Brian Buffini Cinemeeting sponsored by First Mortgage/ Wells Fargo in NW Ohio community of Maumee OH ...

If you weren’t there you really did miss a great program with Brian and probably one of the best explanations as to the short sale process and why it takes so *&^&%&## long!!

Basically, they said there are many ingredients in the mix (parties to the mortgage) that have to agree to the final short sale price. Typically the mortgage lender you are speaking with is only servicing the loan by contract, because over 80% of the loans are owned by Fannie, Freddie, or private investors who have to be contacted for their approval.

In addition, the PMI or MIP companies have to approve any loss and finally if there are any junior mortgages, seconds or home equity lines, their approval is needed too!

Most of all, it seems one of the biggest hang ups is with the seller providing timely and complete documentation for all these parties to see. Makes a LITTLE more sense now why it takes sooooooo long, at least to me!

(The above is one broker's perspective recently, but I don't know if I necessarily agree with the comment about "one of the biggest hang ups is with the seller providing timely and complete documentation". Yes, many sellers dig their heads in the sand, hoping it will all just go away, but my experience has been that more often than not, the seller DOES submit the required documents, but the LENDER LOSES some of that documentation!

A good rule of thumb is to always, ALWAYS reference the loan# on every single page of documentation.

The fax numbers that agents are told to submit docs to is oftentimes a communal number and a communal area where they are received. Without the loan# on every page, it is highly likely that someone will grab the wrong papers or mix them up, or, or, or ...

If THEY can't be organized, at least WE CAN!!