waiting short sale

What is your role in this sale Sena? The listing agent should be getting and giving updates at least weekly. 2 months is too long not to hear anything. But Chase is one of the worst in terms of the time it takes to bring a short sale to conclusion.

My role is the buyer, Catherine. I was told chase is not the worst in closing short sales on time so am confused. Am not sure whether a negotiator has been assigned or not, but my wife said she thinks our agent mentioned about a negotiator. We will meet our agent tomorrow to see the short sale house again and other bank owned house so what questions would you advise me to ask about the short sale.

Sena, Chase is one of the worst. They used to be my second worst behind Countrywide, but now they are the worst (in my experience 45+ short sales in the last year). I just closed one after 9 months. Another agent reported on the other "short sale strategies" board here on realtown, 8 months.

By now, with 2 months in , a negotiator should definately be assigned. They should've done their appraisal or BPO, and the sellers financials (bank statements/paystubs, etc) should all be updated monthly (so the package the listing agent presumably faxed 2 months ago would've been asked to be updated by now with current info).

If you do not even have a negotiator assigned. That is a huge red flag. That agent should be giving your agent weekly updates. If they are not, that is another red flag. Too many agents don't know what to do with short sales, and they fax the package and just assume it is going. It is not. There is almost always refaxing of documentation, request for more, or changes requested for the estimated hud statement.

It can take a negotiator 30-45 WORKING days to get done with a file. That would be though like a miracle. But that is 2+ months right there. Prior to that, it takes a while thru processing... and appraisal... so it could be 1-2 months to get to a negotiator, then 1-3 months for a negotiator to finish it, then "up to" a week or two more for final investor approval.

THEN, if there is mortgage insurance involved? That is a whole other layer.

Thank you very much for clarifying this process, Catherine. I think we will back out from the short sale. Catherine please tell me if am wrong, I thought President Obama signed a bill to speed the short sale process.

Hello Sena,
Seems like you need an expert short sale negotiator. This information that I am forwarding is a negotiator who does nothing else but negotiate short sales. Although I am a Realtor, I know that I am not always proficient in getting these close. You may want to talk to Keith Cramer at

Sena, I would definately ask questions first though to see where you're at. I have one now with Chase. Submitted in May, buyers backed out last week, negotiator is now in process of approving our new offer. Buyer backed out just about a week too soon. But yes 5-6 months.. will be 7 months before we're closed on this one.

Any new guidelines are not yet implemented. Add to this, remember that between June and August Chase merged all data systems with WaMu and they are still having residual hiccups and delays as they try to even out their processes, move staff around, and implement new systems.

Hi Ekoh,

Catherine is right before you withdraw you may want to talk with listing agent and see if seller may be amenable to using a third party negotiator this will cost seller as little as $150. to resubmit package and get this closed for buyer and seller. Terms and closing guidelines change daily and sellers may not be aware so they may need to look into a negotiator who updates their systems daily.

Thank you Catherine, i will talk with my agent and update you on how things go. Have a wonderful weekend and a good night

Thanks Rita, am happy i finally found you guys, you guys are wonderful, bravo!!!