Most Sacramento short sale agents have worked on a Bank of America short sale at some point in their career. They know the challenges this type of short sale presents. In fact, some agents I know refuse to even list a property that involves Bank of America. There are different problems if the loan was originated by Countrywide and other nasty surprises in store if Bank of America holds the second loan.
I have heard that Bank of America is reorganizing its procedures for handling short sales. A short sale agent told me last week that Bank of America is no longer accepting intakes on short sales while it transfers the processing to REO Trans. That could be true because my last handful of Bank of America short sales have not been acknowledged by the bank.
I have also noticed that a couple of short sale agents in Sacramento have begun inserting special notes in the confidential agent remarks section that identify the short sale bank. I do that when it's Wachovia or some other bank that has its act together to let agents know that we can most likely quickly close. But to put Bank of America into the remarks section is like hanging garlic around your neck and sticking a wooden cross in the buyer's agent's face.
Yesterday, I showed homes in South Land Park and found one of these Bank of America short sales. It pained me to have tell the buyer that it was very unlikely that this particular short sale would close by November 30th. If you're looking at short sales in Sacramento right now with the hope that you'll be able to claim the first-time home buyer tax credit -- which requires closing by November 30th -- you might want to think twice before writing an offer on that Bank of America short sale.
Photo: Elizabeth Weintraub
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