How Short Sales will Save the World!

by wildelawfirm - March 19, 2012

Ok, maybe short sales won’t save the planet (does that mean that I don’t really need to finish designing my superhero outfit for Captain Short Sale, or maybe The Mighty Short Sale Warrior? I was kind of digging the yellow cape). Anyway, short sales may not stop a speeding train or fix our banking system…

Oh Those Pesky 2nd’s

by wildelawfirm - January 31, 2012

10% of the amount owed: As we all know the land of short sales is anything but settled. Even after three years of doing this full time there always seems to be something new coming or going…like unsecured promissory notes or confession of judgments. Over the summer all of the investors and servicers for…

Multiple Short Sale Offers

by wildelawfirm - December 30, 2011

NORTH CAROLINA SHORT SALE ADDENDUM. The North Carolina Short Sale Addendum to the Offer to Purchase and Contract states: “Buyer and Seller understand that additional offers may be received by the Seller’s Agent, which must be presented to the Seller pursuant to North Carolina law. Such offers may be accepted by the Seller as backup…

Here is a New One…Flopping

by wildelawfirm - December 6, 2011

There is a new game in town and it goes by the intimidating name of “Flopping.” Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae also use another name…Mortgage Fraud. Did that get your attention? It should. The real estate agent will encounter this in a number of ways but most ways will be a variation of the following…

Why Use a Seller’s Attorney in a Short Sale?

by wildelawfirm - November 8, 2011

We strongly suggest that the Seller use his/her own closing attorney for a short sale. Our firm requires it if we are facilitating the short sale. Why? Well, if the Seller docs are prepared by the Buyer’s closing attorney, as is usually done in a real estate closing in North Carolina, the Seller ends up…

Home Owner Associations and Short Sales

by wildelawfirm - October 5, 2011

If you have not had to negotiate with a Home Owner Association (HOA) regarding past HOA dues in order to get a short sale closed, well you haven’t lived. It is, seriously, one of the more frustrating tasks that we have to handle. It seems that more than half of the HOAs have some hard…

Why a Buyer Should Want a Professional Negotiating the Short Sale?

by wildelawfirm - September 24, 2011

The mantra for a Buyer should be WHAT IS THE FASTEST WAY TO GET MY OFFER APPROVED AND THIS SHORT SALE CLOSED. There is a long track of hurdles to get over between the offer and closing. That list includes: 1) document collection; 2) package compilation and submission (sometimes multiple times); 3) document review and…

What Should We Put in the ‘Due Diligence’ Section of the Offer?

by wildelawfirm - September 13, 2011

In North Carolina we now have a Due Diligence Period that can be negotiated and put in the Offer to Purchase and Contract (Offer to Purchase). We could have done it with the old contract but it is now a prominent part of the new Offer to Purchase. In a short sale situation, however, the…

When Should a Short Sale Buyer Get the Inspection Done?

by wildelawfirm - September 8, 2011

The simple answer is as soon as possible. I know that the Buyers don’t want to spend $350 for a home inspection before they know if the short sale will get approved. I get that, but lets analyze why it is better to get it done sooner rather than later: 1. Think “AS IS” contract….

Who Wants a Short Sale?

by wildelawfirm - August 28, 2011

As far as short sales are concerned we have long since taken care of most of the individuals who should not have gotten a loan at all or a loan larger than they could handle. The next wave of client was the individual who lost their job or a portion of their income and has…

What Agents Say

I know that we have talked about this before but since this is the “Year of Foreclosure,” it warrants an update and reminder.

First of all we should remember that there is no right to a short sale and, by extension, no right to a postponement of the foreclosure sale. We are essentially asking the bank or servicer to do us a favor and consider this short sale offer instead of selling the property on the upcoming foreclosure date. We should understand that the bank and the foreclosing attorney have already spent time and money getting into the position to be able to hold the foreclosure auction.

Now that we understand that, what do we do? We know they are not going to stop a foreclosure sale without a short sale offer. Can we just send in the offer with any real hope that they will postpone the sale? No! You must upload or send the offer to the loss mitigation department with the entire short sale package.

Put yourself in the bank’s position. It’s true that the short sale, if successful, would bring more money than the foreclosure auction and probably REO sale down the road. However, they don’t own this loan. They are merely servicing it most of the time. The servicer is losing money every month that goes by because the mortgage is not being paid and, therefore, neither is the servicer.

Given that, it is understandable that the bank/servicer requires a short sale offer to come with some assurance that it is a serious offer with a real chance of eventually closing. Just sending an offer carries no assurance, just desperation.

Timing is also an issue. If you are trying to stop the foreclosure sale the day before the auction you are not going to be successful most of the time. It can be done but don’t hold your breath. Most banks/servicers require that the offer and package be received at least 7 to 10 days prior to the sale. Some even require that the Seller already have approvals from the junior mortgages and liens. You are getting into “near impossible” territory if you only have a few days until the sale. So, have a grateful attitude, have a market price offer, send in a complete package with the offer as early as possible. Good luck out there.