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Evaluation of a Sacramento Short Sale Offer
There are so many reasons to scrutinize and evaluate an offer for a short sale, I hardly know where to begin. I guess I will start by saying there are people in this world, buyer’s agents among them, who wrongly believe that all offers should go to the bank. They also tend to believe that the seller is lucky to receive any offer at all and should not care what the offer is or who it came from or anything else about the offer; the seller should just sign it and shut up.
You might scoff and wonder who could be so incredibly ignorant, but I can tell you that a lot of people fit that description. I help my sellers evaluate purchase offers because they don’t sell a house every day. They also, knock on wood, will only do one short sale in their lifetime. It’s my job to see that the short sale closes.
I am looking 3 months down the road at short sale approval when I examine a purchase offer from a buyer. I consider the odds as to whether that buyer will still qualify for or still be interested in buying that home when we get approval. I consider the financial strength of the buyer, the motives of the buyer, the way the offer was written, who the buyer’s agent is and that agent’s experience level; I also look for signs of cover up or deception. There are a lot of crooked people running after short sales.
I won’t tell you exactly what I look for to determine whether there might be fraud because the crooks will read this and make sure they don’t do it.
In a seller’s market, a seller can also be very choosey as to which offer the seller elects to take. All offers are always sent to the seller, but only one offer receives the recommendation to accept it.
If you are thinking about considering a short sale, call this Sacramento short sale agent first, Elizabeth Weintraub, 916.233.6759. Yes, I will take your short sale if you have listed with another agent who could not get it approved; but I’d much prefer that you call me first.
Short Sale Negotiators Should Move to South Carolina
An endearing thing about the South is the way people interact with each other. Whereas, I, for example, will tell you to your face exactly what I think — although, even a critical statement will be tempered somewhat — that method of communication is a stark contrast to the way it’s done in the South. I am called all sorts of sweetness in the South. I am addressed as “darlin,” which immediately warms me up to the person speaking until I begin to wonder what he wants. Oh, nothing, he’s just holding open a door for me to pass through. My feminism cringes a little but I fast get over it.
Why, this politeness and gentleness is so contagious a person could bless my heart and tell me not to worry my sweet little head over it, and I would not be offended no matter what the issue was at hand. They could be dropping nuclear bombs on the city, and I wouldn’t care. Southern hospitality is not overrated. It’s the real thing.
Short sale negotiators should be forced to spend some time in the South before working in customer relations at a bank. If every time I spoke to a short sale negotiator, I was treated the way the nice residents of Hilton Head, South Carolina deal with strangers, this Sacramento short sale agent would have died and gone to heaven.
This view in my blog today is of a cold, wet beach at Hilton Head, South Carolina. But the people here are so danged charming, I don’t give a hoot that our weather kinda sucks. Can I interest ya’ll in some grits?
A Sneaky Way for Fannie Mae to Reject Short Sales
Fannie Mae and Bank of America can be a difficult combination in a Sacramento short sale. Not insurmountable by any stretch but still difficult. Part of this stems from the guidelines overhaul last fall, I suspect, in addition to the fact that Fannie Mae has been releasing Bank of America from servicing. But much of the struggles short sale agents face with Fannie Mae short sales probably have a lot to do with the fact that Fannie Mae, under the direction of the FHFA, has been moving away from short sales all together. There is a lot of speculation in the short sale community as to why.
It’s kind of a joke that Fannie Mae has set up a place where short sale agents can escalate or contest a price valuation. It’s just a website and a process to make an agent feel like Fannie Mae is doing something positive when it’s not. Just a way to shut up an agent. It’s sort of a smoke screen, I imagine. Because I knew a value was wrong, and I asked Fannie Mae to review it. Not only did the BPO agent call me upon completion of the BPO, but she told me the value. Fannie Mae again insisted on a much higher value — even with the evidence of the true value put before its very eyes. The BPO means nothing. The review process is worthless.
It doesn’t matter what the value is to Fannie Mae, if it doesn’t want to do the short sale it will set a value too high. And the value will stay there until the moon turns blue or the market finally turns around. That’s Fannie Mae and our government for ya.
I’ve got another short sale in which Fannie Mae is insisting we produce corporate documents for a buyer who is not a corporation. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times we ask them to read our lips, the buyer is not a corporation, the buyer is a general partnership, Fannie Mae has continued to demand corporate documents such as Articles of Incorporation. When we finally passed that hurdle, the representative from REDC asked for POF in the partnership name. It seemed fastest for the buyer to deposit all of the funds, including the balance of the sales price and all of the closing costs, into escrow.
The buyer deposited all funds into escrow and we presented Fannie Mae with the receipt. Not good enough, says REDC. The buyer must now remove all of the money from escrow, put it back into the bank and produce a bank statement. I’m not kidding. I wish I could make up this crazy crap — but then I wouldn’t be a Sacramento short sale agent, I’d be some insane person in a mental hospital.
Will both of these Fannie Mae short sales close? Yes, most likely. And that’s why I’m a successful Sacramento short sale agent. I hang in there for the long haul and don’t give up.
A Sacramento Short Sale Can Stress Even a Cat
Has your Sacramento short sale situation stressed out the cat yet? Cats are such delicate creatures. Oh, they put on a big act, like they are all tough and everything, ready to tackle any challenge or fishy treat tossed in their direction, but underneath, they are mush. They can be traumatized, and a short sale could do it to them. Cats are able to sense stuff. Don’t ask me how but cats know when you’re coming home, even if it’s not at the same time every day. If a cat was lost in Seattle, he could probably find his way back to Sacramento. A cat is capable of amazing things.
Our cat, Pica, tried to runaway from home once. He forgot to pack his catnip in a red scarf and tie it to a stick. Instead, he spied a door that was ajar and he slipped out. Pushed it open and split. Free, free at last in the back yard. He was petrified and spent the night in the bushes under our Japanese maple. Ever since then he’s been on Prozac. Only in California, I suspect, would a cat be given a prescription for Prozac. I tried to wean him off it once but he climbed up on the kitchen table and soaked the newspapers. A fine tribute to the Sacramento Bee. Tsk. He now has to take Prozac the rest of his life.
Our pharmacy called yesterday. I don’t know why since I order his Prozac online. But Walgreens called and my husband answered the phone. Our cat’s name is pronounced PIKE-ah. Like pica and points in newsprint. The Walgreen’s clerk asked: Is Peeka Weintraub home? That question was a bit confusing for a few seconds, as was the fact that our home telephone actually RANG with a caller on the other end. My husband answered, Yes, he is. The clerk asked: Can Peeka come to the phone?
Why no, he cannot. Because he is a cat.
The clerk didn’t seem to be listening. She asked again if she could talk with Peeka Weintraub, and my husband explained again that he cannot come to the phone because he is a CAT.
Well, his prescription is ready.
This is what talking to a short sale negotiator at the bank is like. My husband doesn’t have as much patience as I do. That’s why I make a great Sacramento short sale agent. I’m used to such nonsense. I’ve been selling short sales for 8 years now, and I probably sell more short sales than any other agent in the Sacramento area, from Lincoln to Galt. If you’re looking for a Sacramento short sale agent, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Your cat will be happy to release the stress.
Bankruptcy and Short Sales in Sacramento
The number of Sacramento short sales in bankruptcy seem to be declining since passage of SB 458, which amended California Civil Code 580 by adding paragraph E. This all-important piece of legislation passed in July of 2011 and, ever since then, banks that agree to a short sale must release a seller from liability, providing the seller did not commit fraud and the property involved was 1 to 4 units. This piece of legislation pretty much eliminated the need for many upside-down sellers to file a bankruptcy over a hard-money loan, providing the banks were agreeable to the short sale and there weren’t any other debts the sellers needed to discharge or rework.
Of course, if lawyers told you that, they wouldn’t get paid to do a bankruptcy. I don’t know of any lawyer who specializes in bankruptcy who would tell a person in debt not to file bankruptcy, but that’s not to say they don’t exist. It’s no different than asking a real estate agent if one should sell a home. I’m telling you that, and I am a Sacramento real estate agent. The answer is gonna be yes. Most of the time. For example, I am not a financial planner. Neither is your bankruptcy lawyer. If a person wants financial advice, a person should ask a financial advisor, an individual with no skin in the game — not a guy who works for American Express or a woman employed by State Farm Insurance — ask an independent advisor.
But people continue to rely on the advice of those in professions who get paid when the answer is yes, hell yes, do it.
There are basically 3 ways to deal with filing bankruptcy while contemplating a short sale. First, know that filing bankruptcy does not relieve a person of title to the property. A person will still own that property and need to deal with the sale of the home in some manner — the easiest most likely is a short sale. Here are 3 things an underwater seller on the brink of bankruptcy can consider:
- Short sale the home before filing bankruptcy
- Short sale the home during bankruptcy
- Short sale the home after bankruptcy
They are all difficult but #1 is generally a bit easier. It’s also the one in the middle that can cause complications and should be avoided because it can’t close, plus sellers would have to pay extra to the lawyer and they generally won’t. For starters, the short sale bank will probably not agree to a short sale unless the Trustee of the bankruptcy either sells the property or releases the property from the bankruptcy. Did you know that the Trustee can get paid a fee for selling a short sale? Yes, in some situations, a Trustee can receive $15,000, all the way up to $50,000-plus, depending on the sales price of the property. Do you know who pays that fee? The buyer.
It’s a premium paid by the buyer. Do you know any buyers who want to pay another $15,000 to $50,000 on top of market value? I don’t, but I suppose they are on the loose. These deals have to be cash, too. That requirement limits buyers as well. Doesn’t bode too well for the seller who just wants the property sold and gone.
I have a handful of homes in bankruptcy right now in which I represent the seller, as a Sacramento short sale agent. The short sale banks require written authorization from the sellers’ lawyer to do the short sale. In one bankruptcy short sale, the discharge was ordered in November of 2011. We are still waiting for the final discharge — 16 months and counting. The sellers’ lawyer promised the release would take 21 days in early February and she expected receipt on March 1. We are still waiting. Escrows are on hold. The short sale approvals are on hold. We are lucky we chose steadfast buyers. I hear lawyers are promising 4-month turnarounds, but I’m not seeing that promise materializing on this end of the business.
It might be better to either do a short sale before filing bankruptcy or after the bankruptcy has been discharged. Trying to short sale in the middle of a bankruptcy appears ripe with problems. But I’m not a lawyer, and I can’t give legal advice. That’s what the bankruptcy lawyers are for.
If you’re considering filing a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13, make sure you thoroughly understand your options by consulting with a bankruptcy lawyer. For some, once the property is disposed of through a short sale, there might not be enough debts to qualify for a bankruptcy.
