short Sale...Let me know your experiences

[Anonymous]

Hello All!!

I am in the middle of purchasing a short sale. The initial short sale package was sent to the seller's bank since middle of July.

It is now end of Oct and still no response. Apparently the seller's mortgage is through Wells Fargo and I get mixed reviews about how they handle short sales. I don't to give up on this home because I feel this is truly the home for me and my family...

According to the listing agent, the negotiator has been giving attitudes with her and all the negiator would say is "it's still processing".

The short sale package is now being referred to a supervisor which may take 7 business days to get a response.

My rate is locked until this Friday and we have already passed our 3rd closing date....

Please share your experiences with Short Sale purchases.....

[HelpAppreciated]

I'm in the midst of a short sale now.  The financing fell through for the initial buyer so they put the house back on the market.  I put an offer on the house that was accepted by the seller the same day.  The short sale was approved for the initial buyer (it took 6 weeks for the approval of the initial buyer); however, they had to do everything again (assign new negotiator, BPO, etc) and it has now been 5 weeks since I put my offer in.  I am hoping to receive an approval by next week.  Will keep you updated.

[Anonymous]

Hi -

We signed a short sale contract June 30th, which was accepted by the seller the same day. The seller had not previously considered a short sale and submitted his hardship package mid-July. By mid-August Bank of America had asked for all of the financials and updated HUDs and everything from the seller. An appraisal and second BPO was requested mid-September and was completed 2 weeks ago. We are waiting for Bank of America to log it into their system. We are hoping to close before Nov 30th as we are first time homebuyers, and we also have a rate lock at 4.875%...but I'm not holding my breath. 

Our seller also only has the first mortgage, whereas many short sellers have a second or HELOC. I am REALLY REALLY not trying to burst your bubble, but it could be a while. To the poster above me...if you get approved in 6 weeks, that would be awesome! Good luck. 

[kai_1103]

I put an offer in on a short sale two months ago now.  Seller approved right away, but the bank hasn't looked at it yet.  They finally answered some calls from the listing agent, but for the most part they just ignore him and won't look at the offer yet.

Its a very long process.  If you have a lot of time... then it could be beneficial.  If you are in a hurry, then I would avoid a short sale.  If you have the time, it could be a great price for the home though, which is what I am hoping for!

[Anonymous]

well, after being totally pessimistic (ha!) we just got approval from the bank yesterday at offer price, with no stipulations other than we have to close by 11/26.

total time from submission of package (the house wasn't on the MLS prior to us submitting the offer, and the owner had a foreclosure date but hadn't considered short sale) to estimated closing will be almost exactly 4 months. 

the longest part was getting from the package submission to ordering the appraisal. once the appraisal was complete, it was only about a 2 week turnaround for approval from both B of A and the investor (I think Fannie). 

i think the keys to us having a fairly successful, uneventful short sale process were:

1. the seller NOT having a 2nd mortgage, HELOC, etc., on the house

2. having an agent who had done this before.  it would have been very easy for her to screw up at any point and delay the whole thing. she was also very persistent - by the end she was calling every other day for updates, and updating our log to say we were first time homebuyers, needed to close, had a rate lock expiring, etc. don't get me wrong, our agent is somewhat of a ditz and i had to stay on HER to do these things. but she knew HOW to do them, and it just helped things along that I wasn't passive. 

3. being patient. we knew to expect an average of a 4 month wait time, and that's what we got. the first couple of months are hard because nothing is happening. even last week they were telling us the appraisal still hadn't been logged in. and all of a sudden....we got the approval letter this weekend. 

4. preapproval. i'm not sure how much this helped, but it couldn't have hurt. we had a letter of commitment from our lender submitted to the bank during month 2 of the whole process. i think it at least let them see we were serious. 

anyway - there's my story. i'm not too concerned about closing (although you never trust anything until you've got the keys), because we've got the letter, the seller is moving out right now, and all our lender needs to do is their own appraisal. purchase price in 2006 was $510K, we are purchasing for $243K with a 30 year fixed at 4.875% and a homebuyer credit! 

don't lose hope...just be patient! it happens!

[Anonymous]

Icinva. You don''t know how much your story has inspired me. I have been up and down about this whole process but I know if I have made it this far, there is no stopping us now!!! Thank you so so much for sharing and Congrats on your new home!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DallasLoanGuy]

My experience?

 Months for the short sale approval..... Many move on and find another home waiting for approval.

[Client9]

after three failed attemptsto buy a short sale, I said screw it and bought a non short sale property. 

too much hassle, too much waiting, seller's agents being all flaky and not knowing what they were doing.

I wasnt going to risk not closing by November 30 and lose out on the tax credit due to some flaky agent.

[Anonymous]

We are supposed to close on our short sale next week on our second extension.  We made our offer 6/29 and did not receive written approval from the seller's bank until 9/22, which was pretty fast as I understand it.  They wanted us to close by 10/15, but the house needs a lot of repairs and we have to get an FHA 203k streamline loan.  Takes longer.  We got an extension until 10/30 and then another extension until 11/16.  We are supposed to close by 11/13.  I'm waiting for my clear to close, which should come tomorrow according to the broker(stupid bank even wanted explaination for our daughter "Meri"...we don't have a daughter...lol...we have a son, Jose..so we had to write a letter to explain, lol).  I think it will all work out.  The key is to close before the bank decides to foreclose, which I think they will do if we don't meet this deadline.  But we have reached the point where we are ok with whatever happens.  GL

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing Aurion07. Would you mind sharing which bank was connected with the seller's loan?