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Another Chase HELOC Short Sale Closes in Spite of Chase Bank
I wrote about a Chase HELOC short sale earlier this spring that was messed up 10 ways from Sunday by Chase, yet due to sheer determination and copious amounts of perspiration, and in spite of the ineptness of Chase’s HELOC short sale department, I got it closed. (I can hear my dead mother in my head whispering: women don’t sweat, we perspire.) In that blog, I described Chase Bank as ambling along “like a fat walrus after a big lunch drooling fish guts down its chin,” and that perspective hasn’t changed one iota.
It’s not like we don’t have enough other distractions as a Sacramento short sale agent that we need to pile more crap on our plate by throwing the completely abysmal methods Chase Bank, as a junior lender, employs on top of it. But you get what you get in Sacramento short sales.
We can’t always choose our dancing partners, and I would not put a short sale seller through more misery by turning down her short sale simply because she has a second mortgage with Chase Bank. That would be ridiculously unfair to the poor seller to be penalized in that manner. But I’m not saying other agents won’t refuse because they might. Especially if they have a lick of sense in their heads, unlike this glutton for punishment of a short sale REALTOR .
When I think back to when this short sale began, I was kicking my toes in the sand at South Beach, strolling along the water’s edge with my husband during our winter vacation last December, when my phone rang. I dug into my cute little Kate Spade wristlet a client gave me as a closing gift and pulled out my phone. Like I said, I’m a glutton for punishment. What other kind of moron would answer her cell on vacation like this?
I assured the caller I could handle her short sale when I got back to Sacramento in January, snatched a pen from my husband whom, as a gritty journalist, I can always count on to carry a pen even while we’re on the beach shooting photos of brightly colored umbrellas with a beach-ball blindingly brilliant blue sky on the horizon, to write down her information.
We closed this short sale this week, 7 months later. But not before we weeded through a lot of difficult buyers and a break-in by thugs that resulted in the theft of all of the built-in appliances, which required additional security methods much to the chagrin of the out-of-area sellers. Even though we sent all of the paperwork to both banks, Wells Fargo gave us turnaround in 4 weeks, but Chase chugged on. Escalations help somewhat but the fact is Chase HELOC seems to remain a Neanderthal when processing a short sale.
Why Home Buyers Won’t Buy a Short Sale in Sacramento
Like any other home on the market today, even the few short sale homes need to be highly desirable in some way to entice a home buyer to buy a short sale in Sacramento. Price alone won’t do it because the short sale lenders will demand market value. I get emails from agents who ask if I would consider wasting my time and the seller’s time to submit garbage offers on behalf of their greedy little buyers who love to lowball, and you’ve got to wonder what planet these agents live on. As additional information, the agents might offer up the fact they’ve been successful with this approach once years ago, like anybody cares.
Oh, geez, thanks for telling me. I smack my head. Dang-nabit, I had no idea.
They might say let me tell you about my buyer. No, don’t tell me. I don’t care. I don’t want to hear about his or her motives, angles, mission. I care only if the buyers are willing to do what it takes to get the lender to approve the short sale. Will they wait for approval and not cancel? An agent asked yesterday if it was OK for the buyer to cancel after I worked my tail off to obtain the short sale approval letter, in the event there was something about the property the buyer didn’t like. Sure, I replied, but be aware that I will then drive over to that buyer’s home and slash the tires on his car. Oh, he laughed and laughed.
Wow, we really want to take that offer. The buyer sounds so dedicated.
Today’s buyers, most of them, don’t want to wait for the short sale process. If they do decide to buy a short sale, it’s because the home is unique and it’s the only one like it on the market for miles around. Other short sale buyers are those who have a home to sell, and they are are buying contingent on selling. No fuss, no muss, no risk. If the contingent home is my listing, for example, I know their home will sell because they will be realistic, so those generally work out. But there is not a flood of buyers for short sales today.
I sold a Victorian short sale home in downtown Sacramento a few days before I left for my long winter vacation early last December. I worked on that short sale while enjoying an oceanfront view and warm breezes. Everybody was happy at the inception. We submitted all of the required paperwork to both banks: to the Bank of America short sale department and Chase. Chase had recently joined Equator but was not yet in Equator for this type of Chase short sale. Before the end of January, we had HAFA short sale approval from Bank of America. Eureka!
Chase Bank, because its HELOC department wasn’t yet in Equator, dragged its feet for another 60 days, despite repeated requests and hammering. The negotiator at Bank of America refused to give us an extension on the short sale and instead insisted on starting over. An unusual shitty move when the servicing was not sold. When Bank of America re-opened the file, it somehow messed up processing it as a HAFA. A logical person would think Bank of America vendors look at the previous file, but that would be like expecting a Sacramento real estate agent to study the history in MLS of a previous listing — just ain’t gonna happen.
Despite the HUD identifying this transaction as a HAFA and the notes I routinely slipped into Equator as a reminder, nope, it was processed as a traditional. A short sale agent doesn’t ordinarily discover these types of bank screw ups until the counter is issued in Equator. The seller didn’t care about HAFA by that time.
At several points, the buyer wanted to cancel. She was tired of waiting and didn’t really understand the delays. She delivered ultimatums, which don’t work. At another time, the sellers wanted to cancel. They had moved out and no longer cared about receiving the HAFA incentive; they just wanted it closed. The opportunity to eat the negative cash flow and rent it was beginning to look attractive to the sellers. In between, neighbors called to ask if was OK for them to steal the seller’s cats and take the critters to city animal control. Like wha? My main concern was the amount of time it would take Bank of America to process this as a traditional short sale after Chase finally got its act together.
I find my way around stumbling blocks. It’s what I do. The short sale closed this week, with the original buyer happy as a clam, extremely excited and relieved. The sellers are ecstatic. They appreciated my calm demeanor and keeping them on track. Approval from both banks took 5 months. That’s unusual and a long time.
Although I have closed hundreds of short sales in Sacramento, there is never a guarantee that we can get both of the short sale banks to cooperate and issue approvals at the same time. Often issues and delays pop up, regardless of how streamlined we make the process. If something can go wrong on the other side, it often does. Patience is the key to a short sale. And buyers in Sacramento don’t have a lot of patience in today’s real estate market.
Starting Over on a HAFA Due to Chase Bank Short Sale HELOC
What does it mean to start over on a HAFA short sale through Bank of America because the HELOC department (second lien holder) at Chase Bank messed up? That’s a question that is probably lingering in the minds of many frustrated home buyers across the United States right now because if it happens in Sacramento, you can bet it happens elsewhere. Let me be clear that a Chase Bank short sale, when Chase is in first position, actually seems to run rather smoothly in Equator now, it’s just those second liens that are a royal PITA.
Why, believe it or not, sellers and buyers can start a short sale in December and still be working on it at the end of March when the Chase HELOC department finally gets around to ordering a BPO. A Sacramento short sale agent can call 3 times a week and sometimes leave several messages a day and escalate, and nobody from Chase will return the call probably because they a) know an agent will call back or b) Chase doesn’t pay them enough to give a flying fig or c) they’ll quit or get fired.
Supervisors’ emails fill up with messages and they don’t return calls, either. Hello, Julio Escobedo?It seems that half the HELOC short sale department at Chase is either out to a 3-martini lunch, on vacation or sleeping in a broom closet. I hate to say this, but we had a much easier time with Chase when it was not using Equator for these second loans. Its performance today is dismal and disappointing.
But what else is new in a short sale? I’ve been closing them for 8 years now, hundreds of short sales. Now that we have approval from Bank of America on a certain HAFA short sale and we were able to beg, borrow and steal an extra two weeks to gain a short sale extension to close escrow, no matter how many hand grenades we toss at Chase, we can’t light a fire under its feet.
Chase will amble along, waddling like a fat walrus after a big lunch, drooling fish guts down its chin.
It’s not giving up to “start over” with Bank of America on a short sale. Because Bank of America is pretty streamlined in Equator. But then it’s been working harder on short sales than Chase, and that’s evident. Bank of America can approve a short sale 2 or 3 times in the length of time it will take Chase to issue one approval letter. Chase really needs to get with the program and clean up its work ethic. We’ll get a rush on the approval process at Bank of America and probably get the second approval for this HAFA short sale before Chase has had time to tie its shoes.
See, and this is why I buy stock at Bank of America and not Chase.
A Chase Bank Short Sale in Equator
One of the absolutely joys of my life is a Chase Bank short sale in Equator. I can’t begin to describe how wonderful it has been to see a Chase short sale sitting in my Equator task folder, patiently waiting for the HUD to be uploaded. It is a thing of beauty to behold. The only thing more beautiful than a Chase short sale in Equator is a Chase HAFA short sale in Equator, and I’ve definitely got one of those. It is true that one can’t always truly appreciate splendor until one has experienced hell. I am a Chase short sale expert; I have been to hell and back.
It used to be that I’d tell clients to expect at least a 4-month escrow with Chase Bank. All of that advice has changed — as with most short sale advice, it changes with the wind. I listed this particular short sale just before Thanksgiving. The seller’s spouse had unexpectedly died. I seem to be working with quite a few sellers lately whose spouses have suddenly died without warning.
It’s very different to work with people who are grieving as compared to those who simply despise their banks with a great vengeance. I find that I need to slow down quite a bit and be more patient. To listen to them more carefully. That doesn’t stop me from cracking jokes, though, and I think they appreciate it. Humor at times of uneasiness is often welcome as long as it’s not insensitive. I suspect that laughter gives them a bit of break from the steady flow of reality that they must absorb.
We opened escrow right around Thanksgiving and received HAFA short sale approval within 30 days. That’s pretty incredible when I look at my past record of having to fax documents to Chase, which would go to a central fax number and never directly to the negotiator, so they’d get lost. There are two loans on this short sale, yet getting the second approval from Bank of America was a piece of cake. That’s because Bank of America has been in Equator for what seems like a lifetime but probably has been only a couple of years. I lose track of time at my age.
I decided to ask Chase for an extension because the day we are scheduled to close is the day Chase needs its money. I know that we can’t get it to them on the same day, not when we are funding and recording on that day. That’s often the tricky part, getting the money to the bank on time. But Chase said no problem. We can have a few days if we need it. And Chase responded to this request within minutes. Minutes! It just doesn’t get any better than that!
But wait. I am now registered with Chase Bank to receive short sale prospects directly from the bank. Although most sellers in Sacramento find me through the internet or from a friend’s referral, now this Sacramento short sale agent might be able to connect sooner with those who can benefit from my short sale expertise. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. As a new client said yesterday, not only did I make her day (by talking to me), but I most likely will make her next two years more enjoyable.
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.
