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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

I have been working on a Redwood City short sale with Chase since last September. Now if this were 2009 this would be more like dog bites man rather than man bites dog. But it is 2012 and most short sales do not take so long. However, this one has a 3rd loan for a lot of money and it slowed the process down.

Selling the property at market value was not that hard, despite being on a fairly busy street. We got an offer for $510,000 and a BPO for $510,000 so it started out ok. By December I had approval on the first and second with a payoff of 6K to the third who had previously owned the home and had a $120K note on the property.

Third lender said no way. He wanted 65K as a note from the seller or cash from the buyer.

Buyer and seller said no. Buyer walked.

House went back on the market and we got another offer right away. This was February.

Chase did a new BPO and said the value had increased to $560,000. New buyer agreed to pay the 3rd loan 50K plus $560,000 to chase. After several months Chase said no, they were not going to allow the third lender to get so much money. That was May.

We were then told to try submitting a new offer to see if we could get a different answer. Well that sounded like the definition of insanity to me, but we tried. So we submitted a new offer of $562K plus $50K going to the third lender. Keep in mind that every month during all of this we had to get Chase to postpone the trustee sale.

So several weeks ago the new offer for the Redwood City Short Sale got to the new negotiator who ordered a new BPO. She said the BPO's value had not changed again and the offer was fine as it was. I asked about the issue of the third lender getting so much money and she said she thought it would be fine.

I was doubtful, but she was right. Today we got a Short Sale Approval Letter!!!!!  I never believed this would happen but I persisted anyway and it was worth it.

So now my Redwood City Short Sale has Chase Approval, my sellers can get on with their life, the buyer has the home of his dreams, the third lender who is a human, not a big bank has at least a good portion of his money back, and Chase can get a bad performing asset of their books as well as market value for the home. We all won on this one.

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

If you receive a letter from Chase Bank stating that you are eligible for a short sale incentive, please do not throw it away. It is not a scam. Distressed home owners have been receiving these letters for over a year now, and guess what? They are the real deal!


Real estate agents and Realtors® have been reporting that their clients are getting large checks cut to them at closing. In some cases, as much as $30,000! Yes, Chase Bank is not only forgiving the debt on a short sale, they are giving the current sellers/owners a check at closing. Don't believe it? See an example letter below:


My name is Michael Collins. 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.


Original Post -
Chase Bank Short Sale Seller Incentive


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

As a Menlo Park Short Sale Agent I get asked this a lot. My answer is a definitive sort of, especially if it is a Chase short sale. 

Here is how it may make a difference.

Some homeowners owe more on their homes than the home is worth, the definition of being underwater. The home is not going to sell for what it is worth, it will sell at or around market value. The bank generally understands that. The bank as representative for the investor on the loan wants to lose as little money as possible, but knows there is going to be some loss.

The banks have procedures in place to approve short sales. At Chase they have the number of people who have to approve a short sale broken down by the amount of loss, not by the value of the house. 

So if the loss is $250,000 or less, only one lowest level of negotiator needs to approve. If the loss is $250,000 to $350,000 the offer goes to the 1st negotiator and then a negotiator one level up. At $350,000-$450,000 it goes to the first 2 plus one level up in management. And so forth.

So the greater the loss the more people have to approve before it even gets to the investor and/or mortgage insurance company. Each person who needs to approve can ask for more documentation or just ok the file. All of this takes time.

The bottom line, the bigger the loss, the more time you should expect for approval and the more doumentation you may need to provide.

So knowing that, don't try to keep up with the Joneses. Just because your best friend's short sale was approved in 3 weeks, and you are still waiting at 8 weeks, it does not mean you got the B team looking at your file. You just may have more managers that have to approve that are gumming up the process.

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

Many homeowners who are having trouble paying their mortgages will stop opening their mail from the lender. It is understandable to feel, what is the point? I can't pay and nothing they say to me will change that. However, if your lender is Chase you may want to open that letter.

Chase is giving relocation assistance to some homeowners who are in default if they agree to short sell their home. The incentives can be anywhere from $2500 to $45,000. Not everyone will get this incentive, and there is no uniform way that these incentives will be offered. In other words, Chase is not saying why one borrower gets an incentive and another does not.

So if you get a letter from Chase, open it up. It may say you have won the lottery. You will need to find an experienced Sunnyvale short sale agent to help you sell your home, or Chase will give you the names of some who can help you. You then list your home as a short sale, accept an offer, have it approved by Chase, and at closing you get your relocation assistance.

It is a pretty good deal if you ask me, an experienced Sunnyvale Short Sale Agent.

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

650-619-9285

D.R.E. 01191194

Just got approval on another short sale in San Jose with Chase. They are getting to be one of my favorites!

This was not straight forward. Client lost his job and was not able to make payments. He tried a loan mod but did not qualify due to having too much in retirement account. Client is close to retiring.

Put condo on market and got 13 offers. The San Jose inventory for small affordable condos is quite low. Accepted an offer 30% over asking price, cash, with no appraisal contingency. Asking price was market value at the time of the listing. Last 2 sales in the complex were within 5K of listing price.

6 weeks later get approval from Chase but buyer, who was an investor, dropped out.

I start to worry because none of the other 12 offers were over 10% over list price and I am afraid Chase (or actually Freddie) will want more since first offer was so high.

Submit a back up offer for 10% over list price, cash with no contingencies. 4 weeks later get approval.

Everyone is happy!!!

So fortunately the first offer which was so high did not taint the the process, and since there was no foreclosure date set there was not a danger of losing the condo to a foreclosure. But this is a risk in short sales in the Silicon Valley. The inventory is low. There are many investors and first time buyers in the market competing with each other. Sometimes people make ridiculous offers which they later regret.

How do you know what is the best offer? Is it the highest, is it the owner who wants this home more than anything, is it the person who puts the most money in escrow, has the least contingencies?

This is a complicated question that deserves its own blog. But my best advice to sellers of short sales is start by picking an experienced agent who knows how to analyze offers from a short sale perspective. This is not the same as a traditonal sale perspective. And understand that sometimes things go south, so be prepared for some bumps in the road to finally get to the magic words:

Congratulations: You are off the hook!

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

I am helping out on a short sale in Redwood City where Chase is servicing the first and second loan. What this means is that the owner has first and second mortgages that were originally gotten from Chase. These loans were then sold to investors and Chase maintained the servicing. This means that ultimately Chase no longer makes the decision about whether or not to approve a short sale. The problem is there is also a third lender, and the third lender wants a lot of money to approve the short sale. The buyer agreed to pay the third what he wants, but the investor for Chase's first loan said no way. I guess from that investor's perspective if they foreclose they do not have to pay off the second or third and they get to keep all the money. Maybe they will make more if they foreclose. 

But maybe they won't. And in any case foreclosures are complicated and costly, and we have a ready willing and able buyer. Chase seems to have tried to convince the investor to take the offer. The Short Sale Department at Chase has even told us to submit another offer in an attempt to change the investor's mind.

I do not know if the new offer will make any difference, but I am immensely impressed with Chase's efforts on our behalf. I obviously am not privy to all of the number crunching as to who gets what if there is a short sale vs a foreclosure, but I do know at least Chase is really trying to help the borrower avoid foreclosure. That makes me feel pretty warm and fuzzy about them today.

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

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 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

There are several different types of short sales that will approve your price and the seller's eligibility before you get an offer. If you do not qualify for one of those programs (like HAFA or Bank of America co-operative short sales) then you can try to do a traditional short sale.

In most traditional short sales after the seller signs an offer, his/her short sale real estate agent will send the offer and all of the seller's financial documents to the lender. This can be a time consuming process, and if the lender is still using faxes to gather information rather than online platforms, several weeks can be lost while the lender checks to make sure all the needed documents have been collected.

Chase has a policy which makes this portion of the short sale truly shorter. Once the seller signs the listing agreement the short sale realtor can send all of the documentation to Chase. Once an offer is received and signed, you will be weeks ahead of the game.

So, if you are short selling your home with Chase be sure and ask your short sale realtor to send in your documents right away and save time when you get that offer!

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? 

Ok not really but I really wanted to announce that somehow NAHREP has figured out how to get the shortsale and REO department VP to come to a two hour presentation this Thursday at 11 am in Pasadena CA!

Amazing low cost...$25.00!!! Two hundred seats still available! Shall I bring my resume? I am definitely going full on business attire for this....never can tell they just might be in a good mood that day to hand over a listing.

Hope to see some of us there!

Read all about it here:

http://www.dsnews.com/articles/old-republic-will-no-longer-insure-jpmorgan-and-chase-2010-10-05

I figured something like this would start to happen with the title companies as their going to be on the hook.

I can't imagine what will happen to the market if more title companies quit insuring foreclosures.

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,