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I have been trying to buy a short sale since march 2015. This is the story so far, the homeowners were in a divorce and would not sign any offers even though the house was listed. No mortgage payments have been made since April 2012. October 2015 sheriff sale is scheduled with auction date set for December 4 2015. In November the sale was postponed due to possible short sale (my offer) sale postponed until February 5. Negotiator asks for paperwork from homeowners by December 31st, One homeowner makes deadline other homeowner does not. January 14 lender postpones sheriff sale again this time until April 8th, reason "to give time to facilitate short sale". The problem I have with this is the homeowner who has not yet submitted financial information to PHH Mortgage has no plans to do so. What is it going to take to get PHH Mortgage to finally foreclose is it in my best interest to back out on my offer to get them to stop rescheduling the sale?
Thanks for your reply but I am looking for actual advice from people with experience in this situation, not negative comments from those who do not have real advice to offer.
Thanks for your reply but I am looking for actual advice from people with experience in this situation, not negative comments from those who do not have real advice to offer.
I have worked short sales and foreclosures. You are welcome to the perfectly accurate and helpful advice I provided, or to ignore it, as you please. There was nothing negative.
You will find that it will be hard to track a foreclosure and get it bought. Someday it will go on the market again and you will not have an exclusive right to buy it just because you have lost so much time chasing a short sale.
However, feel free to disregard the perfect advice I have given, and follow the great advice offered by all the other posters since you started the thread.
Edited to add:
Is this an extremely unique opportunity, and nothing else compares?
Then, $$$$ fix all problems. Offer enough money, and all parties will race to sign off on the property.
Jack it up enough, and they may well sell you their souls.
Under the best of circumstances, PHH Mortgage Solutions is known among short sale listing brokers to be an extremely intransigent & uncooperative loan servicer to deal with.
They're notorious for stalling out short sale attempts, no matter what the sale price, & they have a reputation for ignoring listing brokers, & being uncommunicative for months on end.
And the fact that one of the sellers is refusing to cooperate in the timely delivery of required financial documentation will likely doom this potential short sale.
The sellers must jump over every hurdle, or the short sale is guaranteed to go down in flames. And even then, there is no guarantee of success, especially when you're dealing with PHH.
PHH is likely only the front man for whomever owns the note. No civilian can make them foreclose, & take their loss, any faster than the owner of the note wants.
They can continue to string this situation out for years, all the while trashing the would-be sellers' credit, & freezing them from moving on financially.
This is a zombie foreclosure that has been in default since 2012, coming up on 4 years...& you have divorcing sellers who are uncooperative, with no sense of urgency.
Mike gave the OP good advice.
Walk away, forget it, & find a better property elsewhere.
I understand what you guys are saying, I live in a fairly small area that does not offer many listings I would even consider. I have not turned down any houses since pursuing this there simply have not been any others I like. My question remains is it a decent idea to formally rescind my offer so that the account will come off hold. BTW I have a third party extension with both PHH Mortgage and their Attorneys so I have been able to track the property pretty well. Additionally I know the BPO values and the minimum investors net on this property. I am more than willing and would rather have it go to sheriff sale and be done one way or the other I fully understand if the bank takes it I will likely never have another chance to buy it. So again would formally rescinding my offer stand a chance of taking the account off hold?
Additionally: In Pennsylvania is there any limit to the number of time they foreclosing lender can postpone the sale?
Last edited by Rweaver1214; 01-23-2016 at 07:04 PM..
If the sellers are adamant that they will not cooperate on a short sale, it is time to bail on any existing offer, IMO. No one will force a short sale.
Can you not pay off the short difference and buy it as it is, taking it out of short sale status? Or, is the difference too much of a market premium to do it? If it is this desirable to chase for 10 months, it must be special.
If you let it go to the courthouse steps and outbid the bank, you just may get the property. The first mortgage balance and a few bucks will be enough to buy, unless there is a 2nd mortgage holder who stands to lose enough that they bid over the first mortgage. It happens.
And, if the deal is attractive enough, look for an upset bid.
But, buying at the courthouse takes brass and research. You sure need to know how short the owners are and if there are other liens that will not be wiped out with an auction purchase. If the owners are $10,000 short, that may be a reasonable premium. If they are $150,000 short, that would probably not be wise.
IF you can track it after the bank takes it back, you may be able to buy it for less, but that is a roll of the dice for sure.
There is no regulation anywhere mandating foreclosure or limiting a bank's ability to give the owners more time to make arrangements to avoid foreclosure.
I would be full time shopping hard for a house while waiting for this to evolve, for sure. This would have to be an extremely desirable property to have me spend much time on it.
Wow thanks for the info, i think I will rescind the offer and see what happens. Yeah the property is special and the short amount is about 30k. The loss mitigation department told me their max bid at sheriff sale will be based off BPO not ammount owed. I have had a title search done for one of the postponed sales so all I will need is a bring down before the sale. It is first mortgage only no 2nd or HELOC all taxes are caught up including 2015 no other liens on property. I found out after my initial offer that my offer is actually about 60k over the investors minimum net, making the courthouse steps the better option. In your experience is the investors minimum net comparable to the banks max bid at the courthouse steps, or are those two unrelated figures? (the investor used current BPOs to calculate their minimum NET)
Last edited by Rweaver1214; 01-23-2016 at 08:26 PM..
Wow thanks for the info, i think I will rescind the offer and see what happens. Yeah the property is special and the short amount is about 30k. The loss mitigation department told me their max bid at sheriff sale will be based off BPO not ammount owed. I have had a title search done for one of the postponed sales so all I will need is a bring down before the sale. It is first mortgage only no 2nd or HELOC all taxes are caught up including 2015 no other liens on property. I found out after my initial offer that my offer is actually about 60k over the investors minimum net, making the courthouse steps the better option. In your experience is the investors minimum net comparable to the banks max bid at the courthouse steps, or are those two unrelated figures? (the investor used current BPOs to calculate their minimum NET)
In NC, commonly, the minimum bid at the courthouse is the balance due.
I don't know what is typical in PA.
And, it is quite common for the foreclosing bank to re-sell for a lower amount, due to market valuation.
If you buy at the courthouse, have a pro do a final thorough title check right before you close on the sale.
If something turns up it may be better to walk away from your deposit than to close.
Wow thanks for the info, i think I will rescind the offer and see what happens. Yeah the property is special and the short amount is about 30k. The loss mitigation department told me their max bid at sheriff sale will be based off BPO not ammount owed. I have had a title search done for one of the postponed sales so all I will need is a bring down before the sale. It is first mortgage only no 2nd or HELOC all taxes are caught up including 2015 no other liens on property. I found out after my initial offer that my offer is actually about 60k over the investors minimum net, making the courthouse steps the better option. In your experience is the investors minimum net comparable to the banks max bid at the courthouse steps, or are those two unrelated figures? (the investor used current BPOs to calculate their minimum NET)
For what it's worth, I would withdraw the offer, too. But, I wouldn't attempt to buy it at the court house steps. Instead, I would wait until the bank takes possession and see what they market it for. It may be less. (Of course, it may not be...but I'd chance it.)
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