Redwood City Short Sale Closed, Most Challenging I Ever Had

I finally closed a Redwood City short sale that started in Sept of 2011. Yes, one year for a short sale. What was the problem? Let me count down just the top 10.

10. The sellers asked another agent in my office to sell this home as a short sale but this wonderful agent had never listed a short sale before. She asked me to help her, but by the time she did they were 2 weeks from the trustee sale date and the sellers were sitting on a perfectly good offer they thought was too low.

9. There was a first and second loan with Chase as well as a large 3rd loan which was a carry back from the previous owner. The seller wanted me to negotiate with Chase but have her lawyer negotiate with the 3rd lender.

8. The seller refused to give me any of her financial documents and said she would provide them to Chase herself.

7. The first approval came in Dec of 2011 at purchase price with 5K going to the second and 11K going to the 3rd. The seller said the 3rd lender was going to take that offer, but then the lawyer for the seller said the 3rd lender rejected the offer.

6. The buyer offered to give the 3rd lender another 10K. No response from 3rd lender. Chase said the buyer could not pay off third.

5. The approval from Chase expired, the negotiator at Chase left the country, the house was put back on the market asking for a large contribution to the 3rd. Chase said buyer could not pay off 3rd.

4. New buyer came in and offered 30K to the third on top of the old price (515K).

3. New BPO said house is worth 540-560K so Chase said offer is not high enough. Lawyer for seller and seller told me I should start negotiating with the 3rd. He said he wanted 80K from the buyer and 7K from Chase. I get him down to 50K, Chase said submit again.

2.Buyer, Chase, 3rd lender, seller all agreed to purchase price of 562K with 50K going to 3rd from the buyer and no contribution from Chase. Chase inexplicably changed their policy and will now allow the buyer to contribute to the 3rd payoff. Chase said close by Aug 31.

1. Lots of delays getting the loan funded. Aug 29th still no loan docs. Chase said after 10 trustee sale postponements they were done. Close on Aug 31 or they take the house back. Seller was in Europe but managed to come to back last week of Aug to get her things and sign off. Buyers agent got lender to fund without loan docs and we somehow managed to get buyers signed and closed on Aug 31.

This was a tough one. Most short sales are not this hard, but the secret here was believing that no does not mean no. Not a lesson I would want to teach to my children, but in the short sale world it is a great one.

Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty
www.marcymoyer.com``
marcy@marcymoyer.com
650-619-9285
D.R.E. 01191194

What I Learned About Chase Offering To 3rd Liens on a Redwood City Short Sale

I know a lot of you are going to think I am crazy but I really love short sales. I am sorry that the market is such that there are many people who need to sell their homes short, but that is the current reality. Given that reality there are many things about the short sale process that I enjoy, fewer things that I just tolerate, and even fewer I hate. 

I HATE PRIVATE THIRD LIENS ON SHORT SALES!!!! I can not emphasize this enough. 3rd liens are always tough, but private ones are the worst, because very often there is an emotional component to the person holding the private third, and also because it is often not a large, impersonal bank losing the money, it is a real person, who probably was depending on that income.

But feelings aside, I learned something very interesting today from Chase. I was told it is their policy to only give $1000 to a third lien, period. This is good information to have, because while they made an exception for me on a Redwood City short sale, I do not expect to get it again. 

So next time I take a short sale listing with Chase as the first lender and a private 3rd lender, I will be able to negotiate upfront with a solid number. If the third is unwilling to take $1000 then I can hopefully find out what they will take, and get that worked out up front.

If you have any questions about buying or selling short sales in Santa clara or San Mateo County please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

D.R.E. 01191194

Marcy Moyer Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto, Ca. Specialist in Short Sales and Trust and Probate Sales

It's a Good Idea To Check Your Redwood City Trustee Sale Postponement

Unfortunately many homeowners get behind in their mortgage payments. The good thing is that there are many programs out there to help homeowners including loan modification programs or short sales.  Very often a trustee sale date is set before a short sale or loan modification is completed, but this date is most likely be postponed in order to give the homeowner the opportunity to work thinking out with the bank. The homeowner or their agent needs to ask the bank representative with whom they are working to postpone the trustee sale date. That rep will then make sure it is ok with the investor on the loan (which it usually is) and then postpone the sale. The record of postponement can be found on foreclosure tracking sites like www.foreclosureradar.com

However, sometimes mistakes are made.  While I do not subscribe to the theory that corporations are people, it is actual people who have to deal with the day to day operational issues, and sometimes they make mistakes.  Someone may have agreed to a postponement and for what ever reason the word did not get to the person who actually makes that happen.

Last week I went to a trustee sale on the San Mateo County court house steps for the first time. It was very interesting. There were 2 people there whose homes had been scheduled for a trustee sale but were postponed. At the beginning of the sale the auctioneer reads off the addresses of the sales that have been canceled or postponed. The people who were there to check on their homes left after they heard that their postponements actually did happen. At the time I thought that was overkill, but I changed my mind quickly.

I was there checking on another property that had been listed as a short sale. This particular property was sold back to the bank, by mistake. It had in fact gotten an offer that was acceptable to the bank but someone forgot to stop the sale. It was not a big conspiracy or a plot for the bank or investor to take back this property, just a human mistake.

So if you are in a situation where there is a trustee sale date that you have been told is postponed or canceled, I would recommend going to the court house on the originally scheduled date and making sure. It is a lot easier to save your house before a foreclsoure than after.

If you have any questions about short sales in San Mateo or Santa Clara County please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

D.R.E. 01191194

Marcy Moyer Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto, Ca. Specialist in Short Sales and Trust and Probate Sales