Hello!  I'm having trouble getting an answer to my question.  Basically, I am the buyer of a B of A short sale - 1 loan, don't know about MI.  We received the counter worksheet and accepted about 2 weeks ago.  The listing agent said to go ahead and proceed with my financing and appraisal, but I said I wanted to wait until I got written approval.  Well, now he is telling us that the negotiator has had to put our file on hold until I get my appraisal because if we let the "clock" keep ticking while I get my financing in order, too many days will have gone by and the Equator system will automatically close out the file.  I can't find any information about this and I'm beginning to suspect that the LA is just saying this to force me to proceed with the appraisal, etc.  Can anyone just tell me if Equator does indeed have time frames on how long a file can be open?  I don't think I'm getting the whole truth here.  

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In my area, the buyers do not start their loan process until they get written short sale approval and the seller agrees to the terms of the approval. The lien holder will typically give you 30 days, sometimes 45 days to go through your loan process. There have been some crazy situations where they give alot less time but I haven't had that happen. Good luck!

Thanks, Pam!  This is the answer I keep getting and it's consistent with everything I've read for the last 3 months.  The only conclusion I can come to is that I'm being misled.  I understand that he wants to help his clients sell a.s.a.p. but I think it's asking a lot for me to gamble money on appraisals and inspections without a written agreement.  But we are at a stalemate unless I do.

You need to call up the listing agent right now & say exactly this:  "I'm not going to order or pay for an appraisal or otherwise have my lender start processing my loan without receiving the written short sale approval letter from BofA."

"Get me that letter & I'm more than happy to proceed with my loan process & ordering of the appraisal".

The listing agent should forward your email & statement to his negotiator at BofA & say "Hey, the buyer is NOT going to proceed without getting a copy of the short sale approval letter, so send it over NOW"

If I were the listing agent, when you entered the transaction you would have been asked to have fully applied for your loan except for getting the appraisal (within days of agreement), to have gotten your inspection of the property and respond to it within ten business days and to have made your earnest money non-refundable for at least 75 days.

Yes, short sales do not always succeed.  But you have to be serious enough to commit yourself (and your earnest money) for a reasonable time period of time.  And if you are not willing to inspect a house, you are not really serious about buying.

Why would you expect the seller to use up valuable time (that might be moving him toward foreclosure) without your serious commitment? 

Why would you take yourself out of the market for a house that you did not know the repair situation on?  The short sale lender is going to make you as the buyer pay for any repair other than the most serious and property-disqualifying nature anyway.  You need to know where you stand.  And you all need to crank whatever repair concerns into the proposal to the lender early-on rather than post-approval where neither side will have time to maneuver if there are unexpected repair issues.

Any sale agreement is really only "a deal for another deal" when repair issues are resolved.  The short sale lender (negotiator) knows this to be true.  You can expect that over-burdened person to more seriously consider a file on which repairs have already been dealt with - over other files that are more uncertain.

But there is plenty of time for an appraisal at the end of the process.

Thanks, Jim!  I understand the listing agent's perspective.  They are investing a lot of time into this as well.  I did get an inspection, sign a loan application and provide all of my paperwork to my lender.  I just didn't understand why the file would be on hold until my appraisal is done.  I think I understand now that the listing agent was just trying to get me to have everything done so we could close if/when the letter comes.  You've been a big help!

I guess I'm trying to say that the LA should have asked for the appraisal up front if he is going to expect it prior to short sale approval.

If both agents have given good advice on price, the appraisal should not cause any heartburn or delay in the post-approval period.

Jennifer, BofA does have time sensitive tasks in equator but in this case, the listing agent seems to be trying to get you started a bit early.  You should have your lender ready to go but not order an appraisal until you have written notice that the short sale has been approved by Bank of America.  Nothing wrong with having all of your inspections complete but no need to order an appraisal yet.

Thanks, Jeff!  I suspected that he was just trying to push me to get the appraisal.  Hopefully our file is actually just "held" because we are waiting for investor approval.  I'll stop bugging you all now!  You've been such a help through this process! 

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