While prices are rising in the Silicon Valley there are still homes that are underwater and you may need to short sale your South San Jose home. If this is the case, don't wait!

Bank of America has instituted some new policies which can have a major influence on your South San Jose short sale.

Co-operative Short Sales: Bank of America has a program where they will let you know ahead of time how much they are willing to accept for you South San Jose home in a short sale. Once you agreed to do the short sale they would put a hold on foreclosure activity and give you some money at close of escrow.

The new policy is that there will be no holds on foreclosure until the offer is fully accepted by Bank of America. What this means is that if you can not make your payments  on your South San Jose home and want to short sell you can not wait. You will not be allowed to stay in your home for months trying to modify your loan and trying to get a new job. Once the notice of default has been recorded you will have 3 months to get your South San Jose home sold as a short sale before the notice of trustee sale is recorded. At that point you have another 3 weeks before foreclosure on your South San Jose home.

As any real estate agent familar with south San Jose short sales knows, they take time for approval. Even a Bank of America co-operative short sale can take time. 4 months is not unheard of to obtain approval on a South San Jose Short Sale, so if you can not make your payments, do something or you could lose your home to foreclosure.

If you have any questions about 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

D.R.E. 01191194

650-619-9285

We are happy to announce the closing on another one of our short sale listings, this time in Madison, WI! This was a Bank of America negotiated short sale. Bank of America has made many changes to make their short sale process easier and more efficient. Short sale transactions can be complex, but if you have an experienced Short Sale Realtor® the process is much more manageable.

This was a beautiful home, at a great price that the new owners are sure to enjoy! If you are thinking of selling or buying a short sale home in Wisconsin, our short sale specialists would be happy to assist you. Give Rock Realty a call at 608-921-8536.



Is a Short Sale right for my situation??

If you are considering the possibility of a short sale for your home and have further questions, feel free to visit the page below:

I am so excited about this news! I know, it doesn't take much for me to get excited, but this is really big news in my opinion.

Up until now if you were involved in a Silicon Valley Bank of America Short Sale they did not take electronic signatures. This would have been ok if the bank could sit with you in your conference room and look at the offers. We all know this does not happen and the paperwork will often be faxed several times before B of A gets to see a document. Since they cannot accept illegible documents it made things harder for the participants.

Also, despite the sometime lengthy process of a short sale, Bank of America will often say they need a document now, and not being able to get electronic signatures is sometimes tough.

Now, for any new short sales, you can send all documents with electronic signatures. This makes me very happy. As a Silicon Valley Short Sale Specialist anything that can make a short sale more efficient is ok with me.

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

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

D.R.E. 01191194

I was reading about short sales, as I do every Sunday morning on a great site for short sale information Short Sale Superstars. There was a discussion about a Bank of America Short Sale that had been approved, and then denied after the approval, a few days before closing. The reason:

The seller was a real estate broker and the listing agent works for the seller. The buyer used the listing agent to represent her.

Surprise Surprise, B of A said this is not an Arm's Length Transaction and rescinded the approval.

There are multiple things wrong with transaction so let me see if I can organize the problems coherently.

1. All short sales must be an Arm's Length Transaction and an affidavit needs to be signed by all parties saying they are not related to each other in any way. The listing agent works for the seller so that is not arms length.

2. The seller may be offered a closing incentive by the bank, but is not allowed to receive any money from the buyer. Since the buyer is using the the listing agent who works for the seller and would have received commission for the sale, a portion of which would go to the broker, then the seller is getting money from the buyer.

3. Again, since the listing agent works for the seller and would get commission from the sale, a portion of which would go to the broker, the seller would be receiving money from the sale outside of the closing incentive.

4. The buyer has agreed to a dual agency and is entitled to the information that the listing agent works for the seller and that this can cause potential problems with The Arm's Length Transaction.

I do not know if the seller was trying to pull something over on the bank, or if he was just not familiar with short sales but this was totally avoidable.

Buyers: get your own agent to represent you.

Sellers: If you are a broker, get a different company to represent you. If you are an agent, get another agent to represent you, not your broker, and ask the bank if it is ok to be represented by someone else in your campany first, not after you are about to close.

If you have any questions about buying or selling a short sale 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

If you have a home loan through Bank of America and you are currently concerned about making your payments or your home is worth less than you owe, you may qualify for a short sale incentive from BoA. They refer to it as an 'enhanced relocation assistance payment'. To qualifying home owners/sellers, this could mean a check given to you for up to $30,000 after a successful short sale closing! Trust me, this is no scam. Here is a recent email that was sent to Bank of America Short Sale Specialists, like myself.

My name is Michael Collins, real estate agent and broker at Rock Realty. If you are currently considering a short sale in Wisconsin, I would be happy to walk you through the process and answer any questions you may have. I am certified as a Short Sales & Foreclosure Resource through the WRA.

Realtors® who have earned the SFR certification know how to help sellers maneuver the complexities of short sales as well as help buyers pursue short sale and foreclosure opportunities. The certification program includes training on how to qualify sellers for short sales, negotiate with lenders, protect buyers, and limit risk. Call my cell at 608-921-8536 and we can see if you qualify for any of these incentives.

Also feel free to fill out our simple
Short Sale Home Evaluation Form

Additional Short Sale Information

• Is a Short Sale right for my home?
• Half of Homeowners Underwater on their Mortgage
• Buying a Wisconsin home after a Short Sale or Foreclosure
• Benefits of Buying an Owner-Occupied Wisconsin Short Sale
• Tips for Buying a Wisconsin Short Sale

Bank of America Launchers new Short Sale Processes and Inititaions as of April 13, 2012

In an effort to reduce time frames, get faster approvals and streamline the short sale inititaion process, BOA will be launching new processes as of April 13, 2012.

They are....

1. Concurrent Workflows: This means that instead of BOA waiting to get a BPO until they have recevied all document, they will do the BPO and doucment collection at the same time.

2. Form Standardization: BOA will only accept their forms....for example, only their 3rd Party LOA will be accepted.

3. Back Up Offers: If your initial offer is declined, you will have 5 days to get in a back up offer. Your file will not decline out till after your 5 days.

4. Privacy Changes: To protect the client and Realtor, all communications will be done in Equator only. No outside or Outlook communications anymore.

Before April 13, agents must complete the following task for all current short sales initiated with an offer.

1. Submit short sale offer.

2. Upload offer documents

3. Upload supporting documents

If you don't do these task by 13th. you will get new task and soem task may activate simultaneiously, slowing down the process and possibly declining your file.

Go to the BOA Training by visiting www.BankofAmerica.com/realestateagent

For questions, call 1-866-880-1232

The group this week hit a milestone I wanted to welcome all the new members and thank the first members for their posting of comments and keeping the group active and growing.

This group is to discuss Bank of America properties with Bank Of America and to share solutions to getting more business with Bank of America or getting in the door with Bank of America and to stay up to date on their requirements.

Website: http://reopro.ning.com/group/bankofamerica

Members:                            169

Please share some tips on how to become approved with asset management. I can share some tips from my personal experience. I have just basically attended every netowrking event out there. Join REO networking groups, talk to other agents who have already established relationships with AM's. Also, becoming an area expert an learning the local tenants laws and how they apply to your potential assets. If you have more to share, please do. Thank you!

I was starting to feel like the last player picked in dodge ball. The rejections were really hurting, especially since there was never any reason given. Just messages saying your supporting documents were rejected. Oh the pain!

I finally got a really nice B of A negotiator on the phone today who gave me a simple explanation, the buyer's proof of funds were downloaded as a web page instead of being a PDF of the originals, and the current policy is only original statements are accepted, no web page screen shots.

I guess I should not be surprised. Just yesterday I got an e-mail from PNC saying the same thing. They needed the original October bank statement, not the one that was downloaded from the internet. At least PNC did not tell me I was rejected.

So if you want to keep your ego in tact while doing a short sale with Bank of America or PNC, be sure and give your Santa Clara County short sale agent original bank statements (which you may need to order from your bank if you are paperless), or see if you can download something that does not say web page on the screen. And be sure and ask your agent to get original bank statements for the buyer's proof of funds. There may be other banks requiring that now as well, but these are my two latest encounters.

If you have any questions about buying or selling 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

One of the best things that has happened to short sales in the last couple of years is the on line platform for processing a short sale. There are several platforms in use, but Equator is one of the more popular ones, and is the one used for Bank of America and Wells Fargo Short Sales. So, instead of your agent having to fax all the documents, usually several times, the short sale documents are uploaded as PDFs onto the Equator web site. In order to keep the process moving forward Equator will assign a task to be fulfilled by the agent, like uploading an offer or financial documents onto the website. Once the task is assigned they will give you a fixed number of days to upload the requested documents. This number of days is the same, no matter when the task is assigned. So if it isa 2 day task and it is assigned on a Friday, it is due Sunday, period.

So my latest Bank of America short sale assigned me the task of uploading the signed offer on Friday, with a due date of Sunday, which happens to be Christamas.

And that is why this Palo Alto short sale agent is cheerfully working Christmas Eve. 

Enjoy your holidays!

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

I've seen a lot of articles and blog posts about Wells Fargo, Chase, BofA and others recently. It got me thinking about the future of the REO industry.

I've been an REO agent for over 8 years, back before the REO market was hot. Until recently my largest client was Wells Fargo. Early 2011, Wells Fargo's inventory became non-existant so in June I decided to go out on my own. Knowing that I would lose Wells Fargo as a client (they only work with agencies that have a JV), since there inventory dried up I figured I wouldn't be missing much. Seems I was right, they've only had 2 listings in my area since my move. My question is this.... if you had to align yourself with one major bank moving forward which would you choose? Wells Fargo, BofA, Chase, Other? 

I've found that most Banks prefer to give their REO inventory to agents with working relationships with their local branches (at least with the top 3 mentioned above). I have worked with my local Wells Fargo Rep my entire career, but I refuse to give them business if it's their policy to end a long established relationship with me because I don't have a Joint Venture mortgage company with them. So the question remains, where do I send buyers? Which Bank do you thing will have the most upside in the coming years? 

The group this week hit a milestone I wanted to welcome all the new members and thank the first members for their posting of comments and keeping the group active and growing.

This group is to discuss Bank of America properties with Bank Of America and to share solutions to getting more business with Bank of America or getting in the door with Bank of America and to stay up to date on their requirements.

Website: http://reopro.ning.com/group/bankofamerica
Members: 103

30 days later and there is no Decision on either File,   I do have an update on one, the Freddie Mac Loan…. THEY LOST IT… YES THEY LOST IT!  Here is the letter I wrote to try and get some attention for my clients.

if you want to see the Video Again here is the Link

http://youtu.be/Mf1qacDNT88

Mr. (*&(&(*& )(*)(*)(*):
Senior Vice President, Loss Mitigation
Bank of America

Sometimes emotion can get over wrought and focus is lost, but sometimes that same emotion can bring a clarity that pushes someone into action that saves lives.  I know this for a fact having worked in Law Enforcement and experienced that action. 

Law enforcement personnel are always aware of  public ire and the personal exposure to criminal behavior brought on by malfeasance.  Needing to take action but refusing.   I have decided I will not be accused of malfeasance.  Strong advocacy for my clients and community is my duty and thus your about to feel some emotion, let’s see if I can share some passion.

I brought two transactions to your attention in a video at www.HAFA.us.  One was a Freddie Mac short sale and the other a twin tracked Fannie Mae Loan Mod failure and possible reconsideration or movement into HAFA which was not offered to the client, which is the GSE mandate.   I do not have answers on either of these transactions, it’s been over 30 days.  That does not count the time it sat with your associate Mr. B(*&(&( or Mr. S(*&)(&(&(*&r who suggested I send the file to the Mortgage Side to get the Branch involved. More on steering later.

I am losing it, not enough passion, lets kick this up a notch.  Your Bank is a total failure you are failing the American People the regulators and real estate professions and in the process your costing our country billions of dollars.  We should lock your doors and put you all on the unemployment line and let you feel what it is like to not be able to get out from under the thumb of the worst Bank in the United States.  To fully comprehend the importance of timely action, your team needs to feel the same pain my clients do.  Now I am starting to feel like I am catching a groove, are you feeling how I really feel about what your doing to my clients?

Right after our last correspondence I gave my (*&(& Street transaction to the most capable of professionals to handle in concert with your  Mr. David (*&(&(*&)( and Mrs. C(*&(&(& *****   so there would be full objectivity and I would not be accused of being incompetent. Late today, I found out that your HAFA subcontractor has lost the file or can not see it in Equator, they are looking for the purchase offer.  This is coming from the Escalation Officer at AMS.

This of course means after you issued instruction to escalate these files it has taken 30 days to even look at the file.  I say break out your CHECK BOOK, FREDDIE MAC IS OWNED SOME MONEY.. and by the way I did my job and I want my commission.  Does your company have no shame?  Do you have no liability for reckless abandonment of these files?  Pay me and fix my client’s credit, which you continue to damage!

My Broker of Record who is receiving a copy of this correspondence can personally vouch for the person who has been working the file. The  incompetence of your Bank is not invented and I don’t think questioning the ability of the people who took over the “hands on” of this file is a good strategy to consider.  Fixing the file is not only a better plan it is the only course of action you can take if your to meet your duty to the investors, the GSE and thus the tax payers.  By all mean I encourage you to call my Broker of Record.  I am sure he will tell you,  I am the first to arrive and the last to leave my the office.  I am tireless in trying to help my clients.

If you are testing the ability of advocates to bring timely action, I personally am up to the challenge.  I have not one single thing that I can not afford to lose.  In fact, inasmuch as your quickly destroying our market and the Real Estate Professionals desire to commit to selling your short sale stock, your own inaction will be what rushes you to failure.

I think it was Socrates that said;  “the only thing I can contemplate which could hurt you more than a lie, is the truth.”   Where the truth can not go maybe a Congressional inspired audit or hearings could help. How many loans are you doing this to?  Do you really think you should be handling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan servicing?  These are Public Loans should we be paying for your incompetence?

As you reflect on this tirade, you may want to get your hands on the list of files I gave Mrs C*()(*_* & &)__ ^%$ .  You have more problems headed your way, I want resolves, my clients are not expecting lip service from me.  They contracted with me for results, that is what I owe them.

In contempt for your inaction, the files land on your desk, good managers own the problem, what kind of manager are you?  Tell me do my clients deserve better than your company is providing?  I think they do.

George Kenner

This is the link to the Video’s of the Bank of America VP.

www.HAFA.us/navigate1.htm

George Kenner, Broker Associate Keller Williams Realty, Lic. 01229957

Contact George at 619-723-5714  or email  g.kenner@yahoo.com

When do you think I am going to recommend B of A for a Mortgage?

How will this effect your current short sale negotiations? Direct
approved assigned short sales are coming fast but are current BofA REO agents
going to get those listings?

Bank of America Home Loans has announced that it will exit the
reverse mortgage origination business and move the unit’s operational resources
into other critical areas serving customers. Bank of America Home Loans will
continue to serve the needs of existing reverse mortgage customers and those
with loans in process.

“We made the strategic decision to exit the reverse business due
to competing demands and priorities that require investments and resources be
focused on other key areas of our business,” said Doug Jones, consumer sales
and institutional mortgage services executive for Bank of America Home Loans.
“We fully understand the critical sensitivity of ensuring that our senior
customers are provided with the same level of excellent customer service that
we have provided in the past.”

On Thursday, Bank of America announced the definitive sale of its
Balboa Insurance organization to the QBE Insurance Group Ltd. The exit from the
reverse mortgage market is an additional step in the efforts of Bank of America
Home Loans to focus on its core mortgage operations.

Bank of America Home Loans entered the reverse mortgage business
in 2006 and expanded its presence in 2007 following the acquisition of Reverse
Mortgage of America in 2007 and Countrywide Financial Corporation in 2008.
Associates not redeployed will have the opportunity to apply for open positions
at Bank of America.

Bank of America President and Chief Executive Officer Brian
Moynihan also announced changes to Bank of America Home Loans and Insurance that
will continue the company’s strong momentum in extending home mortgage credit
while improving its leading mortgage modification programs for distressed
homeowners and resolving legacy mortgage issues.

The decision is the latest in a series of significant actions
taken to resolve outstanding mortgage-related issues while solidifying the
company’s leading position in mortgage finance. Bank of America in September
2010 initiated a self-assessment of default servicing, and in October became
the first servicer to voluntarily suspend foreclosure sales in all 50 states
while evaluating the process. While the review of the foreclosure process found
that the underlying grounds for foreclosure decisions has been accurate, Bank
of America implemented a series of improvements—including staffing, customer
impact, and quality controls.

Barbara Desoer, Bank of America Home Loans president, will
continue building the mortgage business for Bank of America. Desoer is
responsible for servicing loans for the more than 12 million mortgage customers
who remain current on their accounts, and for implementing the bank’s strategy
to be the preferred mortgage choice for its 50 million household customers
going forward. In 2010, Bank of America delivered $306 billion in quality mortgage
lending to 1.4 million customers.

At the same time, a newly formed unit, Legacy Asset Servicing, has
been established. Terry Laughlin will lead this unit and be responsible for
servicing all defaulted loans, and for servicing discontinued residential mortgage
products. In this role, Laughlin will oversee the bank’s mortgage modification
and foreclosure programs, and continue to be responsible for resolving
residential mortgage representation and warranties repurchase claims.

“This alignment allows two strong executives and their teams to
continue to lead the strongest home loans business in the industry, while
providing greater focus on resolving legacy mortgage issues,” said Moynihan.
“We believe this will best serve customers—both those seeking homeownership and
those who face mortgage challenges—as well as our shareholders and the
communities we serve.”

First off, let's all agree that at some point in some random conversation with some random person, we have all done it. We have all bragged about our success but, to be arrogant and bragging....well, it's stomach turning.

I just got off the phone with a local agent who wanted to know the status of one of my short sale listings. Well, if you are an avid reader of my blogs, you know....i don't play that game so, I asked her specifically what she would like to know.

Instead of asking me a question she proceeds to tell me how she doesn't like showing Bank of America short sale listings. Because I didn't hear any question in her statement, this strange awkward silence fell onto the conversation like a lead balloon and then she pipes up and ask, "are you still there?"

I replied, "yes, I was waiting for your question." Ok.....maybe it was a smart ass response but, I knew what she was wanting to know and, to be honest, I didn't and will not provide that information so, unless you specifically ask, I am not going to volunteer it. Anyways, she asked, "Is this with Bank of America". I honestly replied with a "I don't know" because at that specific time, I didn't. You see, I have over 25 listings currently, all in different stages of sale and it's not practical or even within my ability to know details on every single file just off the top of my head.....that's why I have files.

So, she huffed...just like a little girl who has been told she can't have another cookie from the cookie jar...she actually huffed, I heard her huff. Well, this action on her part almost caused me to go into a death spiral of laughter but, I held back...with a tear in my eye, it was hilarious.

She then asked me how it was possible that I didn't know. Ok.....well, the thought crossed my brow like a news ticker in times square, "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" but, I didn't say that because, I am sooo above that...right?

Anyways, I answered her question, "I have 25 listings at the moment and my buyer's team is handling over 100 leads so, for me to keep track of every file off the top of my head isn't practical." Yes, I was a bit snobby when I replied but, who the hell does she think she is to ask such a question?

She then replies with an arrogant and condescending, "Well that must be nice?" Not sure if that was a statement or a question, I replied, "It is."

After this point, her tone changed and she started talking in some weird alien language that i couldn't understand. It's that same tone your mother or wife uses when they are just about to hit their stride with nagging you about everything you didn't get done over the weekend. Women, just a word of advice, when working or dealing with a man, if you manage to hit that magical, nerve wrecking, skin crawling, hateful thought evoking tone, we men....even us "non-traditional" men.....SHUT DOWN! At that point, nothing you say is being heard or even understood so, go...take a nape, wax your upper lip, shave your pits....do whatever it is you do and then come back when you can talk more reasonably. Just a thought.

Now, I can't really recall what she was saying but, I did hear some key words. They were,"don't like Bank of America, takes too long, my clients don't have a year to wait" so, i got the idea and I interrupted her and informed her that even if the property was with Bank of America, with Equator and the new style of customer service in Bank of America's Short Sale Department, no reason why we couldn't get a deal done in 60 days or even less.

She then seems to have ignored everything I said, I guess women have a tone threshold as well, and started telling me that she knows all about Equator and that Bank of America called her once to offer her to be a agent for them and she turned them down.

Ok, for those of you REO agents who are experienced...or maybe not even ever sold a REO, if Bank of America calls you to offer you a job to list their assets and you turn them down either you are an absolute fool or you are just an absolute idiot.

At this point, I knew this woman had no clue, she just wanted to waste my time with her stories of how she knows all about short sales and I realized that she had no clue who she was talking to.

Yes, I had to brag a bit at the end....did you catch that?

Stay Safe, Stay Funny and don't forget to be Fabuloustastic!

Well it seems that now some of the big banks are freezing foreclosure procedures due to their inavility to comply with local laws and regulations that protect the home owners or delay the foreclosure procedures, it seems that some lenders have rush the foreclosure procedures and broke the laws. First started wtih GMAC, then Chase, now Bank of America.

There are several issues with this new moratorium, first there will be more banks adding to this list, and this mess might not be sorted out until March or May of next year, that might be done on purpose because the GSE are pushing for the lender to take action on the late loans, see the news on Wells Fargo last week. http://www.dsnews.com/articles/wells-fargo-puts-stop-to-short-sale-extensions-2010-10-01. Also the OCC ordered the Largest Servicers to review their foreclosure process. This might not affect us because they are liquidating their inventory little by little to avoid a really hard crash and decline of propery values, lets face it, with low prices, low interest and no one is buying, it is hard to say if it is because they are not lending or because there is very little confidence from buyers, but also at the end of the day we all need shelter, so it makes sense to purchase now, and I have seen several potential buyer not been able to qualify for a home mortgage loan.

The other problem I see is the rumble from lawyers and previouse owners, who will try to sue the lenders for not been in compliance with the federal and local laws and regulations of the foreclosure procedures, etc. I did a cash for key on Saturday, and the borrower just kept asking me if my client was following the right procedures, if they were going to join Bank of America and Chase with this issue, etc.

It is going to be interesting to follow this new moratorium, because of the political impact and the possible impact it might have in the business. I think if the foreclosure process was not done correctly, then what would they do, if the house is already sold, can the courts reverse the sales, etc, then we will have the issue of the current owner. Most likely this would be ratified with money, how much? morally the prevoius borrower was in default, but I am sure there could be damages, etc. Would the courts and the credit bureus wipe out the "Foreclosure" from their records so maybe if their finances have change they can get a loan, would the lender try to work something where they can put the previous owner with a new loan or similar loan to the previuos one in one of their houses.

As REO agents I think is important for us to do as many Cash for Keys as possible, this way the previous owner has agreed to relinquish his/her home to the bank, but I am sure there are some loopholes there too. Well maybe the new assignments from the bank would be more like deed in lieu with a lot of legal terms to protect the bank, and I hope we can have the right documents to protect ourselves just in case,