It is no secret Mountain View as well as most of the Silicon Valley is experiencing multiple offers on homes for sale. While this is great for sellers, it can be extremely frustrating for buyers, and their agents. After losing 5-10 homes a buyer will unquestionalbly start to doubt their agent. They may feel that their agent is doing something wrong and maybe it is time to find someone else.

Will this work? Maybe, but there are limits to what a Mountain View real estate agent can do. A lot of winning an offer is up to the buyer, so maybe you need to look in the mirror first, before changing your agent.

In a real estate offer the buyer has some control over what happens. Here are some things you should do:

1. Are you making realistic offers? If a home is listed for $475,000, you know there are 10 offers, and you offer $470,000, what do you think is going to happen?

2. You have been pre-approved for $800,000 with 20% down. You only have down payment for 20% of $800,000, so you need to only offer a price that will make it through an appraisal. However, most homes are selling for prices higher than they can appraise for, so what do you do? You will need to find a less expensive home so that you have a 5-10% reserve of cash over the price where you think the home will appriase, i.e., you need to find a home where you can put down 25-30%, not 20%, so that when it does not appraise you have the cash to cover it.

3. The seller has completed a a full disclosure package, including a property inspection, termite, roof, chimney inspection, and you ask for a 17 day property contingency period. I am not saying you should not have your own inspection, but keep the time to a minimum.

4. You have a pre-approval letter from Happy Birthday Mortgage with nothing from an underwriter, and nothing from a direct lender. I don't care if the mortgage broker from Happby Birthday Mortgage is your mother, it is not going to fly. Get a full approval from a direct lender. It is hard enough to compete against a cash offer, but to try to compete with a pre-approval letter that may not be worth the paper it is written on is no way to act in a competitive market.

5. You are making an offer on a short sale and don't offer to open escrow until after bank approval. While that may be ok in a buyer's market, when there are so few homes for sale, and so many hopeful buyers, it is not going to work anymore.

So look at your self first. Tomorrow I will talk about what your agent can do to help your offer win.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

D.R.E. 01191194

What do you deem professional with short sales

http://youtu.be/CzpwSL0debw

This week I was at a property we are buying in Scottsdale, Arizona. I was there to meet the pest inspector, who asked me to look into a particular property he had seen on Zillow.com. He said he had contacted the real estate agent and left them several messages and had not received a return phone call. I told him if he had the address I could look into it and probably get more information from the MLS listing in the private remarks section. I said worst-case scenario if I could not get a response, I would call the broker. He said he had already called the broker and they had just transferred him to a 24-hour hotline where he was still unable to get any information on the property.

Of course he had the house handy – on his smart phone with the property webpage on Zillow already up. He gave me the address and I told him I would get back to him. First I called the number on the mls, which put me into an automated system that said I would get a response in 24 hours.  I did the “professional” thing and Facebook messaged the listing agent. I deemed this the professional thing to do because I felt it was in the best interest of my client being that I knew I would get a quicker response than leaving a message through the 800 number automated system that apparently gets checked once a day according to its own recording. I got a response almost immediately through Facebook from the listing agent. He said the deal was probably going to fall apart because the seller had went out and bought another house, and the current lender of the short sale property had found out about it and is saying they are now not willing to do a short sale.

Later that evening I got an email from the listing assistant’s assistant stating this property is under contract. Nothing more.  I had e-mailed them previously and asked for a status update of offer(s)-PLURAL- and whether or not they are over list price stating that I have a cash buyer. Obviously to get a status update that “this property is under contract.” is a bit of a joke. On the MLS listing the property is listed as that it already has a contract. So.. no duh! What I am trying to do.. is get information on the property. I do care that the property is already under contract, but deals fall out of escrow all of the time!  As a listing agent, you have an obligation to either communicate yourself, or should you choose to set up systems, make sure they are effective in communicating. This is something I know buyers get very upset about all the time, and with every right so!

real quick…add me on facebook!

To me, again, what I would deem professional in this situation, would be for the listing agent to find out the highest amount he could receive for the property on the market. If I am willing to pay more than anybody else, then I would think that is valuable information for the listing agent to know..

Short sales are all about numbers and never forget that! The value, then the NET that the lender/investor(and mortgage insurance company, if applicable) receives after seller paid closing costs that they cover. Simple! Agents make this so confusing by trying to do what is in their own best interest..  and I have a feeling that when these listings are double ended and no information is ever provided to anyone else that it has something to do with an inside deal. I am not against people trying to double end deals, as I myself double and most of my short sale listings. The difference is in trying to do what is in the best interest of your client first, or what is not in the best interest of your client. What is in the best interest of the client is to accept an offer that is going to close with the lender, and what is also in the best interest of your client is to maintain on file any backup offers and have information of what they will be willing to pay should scenario B or C present itself. Scenario B or C, in this case, being lender counters of a higher value/NET proceeds needed.

So what do I deem as professional? Well, with short sales, it’s really simple. I deem professional to be what is in the best interest of my client. EACH, and EVERY time. Sometimes this can mean being a real SOB to other parties when it is needed.. i.e. banks, investors, mortgage insurance companies, crooked agents, crooked property management companies, crooked tenants, the list could go on. When you need a “professional”(someone who looks out for YOUR best interests!) to deal with a real estate situation, contact me!

If you have any questions about a short sale, whether it is your own property,  a friends, or a clients. Maybe you are a buyer or investor who needs the scoop on a short sale.. I am always happy to help.

Written by: Joshua Gayman

Sent from my iPhone(please excuse spelling and grammer errors.(I’m still training my assistant Siri

It is no secret that the market in Silicon Valley is crazy. The inventory has never been lower so the competition for homes is  fierce. For example, Taylor Morrison is opening up a new town home development in Sunnyvale in May and they already have 300 people on the waiting list. Homes in Palo Alto are sometimes getting over 10 offers. 

If you are a seller you may be trying to acomplish a short sale, and life becomes complicated with all of the details of supplying documents, giving the bank what they want, when they want it, and living by their timelines.

Maybe you are trying to buy an reo and you have to sign documents that make you do everything short of giving up your first born.

So the big question is "Do you want to buy a sell a house right now?" If then answer is yes then you need to listen to the person saying "because I said so." Whether that person is the listing agent for a home you want to buy, the bank who needs to approve your short sale, or the bank who owns the foreclosed property you want.

Follow directions, exactly. If the directions say fill out the disclosure package completely, fill it out. If Bank of America says they want the first 5 numbers of your social if you are trying to buy a short sale then give it.

This is not an environment for everyone, and it will not last forever, nothing does. But if you want to buy right now it is best not to have issues with authority, just do what is asked of you. This is not to say that you should go into this blindly or give up your inspection rights, but it does mean you need to follow directions and do what is asked of you.

If you are selling short, do what the bank wants. You have the right to accept or reject their their conditions but you do not get to tell them what they need to do.

If you are selling in a hot market and it is a sale with equity, don't be a bully. Give clear directions and be grateful for the people who want to buy your home.

If you have any questions about buying or selling a home in Silicon Valley please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

D.R.E. 01191194

The real estate market in the Silicon Valley is very heated up this days, but there are still plenty of short sales being offered. Many of these short sales are in higher price ranges that have previously not seen a lot of short sale activity. What that means is that agents who do not have a lot of experience with short sales are making offers. Because the inventory is so low, most of these short sales are getting multiple offers. So if you are an experienced agent but not with short sales, or a buyer here are some things you need to know:

1. Don't low ball. The bank won't accept it and you will have plenty of competition from buyers wanting to pay market value.

2. Follow all of the instructions the agent gives on the MLS. If they say email instead of call, SEND AN EMAIL. Do not pester the agent with multiple calls a day. Your pre offer behavior is a sign of how you will act during the long short sale process.

3. Fill out the short sale addendum carefully. The addendum allows for the deposit and contingency period to start after bank acceptance unless you change it. CHANGE IT!!!!  At a minimum you should put the deposit in escrow immediately. If you really want the home I would also recommend offering to do the inspections right away instead of waiting for bank approval. It is a risk to the buyer in case the bank does not approve, but it is better than waiting 1-3 months for an approval and then finding out the home has more repairs needed than the buyer is willing to make.

4. The home is being sold "As-Is" Don't ask for repairs.

5. Don't ask for buyer credits unless it is an FHA loan. Banks are most likely going to reject the request for credit and if your buyer needs to have it or they walk it does not put you in a good position.

6. Don't change the title and escrtow company. The seller's company has already done a lot of work and has a relationship with the listing agent.

7. Give at least 90 days for approval on the short sale addendum.

8. Present a great case on why your client is able to wait for short sale approval.

If you have any questions about short sales in San Mateo or Santa Clara 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

Short Sale Road Rules: Getting Buyer and Seller on Same Page

One of the most neglected, and yet, most important part of a successful short sale is getting both buyer and seller on the same page.  This may stem from the traditional way of thinking on a traditional “retail” sale:  It’s “Us against them.”  This does not apply to short sales, and if you can over come this mentality, your closing success will skyrocket.  Getting the short sale approval is only part of your responsibility; the other part is getting your buyer to the closing table. This is how I do it:

Locking the Buyer Down: The Stick

As I have gone over in my other articles, locking the buyer down into an airtight commitment is part of my “Rules of the short sale.” We do not allow a buyer to have any “outs.” To recap, here are the “Rules:”

1. 90 day contract close date-We need enough time to get approval
2. Ernest money up front
3. Inspection time normal 10 days (NO “upon lender acceptance” allowed)
4. Attorney review normal 5 days (NO “upon lender acceptance” allowed)
5. Proof of funds for cash buyer
6. Mortgage Pre Approval (NO Pre-Grades from loan officers-only banks)
7. Buyer agreement on use of professional negotiator

These rules are non negotiable.  If they are refused, we recommend to our seller that this is not a legitimate buyer and we get another offer.  Period.  Trust me, a buyer that refuses is a buyer that will find some excuse down the road to walk away or not close.  Don’t waste your or your seller’s time with these tire kickers.

Sounds like a tall order?  I hear it all the time…”Joe, out here in (pick an area) my buyers will NEVER go for these rules….”  WRONG!  They WILL go for it, because you are going to DEMAND IT! It’s just that you are going to do it in a way that brings the buyer over to your side and gets them involved and excited about the process. Remember, the time where agents could make money by being order takers is long gone! You need to put on your big boy (or girl) pants and go out and be a salesperson.   We accomplish this by giving them incentives to play by our rules.

The Carrot

We get our buyer on board by offering them incentives. The most obvious one is Price.  Remember, no matter what the objection, Price cures all ills.  Sounds simple, and it is, but like anything there is an art to it.  First, as a listing agent, it is your responsibility to do a detailed CMA on your listing.  We need to know what the true comparable properties are selling for, both distressed and non distressed. As discussed before, we have set our price aggressively at the very low end of the comp range.  This attracted buyers. Now once an offer has been tendered, we set about to find the most important key to our strategy, the buyer’s “All In” price.  This is where you have to get the buyer and their agent on your side. 

Coming Together

How I do this is simple.  I tell them that I have a duty to my seller to get this deal closed, and that if we work together, not only can I help my seller, but we can help your buyer as well. We know that it is in our best interest to make your buyer happy, and to get a great deal for them.  This is why they need to be committed and honest with us.  Remember, WE HELP OUR SELLERS WHEN WE HELP THE BUYERS BUY.  This puts the deal in perspective, and softens the edge a little so we get a more honest answer when we ask for the ALL IN price.  As explained before, no matter what offer was tendered, we need to know the buyer’s absolute, top dollar, price, fees, extra costs, everything price.  This is the ALL IN price.  Once that is established, I then like to ask the buyers to REDUCE their offer by 5%-7%.  You heard that right.  I said drop the offer.  This accomplishes two if things:

1. It gives us negotiating room with the seller’s lenders
2. It gives the buyer and incentive to stick in the deal.

The possibility of a discount is a powerful motivator for buyers, and once you show them that you are allowing them this opportunity, most buyer objections melt away quite rapidly.  In fact, they become your new best friends.

Now, I know many of you are telling to “Hold on, how is this benefiting our seller..” Well, again, we help our seller when we help our buyer buy.  What the seller owes is irrelevant.  Our objective in a short sale is not TO GET THE HIGHEST PRICE, BUT RATHER TO PUT THE SELLER IN THE BEST POSITION TO CLOSE. Of course, we have to be quite clear to the buyer that by lowering their offer, they must be willing to bump it back upwards should the lender counter.  This also means the buyer should be ready to bring a little extra cash to the table to buy out a seller deficiency on a second, pay ancillary fees, or cover any seller cost not paid for by the seller’s lender.  As long as our total amount stays below the ALL IN price, we should be good to go.  If you do this right, you will close at a number somewhere between the low offer and the ALL IN price, and everyone will think you are a hero. If, by chance, we end up beyond the all in price, most of the time it’s close enough that you can negotiate some sort of settlement. For those of you who can’t believe that the seller’s lender will go for this…they can and they do everyday.  What some of you don’t realize is that most investor guidelines allow for up to a 20% variance from appraised value if you know how to work the short sale right…hence the insistence of using a professional negotiator.

Remember, short sales are a strategy.  You should plan ahead because if you don’t, you will be doomed to react to lender actions and that, my friends, is why most agents fail at short sales.  Get the buyer on board and the rest of the deal will follow.

For more Short Sale Road Rules and information about the author, please visit our Facebook Fan Page at http://www.facebook.com/ShortSaleProcessor, and our website at www.josephalfe.com or www.ssprocessors.com

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

The Emerald Coast of Florida has a high military population with both active duty and retired air force personnel. Eglin Air Force Base is located in Fort Walton Beach, and Hurlburt Field is in Navarre, Florida. Duke Field and NAS Whiting Field are nearby. We will be seeing an increase in short sales for GI borrowers when they must relocate during their PCS moves (permanent change of station). VA Short Sales are called "Offers in Compromise", "Compromise Claims" or "Compromise Sales". The VA may accept a Compromise Sale if the cost to the VA is determined to be less than that of foreclosure.

The VA website says: "If the borrower is unable to sell the property for an amount that is greater than or equal to what he/she owes on the loan, including closing costs, VA may pay a "compromise claim" for the difference in order to allow the private sale to go through. The borrower can sell the property to a buyer who gets his/her own financing or to a buyer who wants to assume the loan. However, with a compromise assumption, the lender does have to agree to have the amount of its guaranty reduced by the amount of the claim payment. In order to be considered for a compromise sale, several factors must be considered."

VA Compromise Sale Factors:

1. You may only sell the home for fair market value.

2. The closing costs must be "reasonable and customary".

3. You must have a valid financial hardship such as loss of income, relocation, death of breadwinner, etc.

4. There should not be a second mortgage on your property, unless it is "insignificant". If so, you might ask the junior lienholder to release the lien and convert it to a personal note.

5. You should ensure your sales contract is "contingent and/or subject to the approval of a VA compromise sale."

If you have a VA loan, and need to do a "Short Sale" or "Compromise Sale", here is what you must do to begin the process:

1. Contact you lender to see if they are an approved VA Servicer Loss Mitigation lender and/or contact the VA regional office servicing your loan directly.

2. Fill out a financial status report form provided by your lender or the VA.

3. Complete a letter of request.

4. Complete a Compromise Agreement Sale Application. You can get this form from the VA or the approved lender.

Final Important Points:

1. Your lender does not have to agree to a Compromise Sale.

2. For VA loans originated on or before December 31, 1989, you might have to sign a promissory note at closing agreeing to repay VA for the deficiency remaining after the property is sold.

3. An experienced Short Sale Realtor should guide you through the sales process, help you determine fair market value and prepare your package for submission to your lender or the VA.

For more information, contact your VA Regional Loan Center.

It's Wendy!

Wendy Rulnick, Broker, CRP, CRS, GRI, ABR Rulnick Realty, Inc.

Search Destin Florida real estate and vicinity.

Short Sale Pre Foreclosure Help.

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

Email itswendy@rulnickrealty.com

Wendy Rulnick specializes in real estate sales, short sales, traditional sales on Emerald Coast of Florida: Destin Florida real estate, Santa Rosa Beach, Fort Walton Beach, Niceville, Bluewater Bay, Navarre, Seagrove Beach, Watercolor, Sandestin, Seaside, Dune Allen, Blue Mountain Beach, Freeport, Rosemary Beach, Mary Esther, Shalimar, Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field. Wendy Rulnick, Broker and Realtor, has been selling real estate for almost 20 years. She has won numerous awards, including the coveted ADDY for advertising design. An expert marketer of real estate listings, she also negotiates successfully to her buyers' and sellers' advantage. She is supported by a team of top buyer specialists. Wendy lists and sells homes, condos and townhomes in Destin Fl and the surrounding areas. She was ranked in the top ½ percent of all Realtors on the Emerald Coast of Florida in 2008 for resale listings sold.

All Rights Reserved. "VA Short Sale Guidelines (VA Compromise Sales)" Contact Wendy Rulnick regarding Destin Florida real estate and vicinity. Copyright © 2008 by Wendy Rulnick.This site, Wendy Rulnick or Rulnick Realty, Inc. is not providing legal or tax advice. The information provided is for educational and informational purposes only. It is recommended that sellers considering a short sale should consult an independent legal and tax advisor for more information.

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