Your Personal Short Sale Experiences

If it sounds too good to be true it usually is!! 

Anna, I've dealth with the Citi Recovery Dept too.  They are not fun.  It when a homeowner gets to a certain point in being behind on their mortgage.  If you're in the middle of a short sale, usually loss mit will tell you that its going to recovery in X amount of days.  Usually the seller can make a nominal payment to keep the file from going into recovery which is a good thing.  I was told that the recovery dept is like a collection agency.  I'm sure they get paid on how much they get from the short sale.  The biggest trick is getting the First Lienholder to understand and cooperate.  Many times if the first has an investor they can only go by the investor guidelines and then that's when the short sale falls apart. Too bad.  I hope it works out for you!! 

Andrea, those are great ideas but don't forget that the first lienholder has to approve the HUD and if they see that the second lienholder is getting more than the $3K they can get, they won't approve the sale. 

Anna, its hard not to take short sales personally, but you have to look at it from the business perspective too.  It a loan is going to a "recovery" department it is because the homeowner has not paid their mortgage for a very long time and they are refusing to make some sort of payment to keep that from happening.  In business its all about risks and payoffs.  By saying they are making a "power play" you are feeding into the emotionalism that this is something personal.  And as an agent, you put yourself up for a lot of heart ache and head aches!!  You have to be the professional and not get caught up in the emotion. 

Ann, even if this one doesn't work out, I'm sure you are going to do GREAT working short sales because you do sound TENACIOUS!!  Go get 'em Tiger!!

George, I am really sorry to hear that the listing agent "forgot" to submit the offer.  That's a little scarey.  The agent is responsible for staying on top of the process unless they are having someone else handle the negotiation.  That's a red flag in itself. 

Hopefully you love the property and then the agents do their job. Maybe you could request an email in writing from the listing agent that your agent could forward to you with a weekly update at the very minimum.  I do that for all my offers and even back up offers too.  Its important for all sides to communicate throughout the whole process.  If the buyer finds another property, its only fair to let the listing agent know right away. 

You may want to ask your agent if they know whether or not the listing agent is presenting other offers to the bank? That's a question I ask to prequalify whether or not I even show a listing.  If the listing agent is treating the short sale like an auction they are working for the bank and their own personal interests not the seller and buyer.  Honestly I feel those deals are a waste of time. 

I wish you luck in your home search.  Its a very competitive market right now and if you have a June 1 deadline its going to be important you are working with a professional who can get the job done for you.   

Ryan, I would suggest making sure your agent requests a copy of the executed purchase agreement signed by the sellers for starters. 

If I was your agent I would have some sort of verbage in it that the property was not being "Actively" marketed.  The listing agent could put it into Backup or Contingent but with a guarantee that your offer was the only one being presented to the bank at the time. 

There are other things you can do to make an offer strong when you write it.  If you have a good agent they would know these things. 

I wish you luck with you offer!

Dear Jane, I can tell you that personally I would not want to deal with three lienholders on a short sale.  That is very difficult to say the least. 

I don't understand what the negotiator is saying about wearing out your welcome. Calling and emailing for updates on a regular basis is just a normal part of doing that job.  Usually you can find out general timeframes to expect for each step.  I do say that with the caveat that this can and will and does change without notice without reason.  Because there are so many outside variables involved it is very difficult to predict when an approval will come in. 

My personal advise to you is this: it seems you really like this property for one reason or another.  If you are so close to finding an answer, how hard is it to wait until you know rather than quitting at this point.  Of course I probably would have advised you not to offer on a property that had three liens on it in the first place though but that situation has already come to pass. 

I wish you luck on your process.  It pays to work with an agent who knows the right questions to ask before even going to look at the property and creating this whole emotional and time consuming process to begin. 

Chad, yep, its possible your bank could demand this.  10% does seem steep but each lender and situation is different.  I would say that this increased demand is not your responsibility.  If the buyer wants the house, they or the buyer's lender need to come up with the money if another extension is requested.  Honestly, you are lucky that the lender has extended the short sale approval three or possibly four times.  A lot of banks are trending to proceed through foreclosure if the short sale does not close on time the first go around.  I hope your buyer is qualified!!  I would have your agent request to have the buyer cross qualified with a lender of their choosing before wasting any more time.  This deal may not even go through on the fourth time around!  Best of luck to you Chad!! 

If the loan was approved with the mother and then their trying to "jack you around" then I'd say see ya.  Buh bye, and thanks for wasting our time.  That's a bunch of monkey business. 

Chad, $550 is still a lot of money.  How is your transaction going today?  I'm hoping the best for all involved!