In case you don’t know what a short sale is…it is when the bank agrees to release the owner of a property from their mortgage obligation for less than what is owed.  There are plenty of people in situations where they must do a short sale on their property because the value of their home has declined and they have no equity in the home.  Many of these people are ones that took out 100% loans or have taken a 2nd mortgage and used their equity for other purposes.

Banks will accept short sales, but you must be PATIENT whether you are a seller or  buyer.  If you are getting behind on payments and feel like the ball is starting to roll down hill, DON”T WAIT, contact a Realtor that can work with you and your bank to get a short sale approved.  If you are a buyer, don’t expect to get a response from an offer within 48-72 hours as the banks have a process to go through.  There is nothing you can do to speed that process up.  The bank will get financial information from the bank, then get an appraisal on the property.  It depends on the type of loan and mortgage insurance on what the bank will accept.  It is usually somewhere in the 88% level.  If an offer is received, it’s not uncommon for a bank to tell the Realtor not to even submit it unless it meets their financial objectives.  They usually will not respond in writing so it’s frustrating as anybody with business sense knows that this is not the way to do business.

So, today reminds me of why customers feel so alone in dealing with this difficult process.  The banks are not real responsive, they have generally hired someone that quite frankly doesn’t care about the house or whether it sells, it’s just another file on their desk.  I am working on just such a case today.  I am so frustrated that I wrote to my representative and the Majority Leader to express my frustration with the current environment.  Probably won’t change things, but I feel a tad bit better.

Tags: buying, Council Bluffs Home Sales Market, Financing a home, Home Mortgages, Omaha/Council Bluffs Residential Real Estate Consulting

Posted on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 at 5:23 pm and is filed under Appraisal, Buy a House, First Time Home Buyers, Foreclosures, Homes for Sale, Housing Market, Mortgages, Property, Questions and Answers, Real Estate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.