Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by joe beauchamp on May 2, 2012 at 7:54am

These forms/financials are supposed to show what is real, not what is supposed to be real.  Sellers are often confused on this point and put in things like the mortgage payment that they are NOT making, what they SHOULD be paying for condo fee, etc.  This probably also puts a bad light on the seller because the bank KNOWS a lot about what really is being paid and banks assume everyone is a crook except another banker.

You want each seller to reflect the financial situation for that seller. If he pays $80/mo on something and she pays $60/mo then his form should show $80 and hers $60 - regardless of what the court says or what should be paid - what is REALLY paid.  Maybe $1500/mo is what really should be paid, you know?

Stick with reality, it's simpler to understand and write down (except that some of these forms ask for gross income and the nimrod negotiators treat it like net - I don't correct sellers who put in net.  If they put in gross, I ask them about deductions and make sure I have them in expenses (RMA, I always have a spreadsheet attached for "other" in expenses). Also, these forms often ignore liabilities - they just want you to put down assets.  The forms often make dead-broke people look like they have a cushion incorrectly. Did you notice that there is no spot for the $30K of credit card debt? How about the 4 yrs of $300/mo car payments due? I add those.

Permalink Reply by Tammy Davis on May 2, 2012 at 8:12am

Thanks for you input Joe...I have filled out (or helped sellers fill out) a ton of these and do the exact things you mentioned.

In this case where the sellers are divorced, it's trickier. And the bank representative came right out and said she didn't know the answer to my question.

But we already completed it and submitted it. I had each of them complete their form to show that they cannot pay the mortgage payment and housing expenses on their own. Each of them have already moved on to new households and they cannot afford to keep this property.

We'll see what happens.

Thanks again for responding...it's always great to  bounce things off each other, since we are all in the trenches!