Hello everyone,
Here's my story in brief. I've had my eye on a short sale home that has been pending for last month or two, It was listed at 240k. A week ago it became active again with a price reduction at 228k. I contacted listing agent who informed me that previous buyer walked due to his own financial reasons. But the 228k price was approved by the bank. She told me she had approval letter in hand. So right away I came in with an offer 230k all cash no contingencies. Seller and their agent accepted my offer and submitted to the lender . So now listing is pending and bank gave 15 day deadline in which they will review and respond to me.
Now by doing some digging I discovered a few concerns. Yesterday I requested listing agent to send me copy of banks previous approval letter, she ended up sending me a conditional approval letter from the bank to the seller, just informing them that their home is eligible for a short sale. It had nothing to due with previous buyer and had no approved amount on it. I had my realtor call listing agent again and it turns out that bank never gave written approval for $228 or any amount. When we confronted her on why she said price was approved this is the answer she gave: "There was verbal confirmation with negotiator. Also the title company informed her that this was bottom line bank would accept." How logical are those answers?
So then I asked listing agent for the BPO or appraisal on home to see if we are anywhere even in the ball park of banks evaluation. Agent responded that an appraisal was done 30 days ago and is valid for another 60 days, but she does not have access to it and has no knowledge what it came in at. Is this true that a listing agent of short sale has no access or knowledge of BPO or appraisal amount?
I cant help but think this agent may just be leading me on with this fictional "approved price" just so it can go through to the bank and they can actually counter with an approved price and at that time it can be advertised at real "approved price."
So my two questions are:
1. Is it true short sale listing agent has no access or cannot get access to property's BPO or appraisal?
2. Is "verbal confirmation with bank" and "title companies information on Banks bottom line"... is that all just bull$%*@ ?
Any advice? Thanks so much for reading all this
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"The term pre approved short sale to me can be misleading which is why I never use say that. A short sale either is approved, has been approved in past, or isn't approved, circumstances are always changing and nothing is ever guaranteed. The closet thing to a pre approved short sale is an approval to participate per a "FHA short sale" as it tells you what they are looking to NET from the sale and It still isn't guaranteed to be approved."
100000% CORRECT.
Thanks so much for those answers. I'm learning as I go along in this deal. I am doing what I can to determine if this deal is at all likely to go through. Since the listing agent is giving unclear information I m very unsure of this property's status.
What recommendations would you have for me in order to determine if this home had been approved at this price? And also anything else I can ask the listing agent to get a clearer idea of the time frame of this deal?
I have asked if the loan is held by Fanniemea of FreddieMac. (In that case everything would take longer because it would have to be approved by them as well.) Listing agent said not according to her knowledge. As far as she knows it is just one lender (suntrust mortgage.)
What is the difference of a "FHA short sale" and normal short sale and how do I find out which I am involved in? Are FHA short sales better, meaning more sure to go through? Are they shorter approval periods?
Again I am learning as I go along in this transaction. I have attempted to purchase a few short sales in the past. 2 out of 3 of them fell through. And my realtor at that time never gave me any information when I asked only answer I got to my questions was "All you can go is wait." I am hoping to get more educated this time around. So thanks in advance for information you can provide.
Depends on the servicer and investor. Most transactions you can expect to not get a copy of the BPO or appraisal from the mortgage servicer. They may of been advised of what the value came in or the bottom line verbally from the assigned representative. That is as good as it gets at times if they don't correspond via written messages.
The term pre approved short sale to me can be misleading which is why I never use say that. A short sale either is approved, has been approved in past, or isn't approved, circumstances are always changing and nothing is ever guaranteed. The closet thing to a pre approved short sale is an approval to participate per a "FHA short sale" as it tells you what they are looking to NET from the sale and It still isn't guaranteed to be approved.
Brett@ishortsalenow.com
310-564-6389
www.ishortsalenow.com