Short Sale Timelines (again) (bill, different, years, release)

[sarahsdaughter]

Originally Posted by 1stTimeBuyer1184

3/5/13 - Offer on townhouse accepted by seller. $250k on SS with one loan from Chase.
3/7/13 - listing agent wanted 3% earnest money from
Us to escrow company right away so we turned that in.
3/17/13 - our real estate agent informed us that the listing agent has submitted the short sale package to Chase. Escrow has not opened yet because they need more documents and then they will cash the earnest money.
3/22/13 - our RE agent mentioned she is getting an updated HUD statement to the bank. Chase countered and wanted us to pay for the transfer fees and back HOA fees. They also countered at 25k higher at 280k. Our RE agents are trying to get the bank to pay the fees and accept 260k.
3/29/13 - Sellers' bank is requesting HOA back fees invoice from the association. This document is holding up the approval.
4/2/13 - Back HOA fee invoice sent to bank.
4/12/13 - REA said the SS lender had an appraisal done on the townhouse.
4/26/13 - file completed but reassigned to negotiator in USDA loan department. Once reviewed by negotiator, going to be submitted to investors to approve.
5/1/13 - our REA said we need to sign the addendum for the counter we issued a month ago.
5/24/13 - REA said bank requested another HUD and it was sent this past Wednesday.
5/30/13 - received email that the negotiator approved the short sale! But now the file is being sent to the investors for final approval. My REA says it may take about 2 weeks.
6/28/13 - verbal approval
7/8/13 - written approval received. Only 3 weeks to close, date 7/31/13. Foreclosure date of August 5th.
7/11/13 - home inspection completed. Loan disclosure signed. Townhouse sale disclosure signed.
7/16/13 - Chase agreed to extend closing to August 20th. Foreclosure sale has been postponed to August 30th. Looks like we might actually get this house!
7/25/13 - our lender said our loan is in underwriting and should hear back today or tomorrow. My realtor said they are shooting to close August 6/7 but it sounds like we might be closing earlier!

7/29/13 - got a call from my agent and she said our loan is ready and we can close now. We just have to wait on the sellers now. Looks like we'll be closing next week. I was hoping it would be this week but what's another week right?

Congrats!!! My loan went to the underwriter on Monday. My inspection is Friday. The house is only 6 years old, so I pray that there are no issues. Doesn't matter anyway because my short sale approval letter states AS IS in big bold letters!! Other than that, I'm waiting on the call from my lender (who is awesome by the way)....

[OhGucci]

Alright, here goes......

Short Sale / HAFA

Property located in Will County, Illinois
2 liens – Wells Fargo ($228K in 2009) & Marquette Bank
Original List Price: $169,900
Reduced Price: $164,900
Offered Price: $155,000 (3% towards closing costs)
Accepted Price: $155,025 (1% towards closing costs)

March 27th: Submit offer to seller for $155,000 (3% closing costs)
March 29th: Seller countered with $155,500 and 1% closing costs, I accepted
April 8th: Appraisal Ordered
April 18th: Appraisal Completed
May 22nd : Negotiator with Wells Fargo was reviewing the file and found a discrepancy with the appraiser's report. Appraiser indicated on his report that the home was unoccupied which is incorrect; the sellers are still living there. Appraisal had to be “re-certified”

Appraisal eventually came in at $159,000 (still within the 10% range of contract price)

June 12th: Emailed both my realtor and my attorney requesting that they get a status update. Realtor stated that my file is at the level 2 stage with Wells Fargo, in their closing department. The title was ordered and they found that when the sellers refinanced some years ago, Marquette Bank never released them from their mortgage. The sellers had to scramble and square things away with Marquette Bank, which has been completed. A Mortgage Release was recorded with the County Recorder on 6/3/13. Wells Fargo is now waiting to receive the clear title which should be happening within the next week or so.

June 13th UPDATE: We drove past the home last night and it looks as if the sellers have in fact moved out already. Now, I'm concerned about whether or not the home is being maintained at this time, I sure hope so! I have a call in to my realtor to discuss.......

June 19th UPDATE: All title issues have been resolved and I was asked to complete a Wells Fargo Short Sale Affidavit (Arms Length). It had been signed by the sellers, their realtor, and my realtor already. I signed and emailed it back to my realtor right away.

July 1st UPDATE: Finally heard back from Wells Fargo, they countered my offer and asked for an additional $5K, making the price $160,000. I declined, got extremely frustrated and told my realtor that I'd like to start back looking at homes again :-( My realtor said that the deal was not completely over and that the listing agent was looking into other ways to allow Wells Fargo to net the additional $5K that they were looking for. They asked the title company if they could reduced any fees, they reached out to their attorney to see if she could reduce any of her fees, and he even looked into reducing the realtors' commission on the deal.

July 5th UPDATE: The listing agent came back and said (via email) that Wells Fargo would accept $157,825, so they tried to meet me in the middle. I love the home and I've spend a lot of time waiting for this deal to go through so, I accepted their counter offer :-) :-)

July 10th UPDATE: Waiting to receive the official approval letter from Wells Fargo with the new price before sending in the remainder of my earnest money........What a crazy ordeal this has been guys!

July 13th UPDATE: Realtor advised that listing agent is working to get the final HUD statement approved by the lender. Once the final HUD statement is approved they will generate an approval letter

July 18th UPDATE: Listing agent told us that they are about $1,300 short of where the bank needs to be for approval. They have already removed my closing cost credits and they're working to get approval for the short fall. Because this is a HAFA short sale there are strict guidelines in place on any variance in price.


July 23rd UPDATE: I've asked my realtor if I can see the home again. I haven't seen it in months and I need a reminder as to why I'm STILL waiting, ya know!? I drove past the house a few weeks ago and fell in love all over again.....I just need to see the inside again.

July 31st UPDATE: Saw the house this past Sunday and fell in love all over again :-) The sellers are eager to get this deal done, as am I. Also found out that the listing agent didnt get the bank's approval (like he said) before presenting me with the verbal offer of $157,825. That is why I've been waiting almost a month for them to approve this new amount :-( Still hopefully that this deal goes through, and still hoping that I can close in August before my son starts school

More updates to come

[DuckHouse4Us]

Hello all - I've been lurking in this thread for a few months and thought I would share my short sale experience since you all have helped me through this process immensely.

Listed: 4/02/13
Asking Price: $325,000 Paid $450,000 in 2007 - 2 Banks (Indymac/Onewest & Citimortgage) plus 2 property liens (Odds are stacked against us!)
Viewed House: 4/27/13
Offered: 4/28/13 $325,000 with $3,000 in closing assistance (perfect house, land and location) 6 acres. Of course we didn't know it was a short sale until after we viewed it and already fell in love with it! We've been looking for a year and half and this was the first house hubby and I agreed on. We were told the Sellers were approved for a short sale, but the listing price has not been approved by the bank yet. LA assured us she has worked with these banks before and their SS process is streamlined (whatever that means!) and that they would need 60 days to close so we set the closing date for 6/28/13. I looked the LA up, she is experienced in SS's and actually specializes in distressed properties......that's half the battle at least.
Sellers Acceptance: 5/03/13
Escrow Opened: 5/06/13 earnest check deposited

We didn't know much about SS except that they take a long time. We're renting, no big deal.....we can wait. *sigh

Signed SS Addendum: 5/03/13 and dated for 5/24/13

5/24/13: SS addendum expiring, I called my REA and she said LA will need 60-90 days for closing....bummer, but again....we can wait. Have not heard anything else.

Signed SS Addendum Extension: 5/28/13 and dated for 6/07/13 - Was told the BPO was done earlier this month. (That would have been nice to know earlier!) Results.....confidential of course. Was also told that Sellers have completed their hardship package. What! We were told they were already approved for a short sale and that just the listing price had not been approved with the bank! I'm a little worried, this is a log home. We're doing an FHA loan and they are very specific with comps being only 6 months and within 6 miles and we need 3 of them! Really....3 Log Home Comps?! Found the comps in a about a week, (well hubby and me found them, REA didn't!) now I hope they don't become too old by the time we close.

2nd Property View: 6/08/13 - Just needed to see it again! While we were there, Sellers pulled our REA aside and said their LA said the SS was going through and that their only concern was that we were going to walk away. Hmmmm....seems like they have a lot more information than us, we've heard NOTHING!

Signed SS Addendum Extension: 6/08/13 and dated for 6/27/13 - Just making sure we don't lose this house on a technicality.

6/11/13: Received info that 2nd bank (Citimortgage) is assigning negotiator but the 1st bank (Indymac/Onewest) wants the Sellers to be 2 months behind on payments and then they will re-run their file for approval after the 16th of June. *Double Sigh

6/20/13: Getting frustrated with vague responses from my REA, so I called the LA. Was told 2nd bank has been approved and written approval will be sent in 3-5 days. 1st bank has been assigned negotiator. One of the two liens on the property is currently being negotiated and she doesn't think it will be a problem. Finally - some answers! I'm okay with the waiting, I just want communication!

6/26/13: I called the escrow office for answers. She assured me the LA is working on it and in fact just spoke with her yesterday. One of the two property liens has been released and the other one is close to being resolved. Yay! More answers....now why can't my REA do these phone calls?

6/27/13: I called LA (same problem with my REA) was told 2nd banks written approval letter has been received and they want to close by 7/28/13, confirmation of property lien being released and second property lien being resolved and 1st banks docs are now with the investor. LA assured me the 2nd bank will extend closing date once 1st banks approval has been received. I think we're close now! I talked with my lender today and I need at least 30-45 days to close on my end. We're meeting with our REA tonight to do another SS Addendum Extension and extend the closing date to 8/16/13.

We are waiting to do the appraisal and inspections until we get the written approval from both banks, don't want spend money if this falls through.

It seems like a long time, though I know our SS experience is actually going pretty fast. I just hope it continues to go as smoothly and we can actually close in August. I'll keep you posted on any further updates - perhaps my story can help someone else. Good luck everyone!

6/28/13: 1:30 PM REA emailed me and said that escrow confirmed 1st banks written approval in hand!
6/28/13: 5:05 PM REA called - escrow was mistaken. Bank approval was for another SS and was placed in our file by error! Really! Just our luck!
7/05/13: Sellers signed new SS addendum and new closing date. 1st bank requested updated HUD. I hope we're almost there!
7/09/13: 7:23 PM received email from REA - 1st bank (onewest) send the "Arms Length Affidavit" for us to sign.
7/10/13: 8:00 AM sent signed "Arms Length Affidavit" to my REA and copied LA on the email. I hope we're close. Interest rates have me freaking out a little bit here!

7/11/13: Confirmed "Arms Length Affidavit" was signed by all parties and submitted to the bank.
7/13/13: Received verbal approval from 1st bank. Was told written letter of approval will come by the end of next week. (I can't believe somebody at the bank was actually working on this on a Saturday!) Not holding my breath, I'll believe it when I see it! LA is confident second lien on the property will be settled as well. Still hoping to close on the 16th of August if possible. I'll keep you posted!

7/18/13: Written approvals from both banks are in! Still working on resolving the last lien. Inspection is scheduled for tomorrow. Banks want to close August 14th. Whew.....my Lender is going to be busy! Hope everything goes smoothly.

7/18/13 4:47PM: Last lien resolved!
7/19/13: Home Inspection complete. Home is solid, but thorough pest inspection was recommended. Scheduled pest inspection for Friday 7/26/13 - just to make sure...it is a log cabin.
7/23/13: Signed disclosures and GFE (Good Faith Estimate) from lender.
7/24/13: Loan sent to underwriter. Closing date is August 14th! Appraisal will be ordered this week. Whew.......we just have to get through the appraisal process. Still holding my breath, we're not quite there yet.

UPDATE
7/29/13: Appraisal ordered and scheduled for Thursday August 1st.
7/30/13: Pest and Dry Rot Inspection. Dry rot cleared - need to treat for pest in the crawlspace. Closing date is still scheduled for August 14th! Hope we can make it!

[1stTimeBuyer1184]

Sarahsdaughter - thanks! I hope all goes smoothly!

We are ready to close but have been trying to reach the sellers all week to set up a final walk through and set the final closing date but we have not heard from the sellers' agent. Does this sound like I should be worried n

[sarahsdaughter]

Originally Posted by 1stTimeBuyer1184

Sarahsdaughter - thanks! I hope all goes smoothly!

We are ready to close but have been trying to reach the sellers all week to set up a final walk through and set the final closing date but we have not heard from the sellers' agent. Does this sound like I should be worried n

Not sure why the sellers agent is playing ghost especially when you are ready to go to closing....If you and your agent keep having problems, I suggest you reach out to the broker for whom the agent works....I have been blessed to have established a relationship with the seller (thank GOD) because her agent is not at all interested in the sell of this house but still wants to get paid.

I had to reschedule my inspection to next week because the seller didn't have propane in the tank. The company they use can't come out until Tuesday...

My closing date is set for August 16th! I just signed my Lock In Confirmation and my GFE.

[ltgilliam]

Originally Posted by ltgilliam

Property located Waldorf,MD
Mold in Basement
2 liens one BofA
Listings price $320
Offer $250

4/9 Viewed house no electric caused sump pump unable to work caused water to back up in property
5/19 Viewed house again buying power changed fiancé self employed
5/20 Written offer to remove personal items and sheet rock to court appointed trustee attorney . Owner are divorce (sale in lieu)
5/29 Trustee counter as-is will not remove personal items or sheet rock.
5/30 Resent contract as-is
6/7 Received ratified contract
6/10 Contract sent to BofA
7/15 Requested info.Has bpo been done? Has active duty status been verified? I did research and know one of the owner was active duty military.
7/22 Received email from trustee. He was dealing with military services division and was told he would have to send court appointed papers to BofA legal to have him as seller. He did not receive such approval until last week. He resent offer

8/2/13 Received email from my agent asking us to sign BofA SS addendum. Signed and sent back

[1stTimeBuyer1184]

Originally Posted by sarahsdaughter

Not sure why the sellers agent is playing ghost especially when you are ready to go to closing....If you and your agent keep having problems, I suggest you reach out to the broker for whom the agent works....I have been blessed to have established a relationship with the seller (thank GOD) because her agent is not at all interested in the sell of this house but still wants to get paid.

I had to reschedule my inspection to next week because the seller didn't have propane in the tank. The company they use can't come out until Tuesday...

My closing date is set for August 16th! I just signed my Lock In Confirmation and my GFE.

Looks like the current owners want to stay in the home as long as they can which is August 20th. Though we can all close now, we have to wait until they move out. Only 2.5 weeks left but I was hoping to get in the house to make the much needed updates to flooring and paint before moving in.

[1stTimerGA]

updates below
I found this thread yesterday and found it helpful. So I decided to join. Here's my timeline.

First Time Home Buyer (Short Sale)

Listing Price: $168,000
Offer: $168,000
Bank: Wells Fargo
5/3: House put on the market[/font] (as per listing agent, he already submitted all documents for SS a month prior to putting house and market so he can speed up the process and advised our REA that the BPO has already been ordered)
5/4: Viewed home & put a offer in for listing price
5/5: Verbal seller approval
5/6: Written contract from seller (submitted a updated pre-approval letter to send to the bank as requested from listing agent)
5/7: Offer submitted to bank
5/9: Signed and submitted Short Sale Arms Length Agreement
Was informed that process should take 60 days since the Listing Agent did most of the work prior to house hitting the market. Does anyone have any helpful advice on the next steps that I should experience? and, anything that I can do on my end to help the process go faster. I know, I know, its a SS and its going to take long but we are so ready to move. thanks
5/16 I contact our REA and she tells me there is no weekly updates on SS. Is this true? I am getting a little frustrated with her lack of updates.
6/13 Seller's Bank Appraisal came in at $125k which is well below the listing price and our offer. Our agent received this info last week but gave the seller's agent some time to decide what they wanted to do. No response from them so we were told to sign the Amendment to Contract and fax immediately.
6/19 Received signed Amendment to Contract from sellers.
6/21 Notified by seller's agent that its in the review process and things are moving along.6/30 Our agent let us go back in the house to view it again. Sellers left a bag of soiled food on the counter and the house smelled horrendous.
7/3 Found out from the sellers agent that the is a 2 liens on the house and the smaller of the 2 liens was approved. (We found sellers agent info and contacted him on our own) Our agent has yet to give us an update and we doubt she even knows about the 2 liens.
7/12 Sellers had to update their short sale package since its been over 30 days.
7/18 Our agent called and said the bank would like us to sign an amendment for a 60 day extension so they can approve our sale. Our original offer asked for us to close on July 31.
8/2 Signed and sent HAFA Affidavit

I searched the internet about HAFA Affidavit's and several sites said that there rules indicate an approval in 10 days. Is this true?

[sarahsdaughter]

Originally Posted by 1stTimeBuyer1184

Looks like the current owners want to stay in the home as long as they can which is August 20th. Though we can all close now, we have to wait until they move out. Only 2.5 weeks left but I was hoping to get in the house to make the much needed updates to flooring and paint before moving in.

Oh....well, if your contract stipulates August 20th, then I guess they can hold on to the rope for that long.... Is that going to cause a problem with your lender? Was there a set time for closing in your contract...

I'm at a catch 22 ... I'm excited about going to closing next week, but since my lease at my apartment isn't up until October, they looked at me like when I asked them if they thought they could rent my apartment out by September 1st (since it's a waiting list for my type anyway).... So, I will be paying September's rent, but have a house too! It will give me time to get the things done in the house I want before having all my furniture delivered and moving stuff in....as I want to pull up all the carpet and replace it with hardwood and repaint the entire house the colors I want....

But it is what it is... I'm just thankful that the process is ALMOST OVER!

[JoJo81]

I'm sure I'm not in the minority here, but I'm a little tired of feeling yanked around! We get vague answers from the seller's agent and both realtors keep telling us to just be patient. It is so frustrating feeling like you're left out in the dark.