Short Sale Strategies

<p> Unfortunately or fortunately as many of my listings have sold but in either case I have recently found myself with a very low inventory. Listings used to come easily but over the last 4-6 months it seems everyone wants to get into the short sale business which makes it much more cpmpetitive. I have worked expireds, fsbo, sent thousands of costly postcards and tried the lead generation companies with no great results. Has anyone found any way to buy quality leads or creative ways to locate owners and find sellers who need our help? Thank you in advance...any ideas are much appreciated! </p> <p> Susan </p>

<h2 class="contentheading"> Welcome to Save America Homes - We Provide Homeowners with Options to Avoid Foreclosure and Rebuild Credit. </h2> <p class="contentheading"> I just recently had a seller sign on to work with the company to help negotiate a short sale. Even though I&#39;ve worked several, he signed up with this company. One of their people told me that they charged the seller with a 2% fee. The lender would only negotiate to pay 1% so this company came after me, the listing agent for the other 1%. I did not sign any type of agreement nor ever agree to pay any fee. My commission was reduced by the lender which the buyer&#39;s agent and I agreed upon. Price of the house was only $115,000. Imagine what my cut was and after having the house listed for almost 18 mos. Now this guy with the company has stated that I&#39;m the worst realtor he was ever worked with because I&#39;m not willing to pay him 1% when myself and the seller had already had the lender agree to a short sale just needed a little more room. </p> <p class="contentheading"> </p>

<p> I have the buyer so no control over process - but it&#39;s frustrating to say the least that atty doesn&#39;t get response whatsoever they just tell him it&#39;s in review. The packet was submitted 8/20 and my buyers are getting antsy. They have to go out of county Jan 2nd for extended trip and they were hoping to move into their home by then - doesn&#39;t appear likely - what is the usual turnaround time for even a response for WAMU? </p> <p> Thanks </p>

<p> I had a conversation today with a rep from the Home Equity Solutions Dept today and got some insight. (I&#39;m sure some of you on this forum already know this). This is Home Equity, the 2nd position. </p> <p> If they are 180 days past due, it rolls into charge off status which automatically sends to their legal department. Once in legal dept, it goes into recovery, which at that time the legal dept decides whether to charge this off and sell this to a 3rd party collections company, or go with an alternative solution. </p> <p> If it gets sold off, then we are now negotiating with a collections company! In my experience, dealing with a collections company is MUCH HARDER than dealing with the bank themselves. </p> <p> She said an option was to have the borrower do a loan mod. They ask for 2% (annually) of the balance for the monthly payment. If the balance is $50,000, then the monthly payment would be around $80/month or so. This way, they don&#39;t hit that 180th delinquent mark. Then after the loan mod gets approved and the borrower&#39;s payment is manageable, then we are allowed to submit for a short sale. This avoids the loan being sold to a collections department and we can deal directly with the bank&#39;s short sale dept. </p> <p> Anybody see any redflags by doing this? </p> <p> Also, the DTI to qualify for a loan mod is 125%, according to the rep. </p>

<p> Are short sales for non-owner occupied 4-unit complexes any different from non-owner SFRs/condos? </p>

<p> Hi all, </p> <p> I love that this group has become such a great resource for so many. One thing I&#39;d love to start (and please tell me if you like it) is to have a post dedicated to each lender. On the top post of each we share info such as phone numbers, url&#39;s to their workout packages, fax numbers, or any other relevent tips that are useful to someone pursing a short sale with that lender. </p> <p> I&#39;ll start today with a couple, and please let me know what you think. Please start a post for a lender you&#39;ve worked with if one has not been started. If you add other resources in subsequent posts, I&#39;ll move the important information via cut and paste to the top post so the most important is always in that top post. </p> <p> What do you think? </p>

<p> This property was bought during the heydays when the Foreign National Loan Program existed. Being a foreign national purchaser, he obviously didn&#39;t have U.S. tax returns, bank accounts in the U.S., a social security #, etc. etc. ...... everything the bank would need for a short sale package. </p> <p> In this case, will the bank even consider a short sale without all these documentations? His credit is not in jeopardy because he has no social security number and he doesn&#39;t even live in the U.S. anymore. But he&#39;d prefer to do a short sale rather than foreclose if possible. </p> <p> Anybody run into something like this? </p>

<p> I have 2 files with SLS as the 2nd lienholder. My experience with both of them have been nothing but a nightmare. Their timeline isn&#39;t the problem. But what they&#39;re asking is way above what anyone would be able to come up with (I&#39;m talking about the difference between what the 1st is willing to pay and what SLS wants to net). </p> <p> If anyone has experience with SLS, is there a &quot;special&quot; way to deal with them? They are HARDBALL. In the end, do they step down a notch and finally take a more reasonable payoff? </p> <p> In all respects, I understand they are just doing their job and trying to get as much as they can for themselves/their investors, but it seems they are a bit far off. Their favorite line seems to be &quot;then just take this to sale.&quot; This is a major bluff, correct? </p>

<p> Can somebody explain how PMI works in a short sale transaction? </p> <p> I had an agent who represented a buyer, got their offer accepted, and the listing side got the approval from the lender. The buyer went through the home inspection, ordered appraisal and went through the loan process. Then, the listing agent says they are having a problem with PMI that they didn&#39;t know about until now so they couldn&#39;t close escrow. The buyer had to get the lock extended, etc. etc. In the end, the PMI issue couldn&#39;t be resolved so escrow fell out. </p> <p> I&#39;ve never run into PMI issues so far. But another agent shared this experience with me. </p> <p> How does PMI work? And would PMI issues have show up on title early on for the listing agent to have known in advance? </p>

<p> I have a transaction possible with a client who is the sole principal on the loan, but on title, shares ownership as &quot;tenant in common&quot; with a friend. I&#39;m not entirely sure the reasoning behind that, but the question is.. if she does a short sale, could her friend buy the property thru the short sale. Her friend lives in the property and wants to continue. </p> <p> The lender(s) are Citi and USAA. </p> <p> Does anyone know if this would cross the line of arms length? Some addendums I&#39;ve seen discuss familial relationships only. This is not family . On the banks that do not have an arms length addendum, do we still have a duty to assure an arms length transaction? </p> <p> Any suggestions? </p>