I had a couple of closings yesterday. One was in Roseville, and the other was Rocklin. Both were short sales. As a Sacramento short sale agent, I list and sell short sales from Galt to Lincoln. I'd like to say that I sell only in Sacramento, but that's not the case. In fact, we've got a short sale in Grass Valley, of all places.
One of those short sales was a nail biter. Or was it? It was definitely a nail biter to the mortgage loan officer. He called me earlier this week with his knickers in a twist. He was pretty upset. How could I let his client spend all of this money on inspections and appraisals when we didn't have the approval letter from the second lender?
First, his client is not my client. My client is the seller. Second, I've been selling short sales for 6 years straight. I know what happens when Greentree is the second lender. I am also very familiar with a Bank of America short sale. In fact, I'd say I close more Bank of America short sales than any other type of short sale. And this short sale involved Bank of America and Greentree.
Bank of America issued approval a long time ago. But Greentree dragged its feet. When it finally did issue an approval letter, it gave us 2 days to close escrow and deliver funds. Coincidinky, that approval letter arrived just when I said it would. Two days before closing. Stressful? Yeah. But many short sales are like this. If we hadn't started the loan early, this would not have closed. This short sale would have gone to trustee's auction.
Of course, when we received the Greentree letter, we needed approval from the first lender because there was a contribution. SB 458 didn't stop that. If you think SB 458 is some kind of magical savior in a short sale, think again. But Bank of America was fast in its turnaround and revised its letter.
In all honesty, there was a certain amount of satisfaction in telling the mortgage lender I did my job. I performed. But what was amusing if not frightening was when the MLO said he didn't know if he could fund. This time I got to the point the finger at him. And I reminded him that if he could not fund, everybody would blame him. All eyes were on him. The focus was in his direction now. Funny how the tables turned, huh?
We had a good laugh. Well, I had a belly laugh. He funded. We closed. He was a good guy, a good mortgage broker. The thing is it doesn't just take a village to close a short sale these days. It takes a freakin' country.
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Certified HAFA Specialist
Sacramento Real Estate Listings
Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying expert for About.com, a Land Park resident, and a veteran real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento, as well as tract homes in Elk Grove, Natomas, Roseville and Lincoln. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area with an emphasis on Elk Grove. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 40 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. BRE License # 00697006.
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Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate. Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice; it could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.
