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According to a recent report by California based RealtyTrac, distressed properties accounted for one third of all US housing sales in the second quarter of 2011. The glut of inventory is only going to increase as lenders slowly bounce back from the robosigning crisis and foreclosure filings begin to pick up around the country. A large portion of distressed sales are undoubtedly pre-foreclosure sales, or short sales. If you are a real estate professional, odds are that you worked on a short sale transaction in 2011. For those real estate agents who are yet to work on a short sale, you can no longer afford to ignore this segment of the housing market. If you are refusing to work on short sales, you are ignoring nearly 1/3 of your potential earnings. What makes these transactions so difficult is that every short sale is unique. The housing market is not getting better anytime soon, and short sales will likely account for a large portion of all housing sales in the next few years.  Below are five things a listing agent should do on all Massachusetts short sales in order to ensure a successful transaction.

1. Ask The Homeowner Specific Questions Prior To Accepting The Listing

Contrary to popular opinion, a homeowner does not automatically qualify for a short sale just because the amount they owe on their mortgage is greater than fair market value of their home. All short sale lenders require a financial hardship, yet very few listing agents ask the homeowner why they are requesting a short sale. As a listing agent, it is imperative that you first determine whether the homeowner qualifies for a short sale. Once you determine that your seller is a qualified short sale candidate, it is equally important to inquire as to the status of the foreclosure process. Most lenders no longer require homeowners to be delinquent on their mortgage in order to initiate a short sale, but the last thing you want to do is spend time working on the transaction if the foreclosure auction is imminent. A large percentage of all short sales that fail get denied because the seller is unable to postpone the foreclosure auction. Short sales are complex transactions that can be very frustrating for inexperienced real estate agents, but taking the initial steps of asking why the seller is pursuing a short sale, as well as making sure that a foreclosure auction isn't scheduled, will greatly increase your chances of closing the deal.

2. Ascertain The Amount and Identity Of All Lien Holders

The listing agent should always ask the seller how many loans are on the property. You must obtain short sale approval from each lien holder. Thus, the more lien holders, the more complex the short sale transaction. Furthermore, the primary lien holders must agree, or at least approve, all payoff amounts to subsequent lien holders. Keep in mind that all lien holders need to approve the short sale, not just the lenders, so it is important to inquire as to any potential tax liens, unpaid condominium fees and any other debts the homeowner may have that could prevent you from obtaining short sale approval. It is equally important to identify the lenders from whom you will be requesting a short sale. All lenders have specific short sale procedures. Some lenders can process a short sale request in as little as 30 days, while others can take months to respond. Thus, by identifying the lien holder, a listing agent can take a lot of the guesswork out of a short sale transaction by simply ascertaining the identity and amount of lien holders.

3. Submit A Complete Short Sale Package

One of the biggest mistakes a listing agent can make is submitting an incomplete short sale package to the lender. Lenders receive hundreds of short sale requests every day. Upon submitting a complete package to the lender, the file is immediately assigned to a short sale negotiator. The sooner your file is with a negotiator, the faster he or she will schedule the lender's appraisal. In contrast, if you submit an incomplete short sale package to the lender, your short sale is dead in the water. At that point, the only way to get someone to work on your file is to get a customer service representative to grant a review of the previously submitted documents. By the time that happens, most of the homeowner's financial documents will have expired and you will be asked to re-submit those items. Most lenders can process a complete short sale package in the first 30-45 days, but the clock doesn't start ticking until they receive a complete short sale package. If you make the mistake of submitting an incomplete short sale package, you make the short sale process infinitely harder than it needs to be.

4. Attend The Lender's Appraisal

One of the most common short sale misconceptions is the belief that the lender calculates the potential loss as the total amount owed on the mortgage minus the short sale offer price. Instead, when you apply for a short sale, the lender is making the determination as to whether a short sale or foreclosure will result in a greater loss to the investor. In order to make this conclusion, the lender sends a representative, usually a local real estate agent, to come up with a fair market value of the property. Once the fair market value is assigned to the property, the lender uses this figure as the amount they expect to recoup if they sell the property at foreclosure. Consequently, if the short sale offer price is at least within the ballpark of the lender's appraised value, the lender will approve the short sale because they can recoup the same amount of money without having to incur additional legal and carrying costs associated with a foreclosure.  In other words, the entire short sale transaction hinges on the result of an independent third-party property valuation conducted by a local real estate agent on behalf of the lender. As a result, the listing agent can greatly improve the likelihood of getting their short sale approved simply by attending the appraisal and presenting the lender's representative with current market data and property condition issues that substantiate the current offer price.

5. Manage The Buyer's Expectations

Aside from a foreclosure auction, the most common reason that a Massachusetts short sale fails is due to the buyer walking away from the transaction prior to obtaining short sale approval. While there are some steps the listing agent can take to prevent the buyer from walking away, the most effective method to keep a buyer a party to the transaction is through constant communication and managing the buyer's expectations. As long as you are familiar with the lender's short sale process and you submit a complete short sale package, you should be able to provide the buyer's agent with an accurate estimate of how long the short sale approval should take at the outset of the transaction. This way, the buyer does not have unrealistic expectations and they are more likely to remain a party to the transaction, even when unforeseen events occur. As a short sale negotiator, there is nothing more frustrating than working on a file for 30-45 days only to have the buyer walk away days before obtaining short sale approval.

Related Posts:

Five Things To Avoid When Writing Your Short Sale Hardship Letter

How Does A Short Sale Affect Your Credit Score?

Short Sale Tax Consequences: Understanding The Qualified Principal Residence Exception

About the Author: Greater Boston Short Sales, LLC (GBSS) is Massachusetts’ leading short sale negotiator. GBSS assists buyers, sellers, real estate agents and attorneys with getting their short sales closed. Contact us today at(617) 264-0376 if you are a homeowner facing foreclosure or a Realtor seeking assistance with a Massachusetts short sale transaction. GBSS is a MARS provider. Please read our disclaimer HERE.

I have an approved Sun Trust short sale that is on day 6 of the 12 day inspection period.  My buyers factored necessary repairs into their bid price however additional unforseen repairs have been uncovered via inspection.  If we knew about these additional repairs, the offer would have been for about $20,000 less.  

Are we able to reduce our offer price at this point in the short sale process, or will Sun Trust pay/send out their own people to complete the repairs.

What is the best approach in this situation.  After waiting so long we'd hate to lose it, but the offer was not low enough to account for this!!!

Thanks in advanced everyone!!!

MetLife short sale. Has anyone heard of MetLife's 'check step'? My file has been turned over to a new negotiator (who they are now calling the underwriter). The gal I spoke to last Thursday from the main phone number said she would look closer at the file by looking at the 'check step'. From there she was able to determine the name of the new negotiator and that the BPO was ordered on the 7th. But I called again yesterday and the guy who answered the phone said she didn't know what she was talking about that the BPO has not been ordered yet. Wondered if anyone else had experienced check step before.... I've been working with MetLife since January, second buyer, first walked away five days before closing due to cold feet after six months in contract.

Current market stats in Milwaukee September 2011

Single family home currently listed as a short sale    534

Reo single family homes in the Milwaukee area 322

Sold in the past 6 months Short Sales 640

Sold in the past 6 months REO single family homes 526

Some lenders have given the city homes that are not bring in enough money.

Where is this going? May people are wondering if this will end. People are looking for help and understanding during this time.

First you want to understand how a short sale works. Understand all your options. What lenders are looking for when they are willing to do a short sale.

Here are a few short sales that are being offered:

2252 S 65th St
West Allis, WI 53219-2060                       7000 W Acacia St 7002 
                                                                  Milwaukee, WI 53223-5748

 

2066 S 31st Street                                     7934 W Denver Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53223-4940                       Milwaukee, WI 53215    Debby Thompson Homestead Realty Visit me on the web at www.debbyrealtor.com   or www.debbyrealestate.com

San Jose Single Family homes

Active Short Sale Listings:  371

Active Bank Owned Homes: 77

Pending Short Sale Homes: over 578 (mls stops counting at 500 and there are more than 500 San Jose Short Sales waiting for bank approval, 41 bank approved waiting for buyer to remove contingencies, and 338 just waiting to close)

Pending Bank Owned Homes: 127

Sold Short Sale Homes, Last 6 months 378

Sold Bank Owned Condos/Townhomes: 378

That is an amazing coincidence!

San Jose Condo Townhomes

Active Short Sale Listings: 166

Active Bank Owned Condos:  78

Pending Short Sale Condos/Townhomes: 578

Pending Bank Owned Condos/Townhomes: 104

Sold Short Sale Condos/Townhomes:  210

Sold Bank Owned Condos/Townhomes 314

So, if you add up all the short sale activity there are/were 2281+ for short sales and 1078 bank owned transactions.

My conclusion: even there has been a lot of press recently about how foreclosure filings are up in California right now short sales are dominating the distressed property market in the city of San Jose.

If you have any questions about short sales or foreclosures anywhere in Santa Clara or San Mateo Counties please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

D.R.E.  01191194

I have a short sale that was declined by B of A asset manager. The sale date is looming and need to find a contact that will listen

Lisa Swaim

Remax Alliance

720-273-6283

Hello All - here is my BOA nightmare.  I was assigned a BOA HAFA short sale on 5/1/11.  Things were moving pretty good until around 7/20 when I requested the SSA that had been promised to be over a month prior.  Spoke with several Reps and they gave me a verbal list price of $462,264 with 3% concessions and 6% closing cost.  A week later, I received a call from AMS Supervisor saying the appraisal had expired and new one had been ordered.  New appraisal came back and a new list price was generated for $450,000.  The SSA was sent out, signed and offer received for the new list price of $450,000.  Well, low and behold, received a call yesterday that they made a mistake and the actual approved list price is in fact the $462,264 and not $450,000 which I kept questioning each time they gave me that number verbally.  So needless to say I was generated all the tasks to upload my offer, for $450,000 mind you, etc, etc.  So what now???

I have just run into a situation where my buyer had a contract in on a "Potential Short Sale" that was going to be foreclosed on this month and NOW that the bank has postponed the FC sale ... the Sellers have decided to do a Loan Modification even though neither of them have an income or job .... how can this be?

I have been told by more experienced agents than myself that the financial information that the banks need for a Short Sale is much different from what they need for a Loan Modification. One person told me that there must be some sort of possible fraud going on if the sellers have submitted fake paperwork ... do we have grounds for an "inquiry"?

Can anyone spread some light on this subject because now I do not want to put anymore offers in a SSs if this is what can happen :(

Thank you all for any "inside information" that you can share :)

Trina

When making an offer on a San Jose Short Sale it is common for the buyer's agent to ask the listing agent about his or her experience with short sales. They want to know if the seller's agent knows what he or she is doing because that is essential for a successful short sale completion. So when I am asked those questions I can honestly say that I am certified (CDPE), experienced, and successful.

But enough about me, what about you buyer's agent.  How many buyers have you ushered through the sometimes long and tedious process of a short sale? How many of your buyers have dropped out because they got tired of waiting or found something better? How many of your buyers really understand what "As-Is" means? How much do you understand about the process.

When I represent the buyer on a short sale I make sure they understand what is going to happen, how long it could take, and what will be expected of them.  I also make sure the buyer really wants that particular house, and is not just making lots of offers and willing to take the first one that gets approved.  

So if you are selling a San Jose Short Sale, ask your agent to talk to the buyer about their short sale experience and expectations before you sign that offer.

If you have any questions about buying or selling a short sale in San Mateo or Santa Clara Counties please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer CDPE

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

D.R.E.  01191194

Im working through a short sale with pretty good results;already have the first mortgage approval; The second mtg Line of credit division said they may ask for a contribution above the amount that has been allocated to them because NJ is a NON debt forgiveness state; any thoughts???

Ken

I am trying to gather some information for a client who I will be refering to a Las Vegas Realtor.

What is your overall assessment of the S.S. activity in Las Vegas?

Also, do you have any suggestions for a Las Vegas area Realtor?

Thank you for your input and suggestions!

Well Bank of America did it again.  They foreclosed on a home owned by a single mother of five children, one a newborn last Monday after we were told numerous times that her short sale was approved.

This hard working mother of five commutes to work every day from Victorville to Manhattan Beach, a 103 mile one-way trip in order to keep a roof over her family’s head.  With the job market in such a slump she cannot afford to risk her current employment and has been making this commute for nearly 4 years now.  Until now.

She attempted a loan modification with Bank of America two years ago but was declined.  She attempted the process again only to be turned down for allegedly not returning her documents to the bank by their deadline.  When we met her earlier this year, her loan was not in default yet.  With the news of her recent pregnancy, she began falling behind in her mortgage payments. 

In April 2011, we listed her home in attempt to short sell it so that she could retain some hope of home ownership again by making every effort to avoid foreclosure.  I am a HAFA certified real estate broker trained to work out short sales.  She was a prime candidate for the program.

In May 2011, we received a full price offer on her home at $99,000 all cash.  She was also served with a notice of default that same month from Bank of America.  We tried to assure her the best we could that the short sale would be approved and not to worry about the bank foreclosing on her.  We had plenty of short sale negotiations on homes with Bank of America that have been postponed for months if not years before the threat of foreclosure. 

After submitting her complete short sale package, the new offer and estimated HUD-1 through the Equator system, we received a counter offer from the negotiator basically accepting the terms of the purchase agreement with some minor tweaks.  The closing date was to be completed by September 23, 2011.  Not a problem.  We accepted all the terms.  This was in July 2011.

This process was moving along quite quickly in comparison to other files we have worked.  But no indication of any red flags or reasons to question the system.  After submitting her most recent updated pay stub and bank statement, Bank of America stated that they were waiting on final investor approval before we would open escrow. 

On August 10, 2011 she received a notice of trustee sale notice posted on her front door.  The sale date is scheduled for September 6^th at 9:00 a.m., the day after Labor Day (no pun intended but ironic since she just gave birth to her new baby boy). 

We began to call the negotiator immediately in an effort to postpone this looming sale date in light of the short sale approval we were waiting on.  Bank of America assured us that the foreclosure date would be postponed but that it may not show up in the system until three days before the sale date.  We called the trustee directly to verify that the sale date had not been postponed yet.  On the first of the three days before the sale date we began to make repeated calls, email requests, Equator notifications regarding the pending sale date.  Each time we are told that it should be postponed at any time.  The trustee notifies us that an opening bid has been published for $64,000.  What?  How could that be possible when Bank of America is working on the $99,000 all cash offer we submitted two months ago?  It must be a mistake.  We kept calling. 

Bank of America did not postpone the foreclosure sale as it promised to do.  The home went to sale for $64,500.  Oddly enough, it was not purchased by a third party.  It reverted to the beneficiary to be sold as an REO.  Fannie Mae failed this hard working woman, Bank of America failed her.  And ultimately, we failed her miserably too. 

How could this happen?  What could we have done differently?  We are attempting to contact the asset manager for Fannie Mae to inform them that we have an offer for $99,000.  Bank of America told us that it would take a few weeks for the property to be assigned.  I didn’t believe that and was correct when I was told that Fannie Mae introduced himself to my client by knocking on her door with the news. 

My head is still spinning with ideas and attempts to understand why this home went to sale without a single postponement when so many others we have with Bank of America are declared “cancelled” for other unknown reasons.  I’m furious and saddened by this foreclosure system we are forced to bargain with.  Any thoughts?

DISCLAIMER:
****DIANE WHEATLEY IS NOT A LICENSED ATTORNEY. THIS INFORMATION IS COMPRISED OF HER OPINIONS, OBSERVATIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS AND IS NOT INTENDED TO BE CONSTRUED AS LEGAL ADVICE.  PLEASE CONSULT WITH AN ATTORNEY BEFORE RELYING ON OR TAKING ANY ACTION BASED ON THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HERE.****

I am new to ShortSaleSuperstars. I have used it as a reference a few times and known about the site for over 6 months, but just decided last week that I need to get involved more with internet blogging for my real estate business. Since I specialize in negotiatiing short sales, I thought it important that I join networks online that pertain to short sales. It looks like this is the best there is, so I am diving in :) - I will do my best to comment on as many questions and forum posts as I can, and I would hope that people would reach out to me with their short sale issues. I love helping other agents get their deals approved, at great terms, and with full commissions. Lately, I have been getting 8% on most of my short sales. While most agents would probably tell you that this cannot be done, or isn't legal, it simply requires some knowledge and information. Anyways, on to the topic of my first post....

While attending a short sale seminar in Las Vegas last week(shoutout to ShortSaleGenius and Trent Chapman), I observed that many agent's/negotiator's questions all sounded very similar:

"I have this weird short sale...."

OR

"I know but the bank told me....."

ETC.....

The solution to almost every single question is the same, ESCALATE! More specifically, get the RIGHT message to the RIGHT person at the bank.

It is always about the numbers. Getting the right message to the right person will mean you are going to very "high-up management." When you get to this level at any bank, the mind-set of the person who are communicating with is solely about the numbers. They want to know what the value is and what is their net. If you have run the comps and you know that your value is in line, then you simply need to get the message to the right person, and explain to them that they will lose a lot more money if they foreclose on the property instead of accepting your short sale offer.

Remember, it's not personal, and it's not emotional. The bank wants as much money as they can, that is the name of the game. Your job as a Realtor/Negotiator is to make sure the numbers get communicated to someone at the bank who has the authority to make the right decision.

CRUSH IT!!!

:)

Joshua Gayman

Scottsdale, AZ

Today in the Mercury News there was a story about how first time home buyers who need to purchase with loans are getting beaten out by investor cash buyers who often offer less than traditional buyers for foreclosures. www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com">http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_18853804?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com

Has this happened to you? If so, I may have the answer, buy a short sale!

In a short sale the seller owes more than the property is worth and has to have the bank forgive the difference between what is owed and what the house is worth.  The seller decides who has given the best offer, signs it, and sends it to the bank for approval.  THE BANK DOES NOT DECIDE WHICH OF SEVERAL OFFERS IS THE ONE THEY WANT, JUST WHETHER OR NOT THEY WILL ACCEPT THE OFFER THAT IS PRESENTED TO THEM.

Most banks have said very specifically they want the highest offer, and do not think cash offers are more attractive than ones with loans. This is in direct conflict with what they seem to prefer on foreclosures.

Since most investors try to pay significantly below market value if you make a higher offer, which is closer to market value then your offer will have a much better chance of being accepted, especially if there are not issues which would make the house unlendable.

Sure you have to wait longer for an answer from the bank, and some will not close, but lenders re speeding up the process and you can be happily ensconced in your home usually in 2-6 months instead of still looking 18 months and 15 offers later.

So if you are looking for good deal (though probably not a steal) on a home and are tires of losing to all cash offers find a short sale and enjoy home ownership.

If you have any questions about buying or selling a short sale in Santa Clara or San Mateo Counties please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer CDPE

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

D.R.E.  01191194