Comments on: Short Sales Are "Fake Listings." Only 5% Close!

By: Short Sale Predictor: Look for 2 Green Stars | FranklyRealty.com Trust Me I'm A REALTOR

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 05:50:15 +0000

[...] written a lot about Virginia short sales (don’t miss the older “SS 101” post) and a year and a half ago came up with the 1st MLS search that would scrub short sales [...]

By: FranklyRealty.com

FranklyRealty.com — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:56:49 +0000

If you have something in writing that indicates that the Listing Agent said Citibank approved it, when in fact they didn’t, then have the difference come out of the listing agent’s commission. Or find a way for the seller to cough up the money. Otherwise they face foreclosure.
Also try contacting their broker.
Just keep in mind, that this is typical for Short Sales. You are being compensated for buying the property for $30,000 under market. Consider that your consolation for the hassle.
Good luck

By: Jerry

Jerry — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:39:43 +0000

I’m going through a short sale process, initiated the bid on the property as right at the listing price inorder to avoid the back and forth with the mortage companies. I thought I did all my homework and obtained financing upfront, so my only issue was obtaining the sellers mortgage companies to agree to the price. Well after 3 months, the sellers agent said that “Bank of America gave their approval and that the 2nd mortgage – Citibank was on board to receive only 3K”. When this was conveyed to my realtor she informed me that we were good to go. Now we are suppose to close in 2 wks and I am informed today that the sellers realtor never obtained Citibanks approval of the sale. So here I am, already gave notice to be out of my residence by the end of the month, have a uhaul rented for next weekend, have family coming in from out of town to help move, scheduled vacation days to take off from work. And all I got from the realtor was if I can’t come up with the difference then the deal is off. Isn’t the sellers agent responsible to truthfully represent if she had approval and not wing in in the hope of obtaining approval? Any advice from the experts on what my next step should be? Thanks, Jerry

By: john

john — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:44:23 +0000

1 in 20? Yikes? I would say if an agent knows what they are doing, 60% will close. 5% is a joke. There are 3 primary problems short sales. 1) The real estate agent. This person barely passed the state exam. However, they did a good enough listing presentation or they are personal friend of the distressed home owner to get the assignment. 2) The lenders first line of defense. This person was probably working at McDonalds or Wal Mart last week and probably coudnt even fill out ther W9 right. 3) The second lien or Mortgage Insurance company. I am not even going to comment…

The head of the Defaut Division w/ Freddie Mac personally told me that “Short Sales are low hanging fruit.”

Short sales are not hard, they are just a lot of work and they need to be negotiated by someone who has an education level greater than the 8th grade… It is all about the listing agent and their ability to be agressive but curtious and be able to sell all parties involved.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:23:18 +0000

I really appreciate this post my husband and I should have looked at this article back in April. Apparently 7 months ago we put in an offer for a short sale in Centreville,VA and we’re still waiting on approval. It is very frustrating because our agent says the person who is selling the house is still missing documents. He used to rent the house to three college kids i know because when i went to see it I could just tell and he is Korean so I’m not sure he knows what he needs. The house is owned by Freddie mac and Chase and we honestly want to pull the offer but I’m not sure if its a good idea considering we been waiting forever and hope to qualify for the $8,000 tax credit although it doesn’t seem to be going towards us getting that much needed money. Our agent also knows zero about short sales she only deals with foreclosures so she is as lost as we are not very firm. Another downside to this is foreclosures in the areas we want to live in are slim to none. Please if anyone can give us advice we’d appreciate it!

By: Charman and Associates

Charman and Associates — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:48:42 +0000

Short Sale listings are closing right and left if you are able to provide the Lender with the appropriate information in a concise Short Sale Package. If often helps to have a working relationship with a Negotiator (preferably Stage 2 or higher) to be able to expedite your files through the Lender’s approval process.
It is all about getting the Lender the appropriate information early in the process to avoid a long drawn out transaction. If your Short Sale package is missing docs then it is literally put on the bottom of the pile, and wont get out from the bottom for a very long time.

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:56:24 +0000

The whole thing just feels dirty! I tried for a year to short sale my home with a realtor and a professional short sale company. I thought I had everything covered and was well represented. We got 3 deals to the table, met all bank requirements (they even squeezed me for an extra $13K that we didn’t have) and everytime they just got too busy to deal with processing the sale!! I wish I had thought to try a bribe. We have lost everything and now have more credit card debt than we can ever pay back just trying to hang on. The banks aren’t really interested in closing a short sale. They threw up every road block – which we fully, accurately and on-time completed. We had verbal approvals, written agreements and could never get them to come through!

We actually had a deal on the table and they foreclosed on the house. They even foreclosed on the house without any notice to us or anyone representing us. We were shocked to hear that the house was already gone.

Bottom line….the banks don’t care and they are certainly not going to help you!!

By: donna hartman

donna hartman — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 21:19:35 +0000

We have been waiting 6 months for bank to reply. But we were told we could move in rent free until bank got around to us. Who do I need to send the gift cards to? We are not trying to get a deal or a steal. We just like the house and its setting very much.

By: Avery Piantedosi

Avery Piantedosi — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:38:39 +0000

I am a realtor in Michigan. I have been doing short sales for 7 years but only recently (within the past year and a half) started specializing in them due to the overwhelming need in the Detroit Metro Area.

Although there are pitfalls in doing short sales and they are labor intensive, I have a 99% success rate in getting them done. I have only had one short sale I was not able to close this year and that is becuase there was a third party contractor lien on the home that the bank wouldn’t pay, and the owners wouldn’t either.

The trick for me is getting an offer and treating it like any other deal: seller signs the contract and the house goes ‘pending’. I educate the buyers agent that it could take 2-4 months (this is my average, some lenders are quicker) and as long as I communicate with the buyers agent on a regular basis, things run pretty smoothly.

So, I don’t agree that short sales are ‘fake’ listings. In fact, in our market, if you don’t list short sales, you are missing out on a hug portion of the business out there!

By: FranklyRealty.com Trust Me I’m A REALTOR » My Quote in Washington Post Elaborated: Pitfalls of Mortgage Cancellation Tax Relief Act, H.R.3648

Sun, 31 May 2009 04:35:18 +0000

[...] yesterday. For instance, under one congressional proposal, there would also be a break for “short sales“ — that is, when owners sell a home for less than is owed on the mortgage and the [...]