Late last fall I was contacted by a woman who’d been surfing the web looking for a local short sale expert…when she came across info about my track record of success in the Atlanta area. We discussed her situation over the phone – 2 years after being laid off, she’d thrown her hands up and admitted she needed help and had to get rid of the burden of her home mortgage.
My only disappointment in the whole situation is that she hadn’t contacted me earlier, as she’d been pulling money out of her retirement fund to pay the mortgage for nearly a year…..something I NEVER want to see my clients have to do.
We immediately qualified her & got the listing process started. Her townhome community across from the Glenwood Park development in Glenwood Green, officially in Ormewood Park & close to East Atlanta Village, had been hit hard by declining values.
We initiated a strategic price reduction schedule to ensure the bank knew we were attempting to get top dollar, yet have the supporting documentation to show how the listing appointments correlated with different price points. I’d informed the seller I anticipated exactly where offers would be accepted based on comps & thresholds of loan value recovery from the bank, it was a matter of being methodically so the bank would be in agreement with taking a nearly 50% loss on this loan.
We had low-ball offers & half-hearted offers, yet when they saw our required special stipulations & offer instructions those parties either retracted their offers or my seller respectfully declined them as we knew those weren’t serious candidates to commit to the process or reach approval from the bank.
By the end of March, we’d received a solid offer at exactly where I anticipated would be the bottom of the threshold (the outstanding mortgage was roughly 230k…the offer came in at 125k with 3k seller cc’s & standard commission…the bank would net roughly 113k).
We supplied all necessary documentation, provided a detailed packet prior to the bank BPO (some would refer to this as to as the equivalent bank’s own internal appraisal of value), and then received Bank of America’s response.
They approved the purchase & sale agreement, except they wanted another 18k in the form of a promissory note from the seller…..so it was time for more fun negotiations –after being proactive & praising the negotiator for prompt responses, it was time to clearly convey that someone who’d been depleting their lifesavings for over a year & no employment options on the horizon would not be bringing a dime to the table – yet this short sale ensured they’d save thousands on processing a foreclosures with attorney fees, eviction, holding costs in queue for being brought to market, as well as potential damage/theft to a vacant property, etc.
B of A came back 2 weeks later with a full approval, no promissory note, and a full discharge. Thanks to clear lines of communication & setting the proper expectations, we were able to have the buyer’s side get their FHA loan completed within 3 weeks & closed this short sale just 3 days prior to the foreclosure auction date. From Contract to Close we got this short sale done in just over 2 months!
ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL ATLANTA SHORT SALE NEGOTIATION!!!!!!!
This was a win for the seller getting out from over 100k in additional debt and avoiding further damage to her credit score, a win for the buyer who got in below other distressed property transactions closing around us (plus he got upgrades throughout & a move-in ready, well-cared-for home), and definitely a win for the realtors as I was able to protect our full commission & add to our legacy of successful short sales in the Atlanta market and know that we’re helping people move forward from difficult chapters in their lives.
The keys to a successful short sale are knowing the types of loan(s) involved, master servicer(s) …what many refer to as the bank – (yet most banks don’t actually hold the loan, it’s held by an investor & they just service the debt collection), the systematic approach to presenting documentation for approval & demonstrating the values are in line with optimal market position. Having a great closing attorney office in your corner helps tremendously as well, as they prep & revise HUD-1’s quickly & run preliminary title so you don’t waste your time on a short sale file that has countless liens that will stop you from reaching the closing table. My attorney of choice for all of my short sale listings is Travis Lackey of McLain & Merritt in Buckhead. Oh….it also doesn’t hurt to be persistent & have open lines of communication with clear expectations J
So, if you or anyone you know is facing financial hardship and need assistance in avoiding foreclosure and negotiating a short sale in the Metro Atlanta Area, give Michael Neville a call (404)-310-8364 or drop an email (Mike@LiveInAtlantaGA.com ) .....let us do the heavy lifting, it’s our pleasure to relieve peoples’ burden & help stabilize our market in the process.
Michael Neville
Realtor, CDPE, Short Sale Expert
Keller Williams Realty Atlanta Midtown
404-310-8364
www.LiveInAtlantaGA.com (website)
http://activerain.com/blogs/mpneville (blog)
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