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Equator Glitch Fix for Bank of America Short Sales
With a Bank of America short sale in Equator, the one thing I count on working day-in and day-out doesn’t always work. That one thing is technology. There seems like something always goes wrong with it, but you know what? I am a Sacramento short sale agent, which means I am used to annoyances, frustrations and absurdities — it comes with the territory. Technology is no different. You can’t operate without it, you just need to know what to do when it doesn’t work.
The first place to look is in the mirror. Yup, it could be operator error. The second place to look is at the hardware and connections. Is your computer plugged in? Laugh as you may but that’s what a tech support guy will ask you. Are you connected to the Internet? If none of those things is the problem, then it just might be Equator. Not Equator software itself but the way the bank negotiator set up the file.
Equator has an instant chat button. I love instant chats. It satisfies my need for immediate gratification. A few days ago I was working on uploading the short sale offer for several Bank of America short sales. In the first short sale, whenever I clicked submit, it would erase the buyer’s agent’s name and data. In the second Bank of America short sale, it would not calculate a bottom-line net because the loan field was filled out incorrectly by a Bank of America negotiator.
I connected with the support staff at Equator who explained the problems. Each of the support staff responded expediently and was helpful in explaining what was wrong. But what does that mean to me, to Al Franken, I asked? It meant that Equator needed to contact the negotiator so Bank of America could fix the problem on its end. If I would just wait a few hours, it would be fixed. I’m just so relieved it wasn’t something I did. I have pretty high standards for my own performance. At least I try not to make mistakes twice. Thank you, Equator, for giving us short sale agents Equator Chat!
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.
Equator Starts the Day for a Sacramento Short Sale Agent
When it’s 5 AM in Sacramento, it’s 8 AM on the East Coast. I get a head start on my day by updating my Sacramento short sales before people start calling. However, I am finding it is increasingly difficult to write my blog uninterrupted on a Tuesday morning because all of the short sale negotiators in Equator are up and at ’em first thing. It’s like they don’t touch their computer all week or something. They wait until Tuesday. My inbox begins dinging with Equator emails at 5 AM. I could not imagine looking at a file only once a week, but that’s how some short sale negotiators seem to handle their workload.
Many short sale lenders are using Equator now for processing short sales. We’re all anxiously awaiting for JPMorgan Chase to join Equator but it doesn’t seem to be happening. I keep hearing rumors that Chase will be on Equator. First, it was last summer, then by this fall, and it’s just not a reality yet. But we do have the top 4, which are Bank of America, Wells Fargo, GMAC / Ally and Nationstar.
The thing with Equator — as I was explaining yesterday in my presentation to the ballroom of agents at Lyon Real Estate’s FRED (Fun Realtor Education Day) event — is it over communicates. It used to send agents emails containing specific messages and those messages were also kept in a property folder on Equator. Now, for some reason, Equator generates an email to tell a Sacramento short sale agent that there is an email in Equator. And when the agent gets to Equator, the email directs the agent to a task. Except the task is not really always a task. I prefer the old method because I knew what I was getting into before I got there. It’s not always worth it to open Equator. Sometimes, the messages are pointless.
Not only are some of the messages pointless, the messages can also be “system generated.” A system-generated message will say things like somebody is reviewing documents. But nobody is really reviewing documents. Yet, I am not about to complain about Equator. No sirree. I know what life was like for this Sacramento short sale agent before Equator, and I never want to go back there.
It’s bad enough that I have to work on Bank of America FHA short sales outside of Equator. I don’t wish that horrible experience on any short sale agent. I love Equator and an Equator short sale. I am Equator Platinum Certified, not only for short sales but also for REOs. I received certifications for both. I don’t handle REOs, but you never know, one day I might. I have belonged to Equator since its transformation from REOTrans. It’s a lifeline for Sacramento short sale agents.
A Bank of America Short Sale Counter Offer
Before I talk about a Bank of America short sale counter offer, let’s address this Lady Gaga thing. I mention it only because if I received an engraved invitation, I would decline to attend an event to watch Lady Gaga in a bottle strip to her undies and get a tattoo. I would not go even if I was invited through a last-minute text message. Surely, there are better things to do, no? Like, take out the garbage before your house starts to stink or get a pedicure. But this Lady Gaga thing was a huge black-tie event attended by celebrities as a debut perfume launch. It hurts my eyes to even read about it.
But maybe that’s why I am a Sacramento short sale agent and not running around with the likes of Jason Wu, Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan. I have many more exciting things to do like talk to third-party vendors at Bank of America about counter offers. What is a Bank of America counter offer? Well, for starters, it is not exactly a counter offer, which confuses a lot of Sacramento sellers. I try not to use jargon when talking with my clients, but sometimes it slips out, and for that I am truly sorry. I am not sorry that I didn’t go to the Lady Gaga event.
A short sale counter offer is issued by Bank of America or a third-party vendor representing Bank of America through Equator. It is a formal response to all of the fees noted on the HUD and submitted to Equator by this Sacramento short sale agent. See, if the bank can reduce some of the fees, that will increase the bottom-line net to the bank. Plus, investor guidelines state acceptable and non-acceptable fees. Some of the fees often contested are miscellaneous title services such as doc prep, courier, notary and some don’t want to authorize payment for recording of the deed. Sometimes they reduce the escrow fee.
In Sacramento, it is customary for the seller to pay the escrow fee. But in other parts of the country and California, the escrow fee is often split 50 / 50 between seller and buyer. It is not unusual for the bank to place a maximum cap on the amount it will authorize. In many instances, that amount is $750.
There are also negotiators at the bank who do not read the net sheets we send them. They instead read the HUD, and the HUD is very confusing to many people. Ever since the RESPA change a few years ago, we’ve been fighting battles with bank negotiators who insist that credits to the buyer are not allowed — when the credits shown on the HUD are not really a credit to the buyer at all. Sound confusing? Imagine how the bank negotiators feel.
Yesterday I spotted a city transfer tax fee of almost $600 that the negotiator had removed from the HUD. When fees are removed, it means the buyer has to pay them. Because of SB 458, the seller cannot pay fees the bank refuses to authorize. So, I questioned the negotiator. I asked her why it was removed because it was a standard and customary fee paid by the seller in Sacramento. This fee is based on .275% of 1% of the sales price. It can amount to a lot of money, in this case: six hundred bucks.
Turns out the negotiator thought it was a buyer credit on the HUD. After I explained that there were no credits at all on the HUD, the negotiator put that number back into the list of authorized fees and approved it. I wonder if she would like a bottle of Lady Gaga’s new perfume?
Photo: used with permission bigstockphoto
