Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by ElizabethWeintraub00697006LyonRE on February 14, 2010 at 8:59am

Oh, I dunno, Dawn, can they get any worse than they already are?

Permalink Reply by David Dee on February 17, 2010 at 7:56pm

Chase Bank closing shortsales in 3 weeks?! Hmmm...that sounds too good to be true....

Permalink Reply by VIctor T. Gurrola on March 2, 2010 at 2:52pm

A short sale never stops being a regular Real estate transaction (with the exception of the blessing of the bank to accept less). The most the banks can do is give leads to specific organizations (Titanium) to have them follow up on delinquent mortgages, at the end of the day it’s the seller who makes the choice on how and what they do with their debit( just think about the liability that the banks would have).

Permalink Reply by Ben Benita on March 9, 2010 at 3:54pm

It is part of the new HAFA program coming out for Wells Fargo, they will be designating agents in larger cities to meet with homeowners that are 30 days late on payments......GREAT way to get listings!!!!!

Permalink Reply by Steele V. Propp on March 13, 2010 at 5:38am

So, Ben, is this the Wells Fargo response to HAFA as opposed to HAFA telling Wells Fargo to do this? I would think the former as HAFA only requires the property be listed by an agent, not how that agent is to be found/appointed. And as mentioned, the seller is ultimately the one doing the hiring.

I will say that designated agents will often have an advantage in that the lender is a big influence on the borrower. But it will be important to note that there could be a conflict of interest here. Afterall, the agent's duty is completely to the sellers. Not the lender. Hopefully agents won't forget who they work for.

Ben Benita said:

It is part of the new HAFA program coming out for Wells Fargo, they will be designating agents in larger cities to meet with homeowners that are 30 days late on payments......GREAT way to get listings!!!!!

Permalink Reply by ElizabethWeintraub00697006LyonRE on March 13, 2010 at 6:10am

So how do you become a designated agent? Whom do you contact?

Ben Benita said:

It is part of the new HAFA program coming out for Wells Fargo, they will be designating agents in larger cities to meet with homeowners that are 30 days late on payments......GREAT way to get listings!!!!!

Permalink Reply by Steele V. Propp on March 13, 2010 at 6:46am

We've gotten emails from several "organizations" claiming that they are being contracted with to refer these potential short sale out. One of the most recent was from www.foreclosure.com. Of course, you have to join their network and get their certification (CSSE or something to that affect). For a price.

Now, this has always been a legit organization and they may very well have something in place. Has anyone else more information?

Permalink Reply by Ben Benita on March 13, 2010 at 7:05am

Designated agent -- I am not an agent and not certain how to become one. I do know Wells has many portfolio loans, where THIER money is actually at risk....they are launching their own program in an effort to cut their owns losses.

HAFA -- that is a gov. program that Sellers must first qualify for. I do not like it b/c it requires Sellers to send in cash....my opinion, at least in this area, it makes NO financial sense (owners lose more money through this program versus not sending in any more money)

Organizations -- I know Indy Mac and others now have 3rd parties they contract their short sales out to.....thus far from what we have experienced, it is HORRIBLE. Many of these REQUIRE the Seller or Buyer to pay them 1% or more at closing and it has just made for an additiaonl step in the short sale process.

If by oganizations you are referring to 3rd parties that help agents and owners, that is what I do.....have been doing short sales for the past 4 years, worked with more than 400 owners across 17 states thus far....glad to thelp them.....

Permalink Reply by Steele V. Propp on March 13, 2010 at 7:30am

Could you explain how HAFA makes sellers send in cash? I don't remember reading about that but don't claim expertise on this program. Just the basics.

Ben Benita said:

HAFA -- that is a gov. program that Sellers must first qualify for. I do not like it b/c it requires Sellers to send in cash....my opinion, at least in this area, it makes NO financial sense (owners lose more money through this program versus not sending in any more money)

Permalink Reply by Steele V. Propp on March 13, 2010 at 7:35am

You also said:

Organizations -- I know Indy Mac and others now have 3rd parties they contract their short sales out to.....thus far from what we have experienced, it is HORRIBLE. Many of these REQUIRE the Seller or Buyer to pay them 1% or more at closing and it has just made for an additional step in the short sale process.

Of the third party referring programs I have seen so far, they do just what they do for REOs. The listing agent pays a referral. Typical program split has been a total 6% commission with 3% to buyer agent, 2% to listing agent and 1% to third party referring the listing. A variation on this is a straight percentage of the listing side that works out to about the same (30-35% of a 3% commission).

Haven't seen anyone suggesting that buyers or sellers pay this. At least not yet.

Permalink Reply by Ben Benita on March 13, 2010 at 11:02am

Homeowner payments - -I know owners MUST first "qualify" for the HAMP program before being eligible for HAFA. I was on the big conference call for this about a month ago and, as part of HAFA, the home MUST be listed for AT LEAST 120 days, during which time the owner MUST MAKE SOME TYPE OF MORTAAGE PAYMENT, NOT TO EXCED 31% OF THE SELLER'S GROSS MONTHLY INCOME......so, around here (Washington DC area, most mortgage payments are $2k - $4k....doing simple math, if an owner is FORCED to pay even $2k per month for 120 days (4 months) that is $8000!!!!.....

HUH??? How could any agent, OR ANYONE DOING SHORT SALES, actually recommend this to a client as being a good idea? We have done short sales where owners have had 6 to 12 months of NO PAYMENTS.....I have a neighbor in my community, he is roughly $300k upside down and tried a loan mod. but was not eligible, just stop making payments. They bought a new car and have taken 2 GREAT family vacations during the past 7 to 9 months (believe they stopped paying in July/Aug. of 2009). They have a friend in the community that will be renting them his house once their home goes to foreclosure.....
My 2 cents....why not???? Credit is WAY WAY WAY over-rated and VERY EASILY REPAIRED!!!! Though I know agents are not "allowed" to tell an owner to quit paying, if you are upside down and using retirement or savings to pay your mortgage, you might as well just make your check out to FICO or Experian as the only beneift you are getting is that it will maintain your credit. I tell homeowners you are better off sending the cash to a charity if you have it to burn, AT LEAST THEY WILL THANK YOU FOR IT!!!!


Steele V. Propp said:

Could you explain how HAFA makes sellers send in cash? I don't remember reading about that but don't claim expertise on this program. Just the basics.

Ben Benita said:

HAFA -- that is a gov. program that Sellers must first qualify for. I do not like it b/c it requires Sellers to send in cash....my opinion, at least in this area, it makes NO financial sense (owners lose more money through this program versus not sending in any more money)

Permalink Reply by Ben Benita on March 13, 2010 at 11:08am

The third party payment is for short sales. If you submit a short sale package on behalf of a client to Indy Mac/One West for example, I know they will have a third party they use for negotiations contact you.

In their response, this third party will tell you that YOU OR YOUR CLIENT OR THE BUYER MUST PAY THEM 1%!!!! COMPLETE BULL______ in my opinion, but, we have had VERY minimal success getting around this (though we have not pushed the issue as of yet, I cna PROMISE you if/when we do, heads WILL ROLL!!!!)

To mitigagte this 1% cost and give everyone a "warm and fuzzy feeling", we just tell the Buyer to sumbit his offer for AT LEAST 1% less than what he/she is willing to pay....makes it a "wash" in the end.


Steele V. Propp said:

You also said:

Organizations -- I know Indy Mac and others now have 3rd parties they contract their short sales out to.....thus far from what we have experienced, it is HORRIBLE. Many of these REQUIRE the Seller or Buyer to pay them 1% or more at closing and it has just made for an additional step in the short sale process.

Of the third party referring programs I have seen so far, they do just what they do for REOs. The listing agent pays a referral. Typical program split has been a total 6% commission with 3% to buyer agent, 2% to listing agent and 1% to third party referring the listing. A variation on this is a straight percentage of the listing side that works out to about the same (30-35% of a 3% commission).

Haven't seen anyone suggesting that buyers or sellers pay this. At least not yet.

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