Jackie Nary's Blog

Jackie 's Blog

I have been dealing with Chase as a second lien holder on a short sale. Needless to say, it has been a nightmare. Let me give you a bit of history. This home was listed in May. I received an offer the end of May and it was submitted to both lenders, Bank of America and Chase.

In August we received approval from BOA with a close date of 30 days. They did agree to pay the commission that was arranged on the listing agreement. Chase meanwhile hasn't given any indication that they are anywhere close to approval. We pushed and pushed and finally got a negotiator to work with. Here is the email corresponsdence that went back and forth between myself and my negotiator. I have taken out the identity of the person, just know he was not very pleasant to work with.

After many attempts to get an approval, here is the dialogue.

October 23rd. me to Chase

I have tried to contact you regarding the status on this short sale. We received approval from Bank of America back in August, but need approval from your lender to move forward on this. The buyer is ready to walk away due to a lack of response. Please provide me with an update on the progress. Thank you. Jackie

October 29th Chase to me

FNMA countered. They want 4K.

Thanks.

Dan

October 29th me to Chase

The first is only offering $2000. We cannot reopen the file with BOA at this stage of the game. The seller does not have funds to bring money to the table. Can we just get this done? It has been in front of your lender since May so this is late in the game to be asking for more money. See what you can do to get this done before we lose the buyer. Thanks, Jackie

October 29th Chase to me

FNMA wants 4K. I suggest that between yourself, the buyer's agent, the buyer, seller, and the title company you come up with 2K.

That's 500 per party.

Thank you. Dan

October 29th me to Chase

Can't do. This is a very low commission property to begin with. Jackie

October 29th Chase to me

You can present it to all parties concerned, or I will inform the client that his approval is jeopardized because of a $500 reduction in commission.

Thanks.

Dan

October 29th Me to Chase

Is this considered blackmail??? This is ridiculous. Jackie

October 29th Chase to me

No. I am going to call attention to any action you take that places the interest of your commission above your client's interest. You have the option to resolve this yourself. If you feel you are acting in your client's best interest arguing over a slight reduction in your commission while allowing your client's property to go into foreclosure, you can contact your client yourself and explain your position.

Thanks again.

Dan

Can you believe That????? This is a commission that they are not even paying. If I reduce my commission, BOA gets more money, not them.

Long Story short, The negotiator DID call my client and tried to strong arm her. He told her my commissison needed to be reduced to save her home or she would have to pay it.

I had quite a talk with his manager and hopefully by now the negotiator has a new job.

WE got the approval, buyer is paying the additional $2K and hopefully all is well with the world.

Happy Selling, Jackie

Short sale motivation

I had a meeting the other day with my Congressman's representative regarding the delays we are encountering with short sales. I certainly didn't feel as though I accomplished anything as my Congressman is a Republican and he said anything they might propose would not go anywhere because of that. I am a short sale listing Queen and currently have 16 offers in at the banks in all stages of approval. One as long as 14 months.

The 14 month offer is actually buyer #5 because 1-4 got tired of waiting and moved on to something else. I do not understand the reason why these banks can't decide if they like the offer or not. The offer isn't getting any better as they sit and decide. The one that I have been waiting on for 14 months, was submitted to Fannie Mae the end of August and they are still "waiting" for Fannie to decide if it is good or not. The bank gave me a net amount, commission structure etc on 8/20 and we resumitted a new HUD to the negotiator who in turn sent it to Fannie. Fannie must be sitting in her rocker hoping this offer somehow gets better. The reality is, it is now an offer priced offer. The sad situation is buyer # 5 may walk because we can't give them any information on the progress.

The entire time these lenders are "working" on the short sale, they are continuing to get "paid" to service the loan for the investor. They really do not have a motivation to sell this home and lose their income until it gets really close to foreclosure.

Ok, got that off my chest, now I can have a good weekend. Happy selling...

Had to fire a short sale client

I got a new listing the other day. The client hired an attorney on the east coast of Flordai after reading his blog on Active Rain. This client has a second home that he bought for his parents to live in. (5BR home) As usual in this market, it is way upside down. He has it rented, but the rent is not covering the expenses. Anyway, I met with him and his wife, went over the listing agreement and short sale issues. He met with the attorney and they came up with a game plan. The next day I met with the clients to sign all the listing documents. The attorney had his own short sale addendum and other documents to be inculded not only with the listing, but the future sale too.

I normally have a clause in my listings that allows me to be in control of the listing price and make adjustments as I see fit. He would not allow that. His attorney said we needed to start the listing at way over the value and we would drop it as time goes on. Come to find out, we were $100,000 over the most recent comparable sale. The client said we would be dropping 7% once a month. I would be February before we get to the price point we need to be at today.

I informed both the attorney and the client, that I could not sit around and wait 4 months to finally get to where we could possibly be a price point that would generate some interest, then sit for possibly another 4-6 months waiting for the bank to approve.

I am in the business of selling homes and working though the short sale process, not playing games with the lenders and the clients attorney. The bank will work off of the comps in the area to determine the value of the home. The fact that it was on the market for 4-5 months at an unrealistic asking price does not really matter.

So hard lesson learned, make sure you are dealing with a realistic seller before agreeing to the short sale. I don't get paid until I close this deal. I now have invested 9 hours of assistant time doing paperwork, listing entry, lockbox, photos, visual tour etc, now updating the listing to show terminated and I have nothing but a story to write.

Welcome to my short sale world

Over two years ago I decided to become a short sale listing agent. I have spent countless hours talking with banks and learning all I could about short sales. I continue to learn with each listing I take and contract that successfully closes. The world of short sales is anything but consistent. Each listing, sale and bank is different.

I have discovered that one thing that needs to be consistent is my attitude, desire to help sellers and management of each and every file. I have started to use a third party negotiator and that is still a work in progress. I like to have control of my short sales and I don't always feel that I know what is going on.

One thing I find absolutely necessary is to keep the buyer's agent informed of the progess, so they can keep the buyer engaged. Nothing worse than loosing a buyer as you approach approval. I try to give them a weekly update to keep them hanging in.

Lately, I have found some banks are really getting their system in order and processing short sales in a systematic way. Other banks can't even seem to get the paperwork in order to start the process. With all of the stimulus money the government has infused into the banking industry just for the purpose of helping out the housing market this is unacceptable to me. Most of the banks blame it on lack of personnel.

Good news is in SW Florida our under $150K market is almost a seller's market now. Multiple offers are the norm on well conditioned, well priced homes. Let's hope this continues and spreads to the upper price points.

Hang in and Happy selling.

So, you want to be a landlord??????????

Often times when I am talking to a potential seller, they bring up the possibility of renting instead of selling. That is always an option, however, one that needs careful consideration.

When you purchased your home and took out that large mortgage, did you tell the bank this was going to be your primary home? The bank could easily come back and change the conditions of your mortgage as you are not living there any longer. Of course, the insurance coverage you need to carry now will be different and most likely more expensive. If you move out and the home is vacant for a while, you need special insurance for vacant and unoccupied homes (expensive, especially if you have a pool!) Homestead exemption? If you aren't living there, you will need to change that, which will increase your taxes.

Now, let's assume you find a tenant. Are they going to take care of the home the way you do? Of course they are the type of people who take the rental car in for a detail before they return it to Avis! I am sure they will clean your carpets when they spill something and touch up the paint on that nick they put in the wall. Oh yes, and the weeds will all be pulled from the garden and the a/c filters will be replaced each month to keep the a/c unit working properly. Don't worry about the grout on the tile, it will be cleaned regularly and looking clean and bright. Oil drips in the driveway?? They must have been there long before the tenants. With all of these wonderful things going on in and outside of your former home, you are cash flowing it, right? No............. you mean it is costing you money to have someone live in your home, make a mess, all the time we are in a down market and the value of your home continues to go down??? How could that be??????

Well, the lease has run it's course, the security deposit doesn't even come close to covering all the costs you have to get your home ready to sell, and the value is WHAT??????

Please give renting a good long look before you jump on the landlord train. The ride is not what you might think.

Are we working toward the same goal????

Another short sale story. Grab you fuzzy bunny slippers and get comfy. I have been working on a short sale with Wells Fargo since May. Submitted the sellers life history along with a ream of paper in the fax machine to a fax number for Wells Fargo. Did the same thing to another fax number for the second loan, also Wells Fargo. This file is starting to look like a Manhattan phone book, it is so thick. After about a week, check with the bank to make sure they have the documents. Of course they didn't receive them.........that seems to be the normal response for a short sale packet. Repeat all of the above once again. Finally they get the paperwork, several phone calls later finally get assigned a loss mitigator. Worked with her for a fe weeks, then was assigned to a different person. That person made sent several emails to me. In the meantime to also had to talk to the 2nd lien holder (Wells Fargo also). All the time these conversations are going on, these two people are not talking to one another.

Finally a decision is made the offer is not high enough. This was the only offer I had after having the property on the market since March. I reduced the price several times and still only had one offer, which was low. We finally decided to let that offer go. After about a month, I called the other agent to see if her client was still interested, he was. I sent an email to the loss mitigator and asked if I had an offer of a certain amount , did they feel they could work with it? She needed to see the HUD, but after reviewing it, said yes, they could work with that. The second lien hold in the meantime spoke to the seller and worked a deal where the seller would bring $5K to the closing table plus they would get $3K from the frist (all on a $39K second).

The other day I get the approval letter from Wells Fargo, I think everything is ok, then the second lien holder (Wells Fargo) calls me up and says they need the seller to pay off the second in full. This will stop the short sale from going through. The first mortgage is loosing about $115K and the second could force this to go into foreclosure if they push the issue. I explained to the second that the seller does not have the funds to pay that off in full. He didn't seem to care. I sent an email to the first to ask if she can put pressure on him to let this go through. She said not she could not do that, other agents have been fired for interferring with other departments negotiations.

NO WONDER OUR BANKS ARE FAILING............This is the same bank and they don't talk to one another. For a small loan of $39K that they will lose $31K on, they are going to cause the bank to spend thousands and force this home into foreclosure. This just doesn't make any sense to me.........

Oh, and they have a cash buyer would will take this home off their hands...............

The Price is Not Right

Another short sale drama,,,,can you stand it? I am doing a short sale in a very upscale area of Bonita Springs Florida. This is a coach home, one car garage with bundled golf. Very lovely home, but needs some work. I started the listing out at "market value" according to comps in the community. Every 21 days I drop the price 10%. Of course, because this is a short sale, it is being sold "as is" with right to inspect. After a couple of price reductions, I received a cash offer for $50,000 below what I was asking. I put the offer in front of the bank. This is my first short sale with this lender, Wells Fargo. I was very surprised at how quickly they sent out an agent, who did not have a supra key, to do a BPO. Since there has only been one home like this sold in the last 6 months, that is what she went off of. That home has many more upgrades that the one I have listed, granite, crown molding, bamboo flooring, Italian tile back-splash in the kitchen.

When Wells Fargo got the BPO they said that my offer was not high enough. The NEEDED to net a certain amount of money. Gosh, they are starting to sound like the regular sellers. By this time I have the home down to $225,000 where it has been for 2 months and they want more than that. If $225,000 were such a great deal, don't they think that I would I have multiple offers to put in front of them????

The potential buyers did up their offer, but not to the banks satisfaction. The negotiator that I was dealing with had closed the file because the offer was not sufficient. She told me when I had a better offer, I could resubmit. I guess this gal thinks I have nothing better to do than to fax her a telephone book size file once again. I spoke to her manager and his manager also. The answer from all of them is the same. They are telling me that their investor's require 88% of market value. Are they nuts???? A normal equity sale in today's market is going for 10% below market value and the sellers are doing repairs to the property.

The other day I was showing this unit again and discovered that the A/C is not working properly now. Of course the bank doesn't seem to care or even consider doing another BPO. The home they are working off of went pending in January 08 and closed in March. We are in a declining market........don't they get it? Keep your eye's open. Wells Fargo will have another home on the REO market soon...........

Wheel of misfortune

There are hundreds of people in Southwest Florida who are gambling and don't even know it. They are betting that something won't happen to the home that they are trying to sell that is vacant and unoccupied. You would most likely think those two words mean the same thing, but not if you are an insurance company. To your insurance company, your home is vacant and unoccupied if no one lives there and there isn't any furniture in the home. If this description sounds like your home or some of your client's homes, they most likely will not have any coverage if something were to happen to their home. If they were to file a claim and the insurance company finds that they don't have "special coverage' for a home that is vacant and unoccupied, it most likely will be denied. From what I understand, the insurance company will refund the premium that has been paid and deny the claim. You may also find if there is a pool on the property that there is no liability coverage, since no one lives there. If someone were to go into your pool and get hurt or worse, you most likely have no coverage.

If you have any listings that fall into this category, you may want to have a fierce conversation with your sellers that they need to talk to their insurance agent and get the coverage they need to protect themselves.

R and R

I bet you were all thinking that I am referring to rest and relaxation...........nope, reduce or release. I heard this recently from a very successful agent on the east coast of Florida. She has R and R days in her office. She said she puts on her "big girl panties" and gets on the phone for fierce conversations with sellers. I am going to work on that. I have a few that I am basically renting lawn space for my signs. Yup, that is what I am going to do. Want to join me???

Some days the dog, other days the hydrant

Do you ever have one of those days? You know, where you wonder why you do what you do? Of course, working on short sales make that type of day almost a common occurrence. I have a short I have been working on for 6 month.............that in itself is ridiculous. After hundreds of hours working this file, I finally have an agreement with the lender. They want $2000 from the seller and the refund from her prepaid escrow for her homeowner insurance policy. The bank is taking over a $125,000 loss on this property. The seller is not happy about the lender taking the balance of the refund from the insurance. She needed to think about it. Over the weekend I went to the home in Lehigh Acres Florida to discover that the outside a/c compressor had been stripped for scrape metal. As a matter of fact, the entire neighborhood was hit and all of the compressors are gone. Now she will have to file a claim with the insurance company and that will cost her $1000 for the deductible........That alone is going to ruin the short sale as she claims not to have the money. She won't sign the bank's agreement.

Next up, another short sale that I received two offers on this past weekend. I was having difficulty reaching the sellers. I finally was able to reach the wife who told me her husband was out of town and did not have access to a computer. He would be home on Thursday evening, would sign and send the paperwork along. Today I talked to wife again and was informed they are having 2nd thoughts about the short sale. This home has been on the market for 63 days. They have decided to file bankruptcy on everything per advice from their attorney.

Some days I feel as if I should be able to claim my time and expenses as a volunteer. I am going to pursue other avenues and get out of the short sale thing. Too much time and energy is spent and even if you do get paid, the bank cuts your commission. They should pay twice the commission for all of the time spend talking to the bank, faxing documents back and forth and dealing with all of the people that need to be informed.

Anyway, I look forward on working on equity sales and foreclosures that don't require nearly as much babysitting. Something to ponder.....why can a lender let you go into debt for a 30 year mortgage in a matter of hours, but if you can't pay, are behind, have a major hardship and no assests, it takes 4 months or more to let you out???

Chin up, I will feel better next week............Jackie

Washington Mutual short Sale

I have a potential short sale listing and the seller has his mortgage with WAMU. He mentioned to me that he talked with the bank and they told him his home had to be listed for 90 days before they would consider him for a short sale. That sounded strange, so I said I would call and talk to the bank.

What a difficult bank to get in touch with. I called the 866 number, got the recorded selection menu, finally selected what was the closest to a short sale, got a customer representative,(not the right one) who transferred me to the loss mitigation department. Whew....... the gentleman I spoke to was not very pleasant. I asked if it was their policy that a home must be on the market for 90 days before they would consider a short sale. He said yes it is. I asked then if I needed to over-price the home to be sure I wouldn't get an offer in the first 90 days? He again wasn't very pleasant, and said no, just list it. I mentioned that I only list houses to sell, not just to be listed. I mentioned that it would be in the bank's best interest to get this home under contract and sold as quickly as possible since we are in a declining market. He said it wasn't his policy, but the bank's. I started to ask another question, but was hung up on..........

My feelings are that I want to help my client, however, if this is a representation of WAMU, then I am having second thoughts.

Paradise in Bonita, Estero Fl

Today is Saturday and I decided to take a break from real estate. Every once in awhile it does a brain good to take a mental holiday. Today was a very relaxing day. I got up kind of late and took the dog for a really long walk around Bella Terra. There is so much land in the back that is still undeveloped. Lennar is building quite a few new homes, which means they must have contracts as they are building on spec anymore. All good signs for the real estate market.

When I returned home I made a "big" breakfast for my husband. I try to do that on weekends as it is something special I can do for him. After breakfast, I went to Lowe's and bought some flowers to plant in the front and make things look a little better. It sure was a warm day to be out digging holes to put plants in.

The rest of the day was spent working on internet up dates for real estate. It takes a great deal of time to baby sit all the sites we have to up date. So much for a day away from real estate.

The end result is I will feel refreshed and ready to go come Monday Morning.

Short Sale in Cape Coral

Another call came in the other day from a lady from California who wants to short sale her home in the Cape. I asked her the standard questions about her financial situation, information about the house and how far behind in the payments she is. She is quite a few months behind in her payments and doesn't know what she is going to do. I explained to her that the bank would require lots of financial documentation beofre they would consider a short sale as well as a hardship letter explaining why she can no longer afford the home.

She paused for a moment, then said her hardship was that it took the builder two years to build the home. I was a little shocked at the answer, so I questioned her a bit more. Again she went on about about the time it took to build the home all the while she was making payments. I asked her what was her intention for this home when she decided to build it. She said she was going to flip it. Pardon me for being blunt, but I asked what had changed. She said the market has changed. Again I asked if that was indeed a hardship or perhaps a poor business decision??

I am confused as to why a bank should take the hit on a bad business decision versus someone who really has a hardship such as medical, employment or family situation. She was quite insistant that I at least try to short sale it. When I got to asking how i could get a key for this home, she said she never had one. The builder didn't give her one. She wanted me to call them.

Guess what! The final draw was never paid to the builder, the construction loan was never converted to a conventional loan and now the builder has a lien on the property. So in order to show this home, I would have to make all showings through their office, between 9-4, Monday-Friday only. When there are over 2000 homes available in the Cape without showing restictions, why would someone want to look at this one? I decided this was not something I wanted to get involved with.

Short Sales are difficult enough without all the added extras, like a seller who really doesn't have a hardship and a home with a lien. No thanks, I'll pass.

Fort Myers real estate

I received a call today from a gentleman from Ohio. He is looking to buy a condo in the Fort Myers area and saw one of my listings on Realtor.com. He mentioned that he wanted a great deal. I told him it was his lucky day. He is now in a time machine and back in 2004 because that is where the pricing is.

Please share the good news, we don't have a shortage of buyers, we have a shortage of well priced homes. Look around. When a home is priced well, it sells and normally in a short amount of time.

Share the good news with anyone you know that may be looking for a great deal. They have the ability to go "back in time". Jackie Nary

Jackie Nary

239-218-0238

Keller Williams, Elite Realty, Bonita Springs, FL

A market of opportunity

WE all know how important it is to have a positive attitude. Everyday I tell myself this is a market of opportunity. The buyers have the opportunity to afford a home they may have only dreamed about. Sellers have the opportunity to sell their home for a "reasonable" selling price. Notice I didn't say profit, as many just need to get out and stop the bleeding. We as realtors have the opportunity to put the deal together for the benefit of both seller and buyer. Why then do we hear this is a terrible market. It is all in how you look at it. I am grateful that I work with such talented people who also share my belief that this is indeed a "market of opportunity". Let's all make the most of it.