I just wanted to let consumers out there know a little bit about what we deal with behind the scenes of a short sale.
The most recent scenario happened to me on Wednesday. I called the listing agent of a short sale that my buyer has an offer in on to check on status. He said that the first mortgage had offered the 2nd mortgage (who was the same bank by the way) $2100 at closing. The 2nd mortgage had responded to the agent (because apparantly the 1st and the 2nd mortgage don't talk to each other eventhough they are in the same building) that they wanted $3000. The 1st mortgage then decided to only offer them $1500. The agent now had to go back to the 2nd mortgage and tell them that the original offer of $2100 had decreased to $1500. HA HA HA HA.
This is what we are dealing with everyday. The banks aren't on the same page and the agent has to do triple the work when really shouldn't the 1st and the 2nd be working it out on their own. Especially if they have a standard amount that they accept on the 2nd mortgage, shouldn't the 1st mortgage just know that they routinely accept $3,000 on a short sale for the 2nd mortgage and just offer that and be done with it. The poor listing agent has been going round and round with these 2 for over 2 weeks now.
This is just one example of what we do on a daily basis in order to make a short sale work. I have had great success with short sales because I hire an amazing negotiator. But really, these loops are starting to kill us.
I try to explain to both buyers and sellers, some of the circumstances and obstacles we may run into while waiting for an answer from the short sale bank, but I can never predict what they will say and I have found that every transaction throws something new at me. So, if you are thinking of buying or selling a short sale house, please be prepared for jumping through hoops and not being surprised by anything the bank says. Think of it as your daily dose of humor and just laugh because that is all you can do sometimes.
Betsie Melter, REALTOR, GRI, ABR
Realty ONE Group
4677 S. Lakeshore Dr. Tempe, AZ 85282
480.734.3644
realtorbetsie@gmail.com
Betsie, Thank you for the entertaining, yet disturbing story, about how banks don't seem to know what they're doing. To think we trust them with our money. Yikes!
Hi Victor, some banks have been great to work with, and some of the new laws should help streamline the process, but examples like this happen to me all the time. Fun Times! Thanks for the response.