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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!!

Here are some current comments and trends which one of an industry lead online articles inspired some thoughts and feedback which you as readers repositioning your business strategies may find insightful to current local, regional, and national market conditions that we are tracking for our clients around short sales acquisition both one off and bulk asset acquisition.

I wish what you reported in your article on short sales gaining momentum was occurring in the NY Metro area? In spite of all the reports that shorts are gaining traction we are seeing the opposite. A recent interview with an investment company we are working with tied to the Treasury reported a pull through rate on short sales at a meager 7-13% of actual files in the pipeline vs approved and closed shorts.

In an environment like a Chase for example where you may have 30-50 thousand requested short sales I am not sure where the amount collection level supports the cost containment justification to cover the head count and operational cost investment to support short sales at the present level? Another area which seems to be behind so many issues sited on the SSS Site has to do with the lack of trained and qualified personnel,not to mention the readiness of the supporting team members, at all levels necessary to keep the disposition process moving. The ROI to the organization based on the sizeable investment being made to staff vs the value returned to shareholder value has to be another emerging problem and which is also not calculated in the loan losses building another case for streamline short sales to emerge- but how soon? The Short Sale scaling up trend seems to be emerging but the business metrics and pull through on closed loans seems to be one of the great mysteries of our current industy?

In spite of growing inventory we are still butting heads on appraisal value and determination of actual true distressed fair market value which is used normally to negotiate actual settlement value. In spite of slowing market conditions investors generally are looking for better then 90% settlements of inflated values which seem to be reached in a declining % of deals as buyers are being more sophisicated after making too high a buy on this first short sale acquisition that can't cash flow or be resold now that the title has become marketable.

I further asked the author on the Short Sale Trend Article tp please convey in future writing that distressed valuation and retail stated fair market value are two different and distinct values which if denied by services, common, will result in higher loan loss levels which is the baseline for hopefully more services waking up to this reality. An area where professional value create value is through the process of clearing and negotiating liens and clouds on title which is something we handle ever provide credit to investors. Without this layer in the supply chain these untold millions of properties will not be absorbed in many markets as the 1.5 million properties were absorbed in 2009.

We are also seeing the some major delegated services are in fact re-tooling to do short sales however we have not seen number of short sale approved units pop. In spite of data supporting market stability or growth many markets are on the decline partially due to clouds on title comon with transaction worked out as a short sale.

A call to one of our realtor partners in the Fort Meyer area revealed that now as oil is hitting the beach fewer people will be thinking about visiting or owning in Florida which will also add salt to the wound in the florida real estate market as yet another issue concerning declining real estate value is starting to hit the west coast of Florida coast?

What I am seeing in an increase in interest in one off note purchase transactions to avoid the delays, frustration, and head butting rampant when 3rd party negotiation company, title, realtors, or others attempt to negotiate a short sale settlement are delayed or outright fail. Education at all levels is still a problem on both the side of servicers, institutions, and agents attempting to obtain a short sale approval as advanced understanding of investor regulations is broadly unknown by most practioneers and which must change to have the same transparency that the institutions expect from the prospective buyers.

Please post your market conditions and trends you are seeing in your market so we can leverage these conditions and trends and hopefully all lobby to our local legislatures education to support better practices to help people sustain the dream of home onwership in the US which is under attack and will not be as strong without your help. Think Global and react locally. Happy Selling- Craig

T. Craig Barry

http://www.lossmitigationsvcsnj.com

LossMitigationSo@aol.com

D (614) 404-9622

F (973) 900-8798

"Your AZ, CA, FL,OH & NJ Luxury Short Sale Consultants & Property Acquisition Source

I have been negotiating a short sale on a Florida condo with Konduar Capital and they have been pretty wonderful through the whole process - UNTIL..... we got down to the second lien holder who won't play ball - even though the foreclosure sale is coming up next week. The negotiator who is handling everything at Kondaur has advised that the buyer should go down to the court and just purchase at our agreed price in the contract. We have been informed what has and has not been paid and what fees will be covered by Kondaur & what the buyers will have to pay....

Now of course, from the title search we know there are HOA fees due (I am told the MAX they can get is 6 months worth? is that true??) and there may also an outstanding assessment for $3000. The buyer wants to lower their offer by that amount and is then willing to buy at the sale.

Now here's the trick - We have an email from Kondaur that they are willing to pay commissions - but not anything signed by them..... Now I'm just wondering if they will try to subtract out what the buyer doesn't pay from the realtors??... or if there is any guarantee they will pay us at all.... The other agent and I are kinda' thinking it would be a whole lot easier if we take a risk that no one else will buy it at the sale (I would say it would be a remote chance - but the price they want doesn't make this condo a super deal so we doubt it) If we take the risk & no one else buys it - Kondaur will get it back and we can resume negotiations with them and our buyer.... I just don't know how to advise every one - I don't really want to be in a "come to find out" position! Any advice???

HI,

Has anyone been able to get Chase to waive going after a deficiency judgement if the seller agrees to pay on a promissory note?

Thanks!

KIM

Colleagues,

I read through the Fannie/Freddie HAFA programs released yesterday afternoon.

Overall, on first (and quick) read, the program reads like it was designed by analysts without a deep understanding of the issues and realities of the short sale process.

A program designed in the clouds for implementation here on planet Earth.

It may have the effect of reducing the return for transacting a short sale property, and therefore increasing the number of properties going to foreclosure.

For example, the program states:

real estate sales commission customary for the market. The servicer may not require that the commission be reduced to less than 6 percent of the sales price of the property;

But, Freddie caps settlement charges at 9%, including commission, conveyance/property tax, attorney, recordation, HOA. So, the commitment to "not lower commissions below 6%" is a bit of a sham, I think. "The Servicer did not require you to reduce the commission, we just aren't going to pay the bill."

(Not sure if this applied to Fannie, I hope not. Fannie does seem to hold their cards close to the chest.)

Minimum Allowable Net Proceed is not shared with seller, buyer, or agents. It's just a secret between Fannie and the Servicer. This provides no assistance to sellers. (Why can't Fannie learn from HUD?)

Handling of Second Liens seems to be disconnected from reality. Consideration is capped at 6% up to $6,000. (I think Fannie currently allows 8% up to $8,500.) Also, no additional payments are permitted, and the 2nd must waive future rights to the deficiency. An unfunded mandate, moreover Fannie has no way to require the 2nd to agree to this, I think. (Maybe the big players will agree to this for each other?)

Deficiency Waiver is included, but this program requires HAMP eligibility and liquid assets under $5,000 (or 3xPayment). So, pretty much the Creditor could not collect the debt anyway, and if necessary the debt could be extinguished in bankruptcy.

So, overall, my first read is BAD PROGRAM. What are they thinking?

Curious to hear what others think. (Maybe I was just tired and grumpy last night.....)

michael

As of this writing, there are approx. 4,389 short sales for sale in the Las Vegas area, this includes, resale single family homes, condos, townhomes, of that approx 3,443 of them are single family homes.

There are approx. 11,756 short sales that are in escrow under contract/pending in the Las Vegas area.

Total short sale closings year to date in the Las Vegas Valley area are approx. 4,111.

More short sales are closing and in some cases time frames for the wait has been reduced, but as you can see from the pendings, it is still a trickle.

Stats are on Resale Single Family homes only per the GLVAR MLS as of this writing, covers the Las Vegas Valley, North Las Vegas, Henderson area.

Blog Disclaimer-This is a personal blog. All information is provided for informational purposes only and is Not legal advice, consult an attorney or financial expert for legal advice. This is general information and is not intended to provide advice on any specific question or transaction. All figures, sizes,etc are estimates. Parties to any real estate transaction should seek competent legal and/or tax counsel to determine the legal, credit and tax consequences of buying or selling a home.

I need to have some of you experts weigh in;

I have a home...it must be short-sold.

My wife and I are going through a divorce

She was "quit claimed" off the property, but our state is a "community asset" state.

She wants to have someone she knows buy the house...have her stay in the home, and then rent it back to her. It would allow the kids to stay in the house and not be disrupted by a move.

If there is a way I could sell the house under these guidelines, and not get into trouble, I would do it, however....

From everything I have seen and am being told by my real estate agent, and other local real estate professionals, they would not participate in a sale of this nature...they all say it violates the "arms length"

regulations. They say it could "unwind" the sale or even result in charges of mortgage fraud.

She is not on title or loan. What should I do?

Thanks for any advice you can forward.

I've sold real estate in Navarre Florida a long time. About 20 years to be exact. So I should know what the Navarre zip code is- 32566. Or so I thought.

I was calling Homecomings Financial on the status of one of my Navarre short sales. Of course, I going through the usual ninth-degree, name, rank and serial number before they would give me any information. Finally, the rep asks for the property address. I told her 9478 Parker Place, Navarre Florida 32566. She says, "That's not the zip code we have". First I wondered if I called the wrong bank, or had the wrong property. No, I quickly scanned my file and it was right.

I said, "Ma'am, Navarre has one zip code and it is 32566". Again, she repeated I was mistaken and she could not talk to me about the short sale. OK, am I going nuts? Maybe my listing wasn't in Navarre, or there was a new zip code I didn't know about. I said, "Hold on, I'll verify the zip code on the internet." Nope. One zip code for Navarre, Florida. Exasperated, I hung up and decided to do some digging.

I checked my physical file with payoff statement from Homecomings Financial. There it was. Their system had the Navarre Florida zip code wrong - 32568. Done with the phone nonsense, I had my assistant call back. She gave them the secret code- the wrong zip code, that is, and voila! They would talk to her. When she informed them they had the zip code wrong, they stated they would not change it unless my seller sent in a letter! For some reason they could not check U.S. Postal Service themselves.

Just part of my zany short sale week, how was yours?

It's Wendy!

Wendy Rulnick, Broker, Rulnick Realty, Inc.

Call toll-free 1-877-ITS-WNDY (1-877-487-9639) or local 850-650-7883 ext 204

Email Wendy: itswendy@rulnickrealty.com

Navarre FL Real Estate

Navarre Short Sales & Pre Foreclosure Help.

Read Wendy's Navarre Real Estate Blog

Wendy is a short sale and pre-foreclosure specialist and has been featured in "Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine" and "Florida Realtor Magazine". Call Wendy Rulnick, Broker/Owner,to list and sell your home or condo on the Emerald Coast of Florida in Walton, Okaloosa and Santa Rosa County- Destin, Santa Rosa Beach, Fort Walton Beach, Niceville, Bluewater Bay, Navarre, Seagrove Beach, Watercolor, Sandestin, Seaside, Crestview, Rosemary Beach, Mary Esther, Shalimar, Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field.

You may have heard or seen a report on a new flood of foreclosures coming. The data is showing owners have miss at lest one mortgage payment in the first quarter of 2010. There’re assuming these folks are going into foreclosure in the months to come, we beg to differ, we believe these “one missed payment” borrowers are actually being told by the bank to do so albeit indirectly. The home owner for whatever reason is working hard to make there payment and can’t they have tried for a loan modification and did not qualify.

Now the bank tells then to sell using the short sale option, however they need to be late, thus they miss a payment. In our local real estate market short sales make up 31+ percent of the market. We don’t see anything on the horizon to influence this trend and expect short sales to dominate the real estate markets as bank owned did in 2008.

Richard & Janet - Certified Short Sale Professional
661-733-0507 OR 733-0508
Keller Williams Realty AV Serving Palmdale, Lancaster in California
www.HomesByJR.com
www.ShortSaleByJR.com

Does anyone have a Proof of funds letter they can give me a example of?

I would like to start a movement with BAC. All their approval letters should include the following:

Buyer (insert buyer's name from contract). **Replacement buyer subject to BAC approval.

Now wouldn't that eliminate being in escrow 3 to 4 to 5 times - assuming net to BAC was the same and no change in close of escrow date?

I say that while having 6 short sale escrows with them, and 3 approved - but it's absolutely pulling teeth and insanity.

Short Sales in the Inland Empire; Price Points are rising.. I have been watching the numbers, walking the homes, studying the comps and exactly what I felt would happen this year is indeed happening. The high end golf course communities and custom homes are seeing Short Sales and REO's. This is a new phenomenoa for my area of the Inland Empire..Palm Springs, Palm Desert, La Quinta and land parcels in the Eastern Coachella Valley.

Many of the properties are builder/developer owned. They managed to hang on for longer than the lower/mid price ranges, but now have decided to short sale their homes and take the credit damage and losses. Consequently, sales in the upper price ranges have climbed this season!

I closed a deal 2 weeks ago on a golf course property in La Quinta that sold for $1,495,000 without it's upgrades in 2005. We bought it for $850,000! Interesting how once the comparables hit a particular spot..and it appears to be the 60cents/on the original sales dollar that does it, there are quick sales and even multiple offers. Same as in the low and mid price ranges.

If you're looking for a great deal..hang in there with a Short Sale..even in the luxury home price ranges!

Kimberley Kelly, SFR, Land, Ranches & Residential

760-285-3578 kjkpolo@earthlink.net

Pardon my "newness". I have been trying to avoid short sales and now have given in to the reality that they aren't going away. So, I have been researching short sale agents in my area and have run across this statement on a couple of websites:

4. WHY WOULD I USE YOU TO HELP ME RATHER THAN MY RELATIVE THAT ALSO HAS A REAL ESTATE LICENSE?

Most banks will not stop the foreclosure process and start the short sale process until you have an offer on your home. We start the process by making an offer on your home. The key to a successful short sale is the BPO or Appraisal. The bank will determine what it will accept based on this number. Our team includes an appraiser and an experienced BPO agent that will provide the bank with this information and get the deal done.

IS THIS SOMETHING THAT IS NORMAL? Have I completely missed the boat here?

I have recently been approached to negotiatate short sales from a networking friend of mine. There is no formal training ava. . This seems like a great business to invoule myself in as I do have excellant negotiatation skills, and have also been a mortgage originator. I need to find a training program that will give me all the meat and potatoes and help me get started. I got to tell you that right now I'm afraid! Any sugguestions would be great!