Sayonara Short Sale!
We waited patiently for you. We never wanted to say goodbye. Okay, maybe the wait wasn't entirely patient. It got tougher and tougher to stay patient as the weeks and months rolled by.
But when we first visited the short sale home, the driveway was covered in ice, and it was uphill. We crunched through the frozen grass to keep from needing a 911 call. The insides were still filled with the owner's stuff, and there was no foreclosure sale yet scheduled.
We'd been looking for homes for awhile, even offered on a couple. But the $80k and less price point for a VA buyer is pretty tight. Tough to find in decent condition and with enough size to suit our buyers' needs. But this home, a decent sized fenced back yard backing to greenspace, and enough space inside to let the family grow.
So the offer was written, even knowing short sales could be a bit slow. The listing agent promised a response within 90 days (and we knew that MIGHT be optimistic).
We didn't put all our eggs in one basket because we knew the short sale might be iffy. Right at the top end of our buyers' bracket and what if the bank countered back higher than they could go?
And the listing agent provided occasional reassurance...we're progressing, but it's always slow at this stage! He had everything he needed from us, just wait.
And wait we did, but continuing to look. Then the seller's Facebook page showed a move to Missouri. Great, now the house is sitting vacant. Well at least it's not winter and the pipes aren't at risk of freezing.
Continuing reassurances that the bank is ordering a BPO, we should hear back any week now. Repeat reassurances the following week...and the following.
We keep looking, but still nothing trumps this house.
Then the stomach drop. The foreclosure sale is scheduled for July 17th. Listing agent SWEARS it won't happen. The bank (CitiMortgage for what it's worth) has our offer and will stop the foreclosure. We call the foreclosure attorneys and get told they don't do anything about the offer, their job is to execute the foreclosure.
We're still hopeful the bank will come through with a counter at the last minute.
Didn't happen.
Sold at sheriff's auction right on schedule. We called the sheriff's office and got confirmation.
Listing agent is back to "WAIT, that wasn't supposed to happen! Let me get in touch with bank!" He states the bank is reversing the foreclosure and a counter should be coming "any day now!".
Another week goes by, then another. Requests for updates are ignored, or given with the "haven't heard anything yet, but they're working on it!".
And we keep looking for something better. And we found something. Maybe not better (it's smaller both inside and out), but it meets their needs, so the offer is in.
And the short sale? Talked to the listing agent before submitting the offer on the other home "Yeah.... I don't think this is going to work out." You think???? (especially since the foreclosure formally recorded September 5th). This may be the first completely accurate statement we've heard from him. And maybe things happened beyond his control, we'll never know. All we do know is words and actions didn't match up. His name goes into the book of "Agents We Don't Forget". We REALLY wish it had ended differently.
So 8 months later, we say sayonara to the short sale and hope the newest offer is the one that gets them a home. By the way, it's NOT a short sale.
And we'll continue to laugh about the word "short" in short sale.
Serving Warren County's residential real estate needs,
Liz and Bill aka BLiz
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