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Failed Bank of America Loan Modifications are Short Sales in Disguise

By
Real Estate Agent with Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker DRE #00697006

I was reading a client response letter this morning. My former client wrote, "Elizabeth was excellent and made our short sale process so much better than it could have been. We have heard horror stories . . . " And it made me wonder how does she really know how awful it could have been? I try not to focus on the negative crap in a short sale. I don't always share with a seller every little horrid thing that happens either because I try to spare feelings. But the truth of it is short sales are not always a pleasant experience. When things take a left turn, it's often the messenger who is left dodging bullets.

Diplomacy will only take an agent so far, though. Sometimes, you've just gotta lay it on the line and tell it like it is. Not everybody likes that approach. Not everybody wants to take responsibility for their own actions, either, and it's often easier to point fingers and try to reflect blame, rather than looking at the real culprit. People create so much of their own misery. But one can't tell clients that because they don't want to hear it and it doesn't change a single thing.

What they do need to hear is if you think your bank was terrible when you tried to do a loan modification, the attitude is slightly different in a short sale. And the response time is faster. Take Bank of America, for example. I have clients describe in excruciating detail what they would like to do to Bank of America. It's not pretty. It makes me wonder why I don't see more dried-up eggs splattered on Bank of America signs around Sacramento.

But if Bank of America rejected your loan modification, it will most likely do a short sale. That's the unvarnished truth. A Bank of America short sale is so much easier than a loan modification and more likely to succeed. The bank wants you to get rid of the property. It wants you to dump that house so badly it might even pay you to do it. That's how much Bank of America wants to erase its underwater inventory from the balance sheets.

So, don't make the mistake of thinking that just because your loan mod was denied that you can't do a short sale because it's not true. In fact, a loan mod rejection increases your chances of success with Bank of America. Come see a different side of Bank of America. Talk to this Sacramento short sale agent who closes a lot of Bank of America short sales. There are many different types of Bank of America short sales. Maybe one of those short sales is right for you?

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Elizabeth Weintraub is co-partner of Weintraub & Wallace Team of Top Producing Realtors, an author, home buying expert at The Balance, a Land Park resident, and a veteran real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown, Carmichael and East Sacramento, as well as tract homes in Elk Grove, Natomas, Roseville and Lincoln. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put our combined 80 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at RE/MAX Gold. DRE License # 00697006.

Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of RE/MAX Gold. Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice; it could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.

Comments(10)

Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Greater Sacramento Realtor - Retired

You make a good point, while some homeowners are trying to do a loan modification with their bank, they sometimes learn that the bank has been double tracking them with foreclosure at the same time.  As you say, a bank may be willing to do a short-sale however.  Unless they simply put the home on an additional track to places unknown!

May 29, 2012 11:35 PM
Ron Chastain
Keller Williams Realty Atlanta Partners - Mc Donough, GA
What ever it takes

This is a very good point. Thanks for sharing!

May 29, 2012 11:47 PM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Hi Myrl: Yeah, the worst mistake I've seen Bank of America make is foreclose after a short sale seller, who was current on her mortage, closed a short sale. Totally messed up the seller's credit report. And she was in school relying on student loans to help her through. The bank foreclosed because payments had stopped. It didn't realize it had been paid off.

May 30, 2012 12:07 AM
Linda K. Mayer
License # 01767321 - La Verne, CA
Realtor, SRES, SoCAL, A REALTOR YOU CAN TRUST

When things take a left turn, it's often the messenger who is left dodging bullets. Goodness, you really hit the nail on the head.  Sometimes it's hard to know what that fine line is when things are rough going, though.  How do you know when to tell details and when to hold back?  I always feel like I'm not being truthful.

May 30, 2012 05:53 AM
Chris Ann Cleland
Long and Foster Real Estate - Gainesville, VA
Associate Broker, Bristow, VA

I've had the same experience as you.  Loan mod denied in a long, drawn out process.  Short Sale approved in much more timely manner.

May 30, 2012 08:29 AM
Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Greater Sacramento Realtor - Retired

Good lord, they foreclosed on a house which had been paid off!  Now that is absolutely frightening!

May 30, 2012 09:12 AM
Melissa Zavala
Broadpoint Properties - Escondido, CA
Broker, Escondido Real Estate, San Diego County

Maybe you do not see lots of eggs on signs because nobody can afford eggs anymore. A dozen was like 4.00 at Jimbo's (our organic grovery).

May 30, 2012 09:42 AM
Pacita Dimacali
Alain Pinel - Oakland, CA
Alameda/Contra Costa Counties CA

Elizabeth,

I have yet to meet someone who did a loan modification think they did the right thing after they discovered the modification is only a temporary adjustment. Nobody reads the fine print!

May 30, 2012 04:05 PM
James Dray
Fathom Realty - Bentonville, AR

Good morning Elizabeth to make it short they just don't make em like you anymore and what a pity.  Shoot straight and from the hip with a boat load of knowledge.  Gotta love it. 

May 30, 2012 07:22 PM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Hey Linda: I tend to hold back if it serves no purpose to deliver, and if I am not legally required to deliver, I might not, especially if it involves making a seller feel bad. There is often no need to deliver every bit of rotten news. But I do update the important stuff online so anybody who wants to can read what's going on in any given short sale. No personal data; I think before my fingers hit the keys.

Hi Chris Ann: Yes, a failed loan mod is almost always a sign of an approved short sale on the horizon.

You know me, Myrl, always another horror story in short-sale land.

Holy cow, Melissa, that's 33 cents an egg, more than a buck for an omelet.

Yeah, Pacita, that's the thing with a loan mod, they still owe all of that money, and it can take 15 to 20 years for the property to appreciate enough to not be underwater anymore. They'd be better off financially to short sale, buy something else in 2 years and cut their debt in half.

Hi James: Not everybody appreciates a person who shoots straight from the hip. Especially if it's news they don't want to hear. They don't like reality in the face.

May 31, 2012 03:06 AM