- We teach Short Sale seminars and coach agents in short sales. Finding out who the note holder is, is one of the first things we find out. Most of the time the servicers will not give you that information so we have to have the homeowner find out. If they have already been served summons and complaint, then that will state who the note owner is because in the state of Florida only the note owner can bring the lawsuit against the homeowner. Also, the original note must be provided at the hearing.

We close short sales every month, every week. We have over 30 short sales just me and Nestor together. Most of these have offers on them are going through the process. We have been closing short sales since before 1995. I even did a couple back in the 80's. In all this time we have had only two that are taking longer than 4 months. One is Etrade and the other is Bank of New York. Neither of those are overseas. Those are the note owners. We have not found that 64% of our short sales are mortgages overseas. When we do get one that answers overseas we ask for the US phone number.

You are right, document everything. We use google docs to document everything. Nestor will rattle off the dates and times and who he spoke to.

We don't take any drugs over the counter or perscription drugs. I don't get headaches, never have. The advice they should have gave is to take walks and exersise. We also get massages and listen to soft music in our office. We work from home, hug our kids a lot and never work weekends. We use herbs and healthy foods to heal and to deal with stress.

Take care, Katerina

Leave a response…

Name:

Email:
(optional)

Comment:

What does the graphic say?