Short Sale....Bank of America Nightmare

Short sales are just a big part of the housing market today as foreclosures and resale homes. Chances are if you are looking for a home in a neighborhood at least one home in there is a short sale listing.

Short sales are anything but short in time. In fact the process usually takes 30 days or more to receive an answer. The bank is willing to accept less money than is owed on the house in lieu of a foreclosure.

We have all heard of the horror stories with short sales from the long process to never really getting an answer and the buyers giving up. I have done my fair share of short sales. Thus far on the listing end I have been very successful in getting them sold.

On the buying end I had an experience that shocked me. With an offer in on a short sale with Bank of America that is about a week old; I received for the first time the most unusual request. Let me premise this by saying we offered substantially low offer on the house because of recent storms caused roof damage that had torn off the shingles and sheathing leaving the plywood exposed in an area of the roof. After some due diligence I informed my buyer this will not pass through an appraisal in it's current condition. Thus he made an offer for paying cash.

The bank requested and we supplied photos of the damage and an independent quote on the repair and damage to the roof. Our offer fell in line with the damage and the lack of financing the house would qualify for.

here is the response form the negotiator the listing agent forwarded to me:

Please provide satisfactory evidence that the buyer has been approved for financing
or otherwise has funds to close the transaction. Satisfactory evidence would be ALL
of the following:
A letter from the lender showing final approval (not pre-approval), Or the DU
Preliminary Underwriting findings.

A receipt from the title company showing that the required down payment is on
deposit with them,

Something in writing from the title company confirming the closing date.
If it’s a cash buyer, we just need proof of funds on hand to complete the
transaction within 30 days.

Upon receipt of these documents, we will proceed with processing the postponement of
the sale date. No exceptions will be made. Upon receipt of the above items we will begin negotiations on the short sale. Thank you in advance.

This was fine by my client...until we read last line. So, we went back to the listing agent and asked her to find out if they accepted our price...the response she received was the same as she received initially....yet we still do not have a price. My client and I are confused....

What are we supposed to put in escrow? how much are we supposed to get our underwriting approval for? When are we able to close, if we do not have a price?

People and Realtors want to know why it is so hard to deal with Bank Of America on a short sale? These questions were sent from the listing agent to the negotiator and the negotiator response was the same as above........

This is the reason most, if not all, Realtors cringe when they hear the words Bank of America in a Real Estate transaction as a short sale.....

Dave diCecco
Realtor/Broker
www.davedicecco.com