topic Re: Short sale trends in Seattle

Short sale trends

MattVWjosiep — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:41:51 GMT

A lot of people have written about their experiences trying to buy a short sale. Has anyone that has been trying for a while noticed a change in the past month or so?

Though message boards are not generally a good source for statistical study, I am curious if other people are seeing the changes that I am seeing. Most of the banks recently are being flexible and quick to respond. On the last several offers I made, I had a response from the bank with 24 hours, twice by the same afternoon. They also haven't been rigid on price.

Are other people seeing these trends? More flexibility for terms (recent offers have included at least $7k in seller/bank paid closing costs), lower prices (contract price has been at least 8% under short sale asking price), and quick turn around.

Perhaps the banks are realizing they are going to be getting a lot more short-sales and foreclosures in the next year so they need to be more flexible to keep their inventory moving?

Re: Short sale trends

cowbell2009 — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:03:36 GMT

I think you are right about this. What I have noticed is the banks are quick to accept an offer on a short sale, however the lisitings become "pending with back up offer requested". They accept an offer, sit on it, then delay closing to allow more offers to come int.

Re: Short sale trends

Mlindekugel — Sat, 02 May 2009 23:35:57 GMT

Countrywide, Indymac, and USBank are increasingly more difficult to deal with.

Re: Short sale trends

KevinB — Mon, 04 May 2009 17:56:20 GMT

I've been waiting for a response from Chase Bank for almost 2 weeks now - seems not all of the banks are playing ball.

Either that or the listing agent isn't doing her job (I actually suspect this)

Re: Short sale trends

Mlindekugel — Tue, 05 May 2009 00:49:28 GMT

waiting two weeks to get a response is not uncommon. If the agent missed the bank's call, then the bank may not call back for two weeks.

the loss mitigation employee probably has +200 files on their desk.

Re: Short sale trends

jwjw — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:51:23 GMT

Re: Short sale trends

jwjw — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:58:10 GMT

we are in the process of buying a short sale property with viking bank involved. the deal has not closed yet, but so far I have nothing but praise for how they handled everything. response to offer within 48 hours. we got our mortgage through the same bank also to take advantage of financing incentives and again they were very responsive to our concerns and willing to work with us to find an arrangement mutually acceptable.

not that you can really choose which bank you deal with in the matter of short sales, but I would highly recommend viking bank

Re: Short sale trends

MattVWjosiep — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:08:57 GMT

I can attest to that as well, Viking Bank is very easy to work with. Straightforward, local people who understand what is going on.

Re: Short sale trends

Sunny-sun — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 06:17:48 GMT

1. Does anyone have any experience working with Indymac for short sales? How efficient is it to work with?

2. I'm on the process of submitting an offer for a short sale, and the listing agent asked me to fax in a copy of the check with the amount of 1% of my offer to the title company the seller chose. Is this a common practice?

Any input would truly be appreciated, thanks!

Re: Short sale trends

MattVWjosiep — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:08:16 GMT

Indymac is slow. I have one in review with Indymac and it has been 2 months so far. They claimed 30-45 days but the house is scheduled for auction at the end of the month and I don't think they are even going to review the file by then.

For the earnest money, according to the MLS short sale addendum, you don't have to deposit earnest money until you receive lien holder approval. That starts the traditional timelines that would ordinarily start from mutual acceptance (i.e. earnest money deposit, inspection contingency, etc.)

Re: Short sale trends

Sunny-sun — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:02:42 GMT

MattVW, I truly appreciated your prompt response in addition to sharing of your experiences and professional advices. Again thank you very much and best wishes for your cases, too!

Re: Short sale trends

tessa — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:15:22 GMT

We originally put in our offer on a short sale property during the first week of July and have been in touch with the bank pretty regularly. They countered with full price about 3 weeks after we submitted our offer. We countered with our original offer, and they sent the file to someone higher up at the bank who re-reviewed the whole thing and just countered this morning at the full loan amount again. And we countered right back with our original offer, which is 13% less than what is owed on the loan. (We won't go any higher.) The seller's agent hired a negotiator, and he seems to be trying to get the deal to go through. I don't know what will happen, but we do have cash and can buy at the auction in October if it comes to that. (We already did our inspection, and the house is vacant--no tenants or owners living there who might destroy stuff.) That's our short sale saga so far!

Re: Short sale trends

Sunny-sun — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:33:57 GMT

Tessa, you sounded well prepared and know what you are doing, too! I know this must be a stupid question, but, could you advise me how we could find out how much the owner still owed to the lender? In addition, it's also very helpful to know that it's ok to continue counter offer with your original price to the bank as long as you know what an approriate price is. Again, I appreciated your sharing of such useful information! Good luck with your short sale experiences!

Re: Short sale trends

tessa — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:45:35 GMT

We are using a lawyer in our real estate transaction, not a real estate agent (and we put that extra 3% toward our purchase price), and our lawyer originally found out what was owed on the loan for us. The amount owed on the loan is also listed in the Notice of Trustee Sale (which is the notice of public auction) on the King County records site. You should be able to find it there by entering the tax id number and searching for the property on their site. (There may be another way to do it, but that's the way I did it!) Good luck!

Re: Short sale trends

Melner — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:42:09 GMT

tessa, good for you. If they ask for full price again, I suggest lowering your offer. Sounds like they don't believe there's such a thing as a buyer who won't follow a counter with a higher offer.

Re: Short sale trends

Sunny-sun — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:51:24 GMT

Tessa, thank you again for your sharing and wish to continue reading your sucessful house shopping experience, too! Best of luck to you there!

Re: Short sale trends

judy86 — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:24:52 GMT

Your guys are lucky. I put an offer in May, accepted in June. Two month passed, the list agent have not got all of documents from the seller. Now, the seller filed bankruptcy. Need other BK court letter from the seller. Otherwise the bank can't process our case. It seems that I have to wait forever. and the seller can stay at their house forever even they stop paying mortgage.

Thanks,