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The Sacramento Short Sale Closing Against the Odds
This was the Sacramento short sale that closed against the odds. If it wasn’t for the fact that I knew the buyer’s agent and had faith in her abilities, this particular short sale closing might never have happened. It’s almost as though we “willed it” to a conclusion, so closing occurred. Of course, having years of experience in closing hundreds of short sales helps — there is no denying that fact — but this particular short sale presented so many unique challenges. The sellers were very cooperative, too, which made the horribleness bearable.
The problem with this particular Sacramento short sale was not the fact there were two loans between Bank of America and Green Tree. I negotiate many short sales with two loans. Moreover, Green Tree is not a problem for me like it seems to be for other agents. After years of hammering, I’ve got the process down pat and know intimately how Green Tree operates. It also wasn’t the fact that there was a SMUD lien filed against the property. I know what to do with those, too. It was the condition of the home.
This is where many Sacramento short sale agents throw in the towel.
Half of the home was remodeled and the other half was not. Further, it needed a new roof because the existing roof was beyond its useful life. Did I mention the pest work? The conundrum: The seller is not responsible for the repairs. Buyers don’t want to do any work and they don’t have any money anyway. Toss into that mix the fact the bank wanted top dollar for this home — the same sales price as for a home in excellent condition — and couple that nonsense with there is really no arguing with the bank.
Unless there is strong argument, which is rare. Arguing with a short sale bank is usually a wasted effort because the banks just don’t care. The value banks typically want rarely reflect the BPO as much as it does the bottom-line net the bank could obtain through other financial options. The bank insisted on a crazy high list price, which I eventually convinced them to reduce. The buyers offered an even lower price, but they were willing to obtain an energy efficient mortgage (which involves a little known credit) and pay for other repairs.
I trusted the buyer’s agent to perform. This is where industry experience and networking pays off. We had the perfect match in this transaction. I had the sellers who needed to sell and she had the buyers who needed to buy. Challenges be damned.
The buyers didn’t have a lot of money, and we needed to rely on first-time home buyer loans and repair loans to help them to buy this house. Their agent is a pro at navigating the waters for first-time home buyers. Getting the approval from the bank for this Sacramento short sale was the first step. The second step was renegotiation with the bank. Yes, I know this goes against all that I preach about short sales and buying the home in AS IS condition without any further renegotiations but this was a special case. It wasn’t motivated by financial gain or greed.
I developed a strategy and presented a compelling case. We obtained the price reduction. The buyers got the home of their dreams. OK, maybe it’s not the home of their dreams right now, but it will be after the new roof is installed, the sewer lines are fixed, the pest work is completed and they eventually remodel the other half of the home. Sometimes, you’ve just got to have faith in the experience of your real estate agents to pull off what seems like an impossible transaction.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention. The sellers walked out of this with about $7,500 in cash from the bank. This was a sweet short sale, despite the additional work.
Major Bank Settlements Pay Cash for Short Sale
Can you get money for doing a short sale with Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo or Citimortgage? That’s most likely the question in the minds this morning of many past, present and future short sale sellers. You might get enough cash to take a French Polynesia vacation, you never know. The New York Times reports payments as much as $125,000 to reduce principal balances could be offered as a result of these bank settlements. And the bank I see paying out the most in Sacramento is Bank of America on those Cooperative Short Sales. Yup, banks will pay cash for short sale.
Remember way back when, when this Sacramento short sale agent suggested that Bank of America was actively dumping those old Countrywide loans? It seems I was right on the money with that call. If I spotted a Countrywide loan in a short sale, on that hunch alone, I routinely directed the seller to a Cooperative Short Sale. Never had a Cooperative that way rejected. I have probably initiated more Cooperative Short Sales on my own through Bank of America than any other short sale agent in town.
I recall one instance in particular. I was dealing with a third-party vendor, either REDC or DTS, don’t recall, there are so many. This particular third-party vendor was telling me we had to do a HAFA, and I insisted, no, it needed to be a Cooperative Short Sale, even though I was going out on the limb a little with that demand.
I was driving through Midtown Sacramento with the top down on my car, so it was hard to hear the caller on my Jawbone, but we argued for a good 14 blocks, all the way from J Street to Broadway. Finally, I suggested she call her supervisor to discuss because I didn’t want to hear from her again about a HAFA when this short sale was destined to be a Cooperative. Sure enough, a day or so later, the bank switched to a Cooperative despite the negotiator’s initial objections. That seller received more than $10,000 to do the short sale and no documentation was required. It can pay to disagree with an individual’s assessment. Because individuals aren’t always right.
For months, Bank of America has been releasing servicing. Sometimes, the service release happens smack dab in the middle of a short sale, which is a rude awakening. The bank needs to pay Fannie Mae $11 billion and needs to get that money somewhere, so it’s dumping its loan portfolios. Part of the problem with that is it’s reducing competition among lenders if Bank of America withdraws from the mortgage market. When competition is reduced, it hurts consumers.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. If you’re looking to see if you could be a lucky recipient of cash for a short sale, call this Sacramento short sale agent and I’ll check it into for you.
Photo: Flower of Tahiti, by Elizabeth Weintraub
A Countrywide Short Sale in East Sacramento
I recently closed a double Countrywide Cooperative Short Sale through Bank of America in East Sacramento in which the seller received almost $17,000. He had been recommended to this Sacramento short sale agent by a former client who had insisted that he call me. That’s probably because I handle each of my short sales with focused attention. Because each one is different. See, another agent might have just listed this short sale and sold it without giving the seller any cash. But if there a way I can get my sellers cash without making them totally miserable in the process, I go for it.
This home in East Sacramento was also owned by a lawyer. I handle many short sales for lawyers, and I really enjoy working with lawyers. One of the super fun aspects of working with a lawyer is when I get to say that I cannot give legal advice. That tickles me to no end. At least lawyers understand this concept, though, and they don’t keep grinding me.
The minute I spotted the double Countrywide loans in the public records, I suspected this short sale would make a good candidate for the Cooperative Short Sale program at Bank of America. I don’t know if B of A specifically targets those old Countrywide loans, but if I were Bank of America, I know I’d want to get rid of them. It’s not bad enough that Bank of America is being sued by the Feds for Countrywide’s old HSSL (high speed swim lane) — a loan process of pushing loans forward, allegedly with little regard for accuracy or conformity — but the process had became known as the Countrywide Hustle, a practice carried on after Bank of America took over Countrywide. Bad on so many levels.
Still, we started this short sale in May of this year. A time of year so beautiful in Sacramento that it’s like living in Carmel without the prices of Carmel except, yeah, we don’t have any dogs running on the beach or a beach — just clay soil and skunks in the yard. By August, we finally had our Cooperative Short Sale agreement signed and approved. I don’t put my short sales like this on the market until we get the short sale preapproved. Why drag sellers and buyers through that process? I’ve learned over the years that it’s much better to just wait. After we got the approval, it took B of A another month to come up with the BPO. By mid September, we were ready for the market. Who says a Sacramento short sale agent doesn’t have patience?
However, the good news is once we had everything in place and received an offer, the bank approved the short sale in 3 weeks. Bank of America just zips along when finally in Equator, and receiving the preapproval for the Cooperative Short Sale upfront really speeds up the process. Plus, the seller received almost $17,000, which he wasn’t expecting. He was happy to simply short sale the East Sacramento house and to obtain a release of liability. The cash was simply icing on the cake.
The Eddie Izzard of Short Sales
This is like the Eddie Izzard of short sale stories, a Chase Bank short sale in Rancho Cordova. I mention Eddie Izzard because we went to Mondavi to see him last night. He is such a hilarious performer. We were all of 3 people, my husband says, who watched The Riches and felt so grossly disappointed when the show was canceled on FX. It wasn’t fair. Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver sucked you in, captivated, entertained and then tossed you to the curb like a dead rat they grew tired of torturing. Some short sales are like that, too. Except short sales are not available at Netflix.
We had made a dinner reservation before the show through Open Table at Morton’s. Only because Morton’s had sent me a postcard showcasing filet mignon paired with Australian lobster tail — ah, the power of four-color marketing. Ah, the power of discount pricing at $49.95. I might be the best Sacramento short sale agent in Northern California, but I can’t pass up a deal. I did, however, manage a few bites of my steak before my husband asked if it was possible that our server had mixed them up. Sure enough, he had the medium rare while I was left thinking that perhaps Morton’s simply did not know how to prepare a medium-rare steak and maybe I should send it back. Mine was definitely medium.
The had switched our steaks by mistake. My husband prefers medium, while I like mine pretty much dripping in blood, just like my trustee auctions. Actually, we had postponed this particular trustee auction at least 8 times. It’s enough of a hassle to postpone an auction once. We started the Chase Bank short sale in February. My seller called to say she had just canceled her listing because her previous short sale agent could not manage to negotiate her short sale. This was a Chase short sale in which Chase had preapproved the seller and offered her $25,000 to do a short sale.
Yes, this Chase Bank short sale offered $25,000 in cash in hand at closing to sell a $95,000 home in Rancho Cordova. Sounds pretty incredible, doesn’t it? Almost as absurd as the fact that Morton’s, an establishment known for excellence, could manage to mixup our steaks. But life is often weirder than it seems.
The problem with cash in a short sale is always the second lender. If there is a second lender. Because no second lender wants to take it in the shorts and let a seller walk away with cash when they get jack crap. Chase Bank has its reasons for wanting to give $25,000 to the seller. Don’t ask me why or I’d have to kill you. Trying to talk Chase Bank out of wanting to give $25,000 to the seller is almost as difficult as trying to talk the second lender into letting the seller have the $25,000. It’s a damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
I sold this Rancho Cordova short sale twice, too. The first short sale buyer walked away after two months and just before approval. That’s not unusual. But the second buyer hung in there, and we closed escrow yesterday. The seller ended up with $3,000 in cash and no foreclosure. Yay. Nine months to close this Rancho Cordova short sale. You can get pregnant and deliver a baby in 9 months! But I never give up. Just like Eddie Izzard, I keep on doing my thing. We’re better off for it.
Get Cash for That Sacramento Cooperative Short Sale
Not every person is cut out to be a Sacramento real estate agent. That’s a fact, Jack. In fact, some are unqualified to be in sales in the first place, and let’s not overlook the fact that some people think salesperson is a dirty word. Like, there is something wrong with sales or that if you don’t have the natural ability to sell then you can’t acquire that ability or wouldn’t want to. But when it comes to selling your home in Sacramento, a seller will increase his or her chances of maximizing profit potential and obtaining a fast sale by hiring a professional real estate agent.
In our Sacramento real estate market, often that means hiring a Sacramento real estate agent who knows how to sell short sales. You might think that any real estate agent can sell a short sale but that’s faulty thinking. Without jumping into a million reasons why that’s wrong, let’s just look at one reason. Like this seller in the Pocket. She had a good job and made a good income, and did not really have a hardship.
After looking at her situation, we devised a strategy. Because this Sacramento short sale agent knows her stuff. We put her home on the market in early September as a Sacramento short sale. A pre-approved Bank of America Cooperative Short Sale. It closed escrow yesterday. From the day the For Sale sign went into the yard to the day the buyer was handed the keys, it took 43 days. Start to finish. That’s faster than some homes sell and close that are not short sales.
The seller did not fork over her tax returns. She did not give Bank of America her bank statements nor payroll stubs. There was no hardship letter required. She had to make one phone call to say NO to HAFA and YES to the Cooperative Short Sale.
Bank of America paid two cash incentives on this short sale. The cash payment to the seller at closing was more than $12,800. No strings. Just: Here, take this cash. In fact, escrow wired the money to my seller’s bank account because she was on a plane when her home closed escrow. The seller received a cooperative incentive on top of an HIN Incentive. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking — it’s taxable. Yup. But yowza! It almost seems criminal and hard to believe that a seller can get paid to do a short sale yet it’s happening all over Sacramento, especially to my clients.
The bank did not approach the seller in this situation. This is an important component. Her Sacramento short sale agent figured out that the seller qualified and talked to the bank on the seller’s behalf. Bank of America wanted the seller to do a HAFA. But HAFA would have given her only $3,000, involved financial disclosures and made her life a total nightmare. Instead, the Cooperative Short Sale was fast, easy, no hassle and the seller put almost $13,000 into the bank at closing.
So, you tell me which was better for this seller, OK? HAFA or Cooperative short sale? I believe the Cooperative short sale wins hands down every single time. If you have a mortgage with Bank of America and want out, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916 233 6759. It doesn’t cost you a dime out of pocket. In fact, it can pay.
