patrick.net

FalconMaster - I believe you are right. I believe it is illegal for a bank's legal representative to make a series of increasing offers until we arrive at their nut. If we had pursued any litigation against them, though, I am certain it would not amount to much. Even if a court forced them to sell us the house for the originally offered price, they could create a paper chase that could last for years. I was just glad to find out how banks operate early on in the short sale process. As much as we liked that house, we knew the aggravation of pursuing that purchase on the bank's playing field and with their ever changing rules far outweighed the prize, if indeed there was to be any prize to be had. We are much better off where we are now. Thanks for writing!

Make sure the Purchase Agreement (offer) includes a Short Sale Addendum. Furthermore, make sure that the check boxes stating that none of the time-periods described in the P.A. nor the cashing of the deposit check are to begin/take place until 1 day after seller delivers written consent of Short-Sale Lenders' approval.

As far as liens, everything will have to be cleared before transfer of title. Escrow will handle this.

Other than that, be very patient. I always tell buyers offering on short sales to continue looking and even submitting offers if they find something else they like. You never know...

"Make sure the Purchase Agreement (offer) includes a Short Sale Addendum. Furthermore, make sure that the check boxes stating that none of the time-periods described in the P.A. nor the cashing of the deposit check are to begin/take place until 1 day after seller delivers written consent of Short-Sale Lenders’ approval."

Whoa, see this is very specific good advice that I was looking for. Thanks.

@cearka - You're welcome.

Would love to see these forums become a valuable resource for exchanging information rather than soapboxing.

Conejo Valley Agent says

@cearka - You’re welcome.
Would love to see these forums become a valuable resource for exchanging information rather than soapboxing.

These forums are a valuable source of information. Just because this does not cater to your business interest in snob hills, it doesn't make these forums any less valuable.

I don't like short sales without someone knowing how to do a short sale and even a lot of agents did not know what they were a couple of years ago. You asked an agent what a short sale is. He would ask you what? Know why they never were really involved in them. The lenders and the investors were the only ones that even knew about them. Sometimes and investor would not want his time taken up true. So that left Realtors that delt with investors.

Solver you are sharp on a lot of things. Thank you for the compliment. But in talking about builders I can see you have been around for a while. Banks will not deal in unfinished houses. Someone said that. So if you are looking for financing on a unfinished house. You will have to go elsewhere.

Shortsales take skills to get a house 30% under current market. With the junk they are using to keep pricing artificially high. You will get burned good. If you don't know what you are doing.

Like Trulia and Zillow. If you look at their houses sold. You go to the Superior court and look at the deeds. Those houses don't exsist as sales. Everyone uses Trulia and Zillow. To find home values now. The ripoff is that people are loosing equity by the boatload. They look at these two sources that are lender owned. They say hey looks good. But in fact most of those sales do not exsist at the courthouse. NOW MR REALTOR. Many of them know this. Of course some don't they let it slide. Before you do anything have a Realtor or a licenced appraiser pull the comps. It's their licence on the line. The appraisers know that Zillow and Trulia are fantasy land. They have said so over and over. Some say nothing. I myself know how to look up comps most people don't. I looked up the ones on the so called houses sold on Trulia and Zillow. They don't exsist. However I found some previous sales.

See high commisions based on high sales prices and appraisal fees are in their best interest and to get all this going again. So they say nothing about Trulia and Zillow. Pay an appraiser he might tell you the truth at this point.

The credit based banking system along with the interest soaked business and business news etc. Will lie their faces off. Of course

See those sales are not happening on Trulia and Zillow.

Don't believe me do your own research. However don't use the web. Because it is page after page of the same patriotic ramblings and interest soaked, interest owned search engines. Google who we were ALL sold on bought out everything else coded it so all you get returned is well page after page of the same thing. Even the porn industry is shocked I am sure.

Pull the comps on some Trulia and Zillow Fabrications. You will find they are not recorded sales. From Trulia and Zillow so generous with the information that normally costs $350 a pop to get from an appraiser. You will find no recorded sales FOR the information they are giving you. They did not happen that year anyway.

So you have happy smiling homeowners loosing their shorts to negative equity sitting there with a big goofy smile on their face. Thinking hey all these sales are happening look at Trulia and Zillow after all its eaiser than a trip to the courthouse (not the tax assesors office). And of course there are the suckers that see the PRE FORCLOUSER HOUSES. They don't look and see all those red dot for sale houses on Trulia and Zillow are REO's Big difference folks. REO is a polite name for Real Estate Owned. Thats post foreclouser. Those are all the homes for sale. Lender owned houses. Everyone else has given up.

Trulia and Zillow are lender owned NOT licenced enough said.

Quick read about Zillow:

http://conejovalleyconnection.com/2010/08/05/la-and-ventura-zestimates-revealed/

Cearka
I sold my house short sale. There was only one offer - many interested parties as it was a beautiful property. But when it came down to it, only one person was willing to take the risk of waiting how ever long it took the bank to decide (and no guarantee the bank would even agree to the sale). So I don't think you need to offer over asking, in fact my property sold for 70% of original asking price. The paperwork is painful also, another thing many buyers aren't willing to put up with. My buyer had to keep forking over extra fees that the bank insisted on them paying - so be aware you may have to do the same. (He also had to pay a portion of the Heloc). It took 6 months for the bank to agree and they started the foreclosure process at the same time they received the short sale offer! There were several last minute changes which jeopardized the closing. We closed at 5 pm the day before the foreclosure auction was to take place. It won't be a fun process, so don't overpay. Keep in mind you won't be able to put offers on any other properties in the meantime.

Oh, and as per ArtimusMaxtor's comment - make sure the selling agent is a short sale expert, or find your own. There is so much negotiating involved that this is an absolute requirement.

@common_sense
that's a very eye opening story. I'm certain I have the patience and funds for this, so perhaps this will be to my advantage.

Thanks to everyone. I almost caved to submitting an offer slightly higher then list price despite knowing better. I think the advice here has kept me from making that mistake at the least.

Artimus, I'm pretty sure most internet RE forum readers know not to use Trulia or Zillow's estimates. Common knowledge except amoungst home owners apparently. I've actually used the words "youre a complete moron and do not at all know what you are talking about" with co-workers and family that keep trying to cite zillow's zestimates. Then show them redfin actual sales within the last 3 months.

The gaping mouths are priceless.

Well I feel its not common knowledge. Its really not I have been in this business for a long long time. I have even caught people with a lot more experience than you know using it. To tell the the truth Dodger the only place I have seen it. Is in apprasial forums. These guys in the interest cash soaked media abuse just about anything they can find to keep it all going. Complete moron is apt. However how many get to see the things we do every day. There are some really hip realtors out there. Smart people. They don't say a lot about things. Cause they will just tell you to keep your mouth shut. How stupid is that?

There are some people that do know short sales no doubt. Again it just was not around a couple of years ago. That tells you somethings gone way wrong with things. When lenders and brokers give that kind of thing out. However be aware.

See my point is if it all goes. Its negative equity now anyway. Why not wait and pick up on something that is really cheap. Some would say it's my fault for wanting this. However I will play it straight. I leave it up to the people in negative equity. To take the Zillow and Trulia recent sales information down to the courthouse. The recent sales are the ones they base your home value on. See if their sales are valid on there. They are not. Over eighty six percent of them are bogus. See its not fair to the homeowner either. They I guess would need to know where they are at value wise in there home. Weather they are upside down or not. See I WAS USING IT. Haha. I said wait a minute this doesn't make sense.

People also paid the price for really liberal loan terms. I guess they call it sub prime. Well it's not sub prime. Those are what they call expanded criteria loans. Things like the Option (kiss of death) arm. I would not want to see my worst enemy get one of those. Home values were so high that was the only thing that could be used. See. The sub prime BS has gone away now conventional freddie and fannie have collapsed. Not to mention a lot of banks. Banks will lend on high dollar homes and a little commercial property. So that pulled these banks under. Sub prime was a way of saying hey these are high interest rate loans that caused all of this. Well I guess they were cause no one can pay them back including freddie and fannie loans. The sub prime was nothing but BS.

One more thing the option arms. They pulled those out of every single state when they shut down Great Western in the mid eighties. Except for World. That was the same people of course it mostly is. The only place it operated was Cali. For the most part. Deal is on a lot of those houses to get as many people in as they could. They could use nothing else.

They went out and tried to sell it to investors I know. I just told them look go the other way quick. Your going to get hit with an anvil. Some of them didn't. They found out the hard way.