Short Sale Sign in the Yard

I need my home listed ASAP!

by Atlanta Short Sale Agent on February 5, 2010

This happens quite a bit.  I get a call from someone about their short sale and they are frantically wanting to get the home on the market.  In some cases, they want to get their home on the market but they can’t make time to meet with our team or make the home available for photos, etc.

Selling your home as a short sale is more than just putting it on the market.  ANYONE CAN LIST A HOME (as long as they have a real estate license).  Not everyone can navigate through a short sale and have it completed successfully.

When you are interviewing agents, ask them how many short sale SELLERs have they represented.  There’s nothing more disheartening to find out that a seller got anxious and decided to list with whoever would show up first without any due diligence on either parts.

If you haven’t seen this video on selecting a Short Sale Agent, head over to the About us page.

Here’s a few questions to eliminate the wheat from the chaffe:

  • How do you handle a Mortgage Insurance company’s involvement in the short sale?
  • How much to 2nd Lien holders typically get?
  • How many sellers have you successfully represented in a short sale?
  • Who does the negotiation with the bank?  Are they local?
  • Will I receive a 1099 for the difference?  (I’m going to post the answer in another post, but the short version is ALWAYS yes, the difference is that if the home is your primary residence – that is you bought the home to live in – then you will not be liable)

{ 0 comments }

What does “PMI” have to do with a Short Sale?

by Atlanta Short Sale Agent on January 29, 2010

Here’s your scenario:

PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance, also known as Mortgage Insurance) company has a policy on the shorted loan that says they will pay the investor 20% of the loan amount.  So if you have a 400K loan, that’s $80K total payout.  In order to pay this, the insurance policy has certain things in place to make sure, just like any insurance policy, it’s designed NOT to be paid out.  Some of those actually related to short sales.

In a short sale, the investor would like to get the insurance to cover their loss on this. In most cases,  20% of the total loan PLUS whatever the investor gets through REO Sale = MORE THAN YOUR SHORT SALE.

That’s a big fail.

This is why you see Bank of America short sales getting so many complaints.  The investor is saying, “I want to help you, but based on my due diligence and my insurance policy, you need to bring another 20K to the table.” Dead deal.

{ 0 comments }

Lenders Pursue Mortgage Payoffs Long After Home Owners Default

January 28, 2010

According to business week, this is a common practice, one that makes it scary to even think about a deed in lieu or a foreclosure.
Deficiency judgments were rare in the 15 years since the last real estate slump, said Ben Hillard, a former investment banker who now is a real estate and corporate attorney at [...]

Read the full article →

Program 3648 – Other Certifications

January 19, 2010

After a late night of browsing I stumbled onto a site that said it had Certified Program 3648 Advisors.  I thought for sure this would be something that I would be immediately certified in, simply due to the sheer volume of short sales I’ve been able to complete in the last few years.
NOT SO!  Apparently [...]

Read the full article →

Bank of America Short Sales

January 13, 2010
Bank of America Short Sale

To say that Bank of America short sales are the worst is to say that World War II sucked.  It doesn’t even come close to describing what it is like to deal with Bank of America on a short sale. That being said, they are predictable at least, once you know few things.
Here’s a few [...]

Read the full article →

Here’s An Example Of An Agent Who Does Not Do Short Sales

January 4, 2010
Short Sale Agent

I read this on a forum post the other day and thought, this is the perfect example of an agent who does not understand the short sale process.  Before you read on, please be aware that a short sale involves getting all the parties to agree, so it’s more than a simple negotiation with the [...]

Read the full article →

Do You Have An FHA Mortgage? Short Sales Are A Breeze

December 22, 2009

If you have an FHA mortgage then you might qualify for your lender to “pre-approve” your short sale with what is called a “Pre-Foreclosure Sale.”  I can’t tell you specifically how the two are really different at the end of the day.   However, I can tell you that we are closing short sales in record [...]

Read the full article →

Short Sale FAQ – Do you have to be late or behind?

December 17, 2009

The short answer is finally yes. 
You must be at least 30 days delinquent for a short sale.
In over a year with shorts sales, we noticed a trend in the last 60 days to get more agressive with borrowers who have the financial ability to pay. 
Previously, if you moved out of the home and could “barely” afford [...]

Read the full article →

Short Sales – Top 3 Worst Banks To Deal With Not Named Bank Of America

December 14, 2009
Thumbnail image for Short Sales – Top 3 Worst Banks To Deal With Not Named Bank Of America

As the leader in Short Sales in Georgia, we’ve  developed a list of banks that we do not like.  Of course, Bank of America would be on this list but what others?
Aurora Short Sale
Aurora short sales have this impossible to understand practice of resetting the ENTIRE process once a new buyer is presented.  For example, [...]

Read the full article →

Wells Fargo Short Sale

December 14, 2009
Wells Fargo Short Sale

Every month as more and more short sales come to our team, we’re still amazed with how fast Wells Fargo (or rather ASC) moves the short sale through.  In fact, it’s so amazing that we’d almost pay just to work with Wells Fargo Short Sales.
A Wells Fargo short sale will take less time to close [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries