Sunnyvale Short Sale: HAFA Limbo

Today I got a call from the listing agent on a Sunnyvale Short Sale where my buyer is waiting patiently. The agent said that the file went into HAFA limbo. A new wrinkle in short sale submission is HAFA elegibility testing.  When a short sale is submitted many banks are automatically sending the file for HAFA review, to see if the owner qualifies. the problem is that too often either the buyer does not qualify and you have lost 6-8 weeks waiting for a reply.  In this case the file just got lost in the HAFA department but the point here is that the banks are doing this automatically. The seller has to specifically ask to be taken out of the program when you submit the short sale package or it will go into auto review.  Since up to this point less than 10,000 HAFA short sales have been approved nation wide it is a real long shot. Since not only does the seller have to qualify, but the investors on the loan and all mortgage insurance holders have to approve the pay off.  It may be that the revamped HAFA program may have better success, but until I see those numbers I will not believe it.  My short sale sellers have opted not to roll the dice, but instead try to move on with their lives sooner rather than later.  So now I have another question to ask the lisiting agent before submitting a short sale offer, "Is the Seller applying for HAFA?"  If so, it is a good bet that there will be an extra 2 months added on to the short sale unless they get approved for the buyer, the price, and the investor's ok ahead of time. If not I will remind the listing agent to opt out.

 

If you have any questions about short sales please feel free to contact me.

 

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

D.R.E  01191194

650-619-9285

 

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

 

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Comments

  • The problem with most of my short sale listings and buyer offers is that this is an expensive area and many of the short sales are non conforming loans so there is no Freddie or Fannie.
  • Marcy:  When I take my listings that is the first thing I do, I do not rush to market,  People will just burn the listing if they don't  determine what system the Short Sale will go.  HAFA or otherwise.  If it is, Fannie or Freddie is pretty easy to determine  If the Servicer is a TARP / HAMP Bank and fits the guidelines it also pretty easy. 

    Hidden MI is an issue and one that is being reseached in some states.  There seems to be a gray area of law on adding this without informing the buyer.  Many people got second trust deeds to avoid this, and then they come to find out they have it.

    I would also like to see some minor changes to HAFA but most of them are administrative.. The idea is beyond sound, its getting the Servicers to follow it.

     

     

  • It is not. It was a jumbo loan.
  • Does the listing agent know if it is a GSE (Fannie / Freddie) HAFA? I know there's a new Help Desk for Fannie Mae short sales that hopefully you can utilize ..
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