Today was our scheduled update day. I look forward to it like a prisoner looks forward to their fifteen minutes of sunshine once a week. I obsess about it. I try not to think about it but I do count down the days (hours, minutes) between each update.
Today our update was something to the effect that the file had been reassigned to another negotiator on September 24th. The short sale processing company obtained that negotiator's e-mail address, sent an e-mail to ask for status, and noted that the next follow up date would be October 7th.
Good thing I wasn't holding my breath for that BPO that was supposed to be back on September 22nd, huh? I was bitter like a prisoner whose fifteen minutes of sunshine were rained out.
On top of that, the Suntrust short sale that we are also working on pursuing has been nothing but a joke. Originally I was very optimistic that the listing realtor being the direct point of contact for the short sale negotiation would net much better communication and faster results than using a short sale processing company. Now? Not so much.
So we wrote the offer on the 10th of September. Today is the 30th of September. The listing agent has been unable to meet with his clients to obtain their signatures on all of the addendums that we had going. So do we really have anything?
The listing agent said he submitted a partial package to Suntrust so they would note the file that a short sale was in process and would postpone their foreclosure proceedings. Yes, because short sale lenders love it when you piece meal things to them. They will take a partial package and fully process it just waiting on you to complete the items they needed from the get-go. NOT!
Today's updates on both of the short sales we have going were just a joke. The girls at work were teasing me that I am just a glutton for punishment. I told them that if I let go of our contracts on these short sales then I wouldn't have anything to complain about every day. I can't let you folks down now can I? I mean, you come here for my daily super-dose of sarcasm and pessimism, right? And I can't very well write something that I just don't feel or understand. So I guess in essence I am really doing this to myself in the name of research. For my blog. For you all to benefit from my torture and not make the same mistakes yourself.
Did I tell you about my friend in New Mexico that is short saling her home? Her first lienholder is Bank of America. She told me it took them seven months to approve the short sale. The approval came one day after her buyers cancelled escrow. She was fortunate and found new buyers- I will have to check in with her to see how that is going. I will update you.
And I guess since I blog so much and have so many irons in the fire right now I should mention that the bank owned home that we wrote a contract on yesterday is still up in the air. My realtor did confirm that there are no other offers on it as of right now and that our offer was submitted to the seller (FNMA) but that it would take 3-5 days to hear back and that if any other offers do come in the interim they will also be submitted to the bank.
We are trying not to get our hopes up about it and all, but like one of the girls at work was teasing me- I obtained a copy of the original builder floorplan and have been using colored pencils to sketch in where our furniture will be placed. I'm not hopeful about it or anything.
C'mon back now. More updates as I get them.
Showing posts with label Suntrust Short Sale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Suntrust Short Sale. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Suntrust Short Sale
In case you were wondering, our offer did get accepted on the Suntrust short sale as well. Actually, we really haven't wrapped all that up yet. The timelines on that property haven't been up to my standards either. Seriously, what is it with people dragging their feet? Apparently no one is in any great hurry to close real estate transactions. I would think we were back in 2004 when everyone had so much business it was like the all day buffet. They would load up their plates, leave half uneaten and throw away the remainder. I feel like the tossed out stuff.
Anyway- so we viewed the home on I think September 10th. We wrote an offer immediately (standing in the driveway) and were hopeful we would hear something definitive and quickly at that. The following day we were told the realtor had received our offer but would be waiting to meet with the homeowners until the weekend. No problem- we figured we could hold out for another day or two.
The sellers realtor came back on Monday and asked us for our highest and best offer. Huh? We offered almost 26k above your asking price? So we decided to go aggressive. We wrote that our highest and best would be $1000 above any other highest and best offer- including our own original offer. Apparently there was someone that just threw a ridiculously high number out there hoping that the sellers would take the bait- knowing that if the appraised value did not come in it would be renegotiated downward later anyway.
Lucky for us- the seller's realtor wasn't a total ego. He did tell them that he didn't feel the higher offer was realistic and that ours had clearly been the most serious one from the beginning. Plus I think it helped that we had toured the home while the seller was there. They have two small children that are almost the exact same ages as our kids.
But after hearing on Wednesday night that our offer was accepted we really haven't seen much movement. That was Wednesday the 16th. Today is Wednesday the 23rd. We just barely received the seller's signed counter offer two days ago and we still have not yet received all the seller disclosures that we were supposed to receive as part of the contract.
So in essence, we have lost nearly two weeks already just going back and forth on the original offer! I am definitely hoping that the seller's realtor (who incidentally is negotiating the short sale for them and NOT utilizing a 3rd party processing company) really is on his game and this is not indicative of the timelines we will see on this property.
Actually, I think it has been somewhat good that they have been dragging their feet on the property that goes to the Suntrust short sale. We actually had told our realtor when writing the second contract that we would not tie up the first home if we did not intend to follow through on it. We were prepared to notify the seller of the Countrywide/BofA short sale that we were cancelling escrow. It just so happened that the day after we were just about to withdraw our offer on that home we got the update that indicated the BPO might be coming in soon so we figured if we were this close we would hold out.
Right now we aren't thinking we have much hope on the original property that started this whole short sale blog. We feel that BofA is going to either deny our offer because it will be too low compared to their BPO or we will counter back to our highest and best and it still will not be high enough. I say- it's been nice to dream about that home. But I'm not going to put myself under water to take on a second mortgage - especially when we already own a home in the area that is upside down. Instead- if they do not accept our offer, or even our highest and best- then we are going to pass and know that we gave it our all. We are going to make the conservative choice and proceed with the 2nd contract we have out there- as the home is less expensive, needs less work done to make it our own, and will cost less for us to maintain in the long run. It's a tough call though- both homes have features we absolutely love. If we had the cash we would buy them both. I don't know what we would do with them, but we would buy them.
Well, if we could get a flippin' short sale approval from their banks that is.
Anyway- so we viewed the home on I think September 10th. We wrote an offer immediately (standing in the driveway) and were hopeful we would hear something definitive and quickly at that. The following day we were told the realtor had received our offer but would be waiting to meet with the homeowners until the weekend. No problem- we figured we could hold out for another day or two.
The sellers realtor came back on Monday and asked us for our highest and best offer. Huh? We offered almost 26k above your asking price? So we decided to go aggressive. We wrote that our highest and best would be $1000 above any other highest and best offer- including our own original offer. Apparently there was someone that just threw a ridiculously high number out there hoping that the sellers would take the bait- knowing that if the appraised value did not come in it would be renegotiated downward later anyway.
Lucky for us- the seller's realtor wasn't a total ego. He did tell them that he didn't feel the higher offer was realistic and that ours had clearly been the most serious one from the beginning. Plus I think it helped that we had toured the home while the seller was there. They have two small children that are almost the exact same ages as our kids.
But after hearing on Wednesday night that our offer was accepted we really haven't seen much movement. That was Wednesday the 16th. Today is Wednesday the 23rd. We just barely received the seller's signed counter offer two days ago and we still have not yet received all the seller disclosures that we were supposed to receive as part of the contract.
So in essence, we have lost nearly two weeks already just going back and forth on the original offer! I am definitely hoping that the seller's realtor (who incidentally is negotiating the short sale for them and NOT utilizing a 3rd party processing company) really is on his game and this is not indicative of the timelines we will see on this property.
Actually, I think it has been somewhat good that they have been dragging their feet on the property that goes to the Suntrust short sale. We actually had told our realtor when writing the second contract that we would not tie up the first home if we did not intend to follow through on it. We were prepared to notify the seller of the Countrywide/BofA short sale that we were cancelling escrow. It just so happened that the day after we were just about to withdraw our offer on that home we got the update that indicated the BPO might be coming in soon so we figured if we were this close we would hold out.
Right now we aren't thinking we have much hope on the original property that started this whole short sale blog. We feel that BofA is going to either deny our offer because it will be too low compared to their BPO or we will counter back to our highest and best and it still will not be high enough. I say- it's been nice to dream about that home. But I'm not going to put myself under water to take on a second mortgage - especially when we already own a home in the area that is upside down. Instead- if they do not accept our offer, or even our highest and best- then we are going to pass and know that we gave it our all. We are going to make the conservative choice and proceed with the 2nd contract we have out there- as the home is less expensive, needs less work done to make it our own, and will cost less for us to maintain in the long run. It's a tough call though- both homes have features we absolutely love. If we had the cash we would buy them both. I don't know what we would do with them, but we would buy them.
Well, if we could get a flippin' short sale approval from their banks that is.
Monday, September 14, 2009
The Queen of Short Sales
We have not yet found out for sure if we are going into contract on the 2nd short sale (the one we put an offer in last Thursday). Today we got notification from the listing agent that they wanted to know our highest and best offer.
What do you mean our highest and best? We gave it to you? We offered almost 27k above list price. What more would you like? Not to mention today you sent us this lovely addendum detailing out a few things that will be removed from the home before we purchase it. Namely, all lighting fixtures and ceiling fans, all stainless steel appliances (dishwasher, microwave, cooktop, double oven, fridge, and hood vent), the wrought iron courtyard gate, and all shutters.
You want our highest and best? Subtract fifteen thousand from our offer. That's our highest and best.
I only wish I was gutsy enough to tell them to do that. Instead we wrote an offer that our highest and best would be to top every other highest and best offer by $1000 (including our own original offer!). Can you tell we kinda want this house? We just really want to be done with this homebuying experience.
I blogged about three months ago about how it all seemed to fall right into place and therefore that must have meant that it was all meant to be. Now I wonder. It has all fallen into place- if we want to live in a rental home for the next two years while our tenants enjoy ours. Or if we want to drag our children from viewing to viewing trying to get in and see homes before they have been on the market for more than 48 hours.
As of right now we are on hold to find out if we are going into contract on the Suntrust short sale until at least Wednesday. The listing agent wanted to give all parties an appropriate amount of time to revise their offers before submitting them to the sellers.
What I really want to know is, why on earth would they be worried about getting highest and best on a short sale? We were led to believe that our offer was heads above the other offers they received. The seller stands to gain absolutely nothing over starting this little bidding war. If they garner an extra five grand out of the deal it all goes to the bank. A short sale is a short sale. It is my understanding that they are several hundred thousand dollars upside down on this house- is five or ten thousand going to make or break the bank?
Instead they are wasting precious time dickering back and forth with the offers they have received. They had a notice of default filed at the end of July- which means that they will likely be going to trustee sale sometime late November or December. I certainly hope that we get this contract and that we can get through the short sale process before their sale date comes up! We have been told that the sale date would just be postponed if their short sale negotiator did not have time to complete the file yet but we really don't want to drag this on either. We would really like to be in our home before Christmas. After all- Santa really wants to bring the girls a swing set- and he just can't leave it at our rental. (no room to even store the boxes!!)
Stay tuned. We will hopefully know by Wednesday night if we were the lucky lottery winners or if we are back to ground zero.
What do you mean our highest and best? We gave it to you? We offered almost 27k above list price. What more would you like? Not to mention today you sent us this lovely addendum detailing out a few things that will be removed from the home before we purchase it. Namely, all lighting fixtures and ceiling fans, all stainless steel appliances (dishwasher, microwave, cooktop, double oven, fridge, and hood vent), the wrought iron courtyard gate, and all shutters.
You want our highest and best? Subtract fifteen thousand from our offer. That's our highest and best.
I only wish I was gutsy enough to tell them to do that. Instead we wrote an offer that our highest and best would be to top every other highest and best offer by $1000 (including our own original offer!). Can you tell we kinda want this house? We just really want to be done with this homebuying experience.
I blogged about three months ago about how it all seemed to fall right into place and therefore that must have meant that it was all meant to be. Now I wonder. It has all fallen into place- if we want to live in a rental home for the next two years while our tenants enjoy ours. Or if we want to drag our children from viewing to viewing trying to get in and see homes before they have been on the market for more than 48 hours.
As of right now we are on hold to find out if we are going into contract on the Suntrust short sale until at least Wednesday. The listing agent wanted to give all parties an appropriate amount of time to revise their offers before submitting them to the sellers.
What I really want to know is, why on earth would they be worried about getting highest and best on a short sale? We were led to believe that our offer was heads above the other offers they received. The seller stands to gain absolutely nothing over starting this little bidding war. If they garner an extra five grand out of the deal it all goes to the bank. A short sale is a short sale. It is my understanding that they are several hundred thousand dollars upside down on this house- is five or ten thousand going to make or break the bank?
Instead they are wasting precious time dickering back and forth with the offers they have received. They had a notice of default filed at the end of July- which means that they will likely be going to trustee sale sometime late November or December. I certainly hope that we get this contract and that we can get through the short sale process before their sale date comes up! We have been told that the sale date would just be postponed if their short sale negotiator did not have time to complete the file yet but we really don't want to drag this on either. We would really like to be in our home before Christmas. After all- Santa really wants to bring the girls a swing set- and he just can't leave it at our rental. (no room to even store the boxes!!)
Stay tuned. We will hopefully know by Wednesday night if we were the lucky lottery winners or if we are back to ground zero.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Fingers Crossed
As if we haven't been punished enough with the short sale process we wrote another offer last night. On a short sale. You would think by now we would have completely given up on those- and yet I find myself honestly hoping they accept our offer and we have the chance to move forward on it.
Almost like this terrible need to self inflict more stress and drama on our lives I guess. Maybe it's because I am so intent on doing short sale research that I want to know what it is like to experience a short sale for a different bank other than Countrywide/Bank of America?
So here's the low down on this one: the home is a single story home on half an acre. The lot is absolutely unbelievable. My husband was amazed when he walked out back and stunned when he peered around the side of the house and saw that the yard just went on and on.
We could put five swing-sets back there and still have room for grass. It has a swimming pool and spa- although I think the pool might only be three feet deep across the entire thing. It looked to us like maybe it was intended to be a volleyball pool. And that's ok too- usually we just like to float around in it and drink beer. The kids won't mind (at least for a few more years) that there will be no jumping into the pool.
The home? The home was beautiful. Decorator touches everywhere- from crown moulding to built in's galore. The entire house is done in tile (not something I probably would have done- but in this home not something that I mind). The colors even happened to match our color scheme!
Apparently the homeowners are getting a divorce- which is never a good thing. They have two children both aged within a few months of each of our children, which makes me sad for their kids because I know just how hard it was for Hayley to adjust the first night we spent in this strange new house. And while I am sad for their situation, well, I am also excited at the thought of possibly owning this home.
We wrote the offer last night and we went in aggressive. You might recall, being aggressive doesn't always get you the contract. The last contract we wrote at over 50k above list price didn't even garner a second look. We didn't go crazy with our offer this time but we did offer almost 27k above list price. In this case- that might be just the right amount. Our realtor has already spoken with the listing agent and so far of the three offers received the other two did not even come in at list price. We are hoping with all hope that our offer is the one they choose.
And yet, even with hope, we are also dreading starting this process all over again. This time the seller's two mortgages are with Suntrust. I have read some fairly positive stuff with regards to Suntrust's short sale timeline so I am going to hope it is accurate. I am almost certain that the process will be much faster than the other short sale we are still waiting on with Countrywide/BofA but we will see.
As of right now we just have our fingers crossed. The listing agent is meeting with the homeowners this weekend to present the offers to them and we are hopeful that ours will be the most attractive. Do we feel bad about writing another offer when we are currently under contract for one? Not one bit. If they hadn't jerked us around so much on the first contract we wouldn't have had any reason to doubt the transaction would go through- but with all the misinformation we have been given we honestly can't say that we think it will go through at the price we offered and we don't want to be left, eight months down the road, in the prophetic dirt.
Will post more info as we receive it on this latest short sale offer. Stay tuned!
Almost like this terrible need to self inflict more stress and drama on our lives I guess. Maybe it's because I am so intent on doing short sale research that I want to know what it is like to experience a short sale for a different bank other than Countrywide/Bank of America?
So here's the low down on this one: the home is a single story home on half an acre. The lot is absolutely unbelievable. My husband was amazed when he walked out back and stunned when he peered around the side of the house and saw that the yard just went on and on.
We could put five swing-sets back there and still have room for grass. It has a swimming pool and spa- although I think the pool might only be three feet deep across the entire thing. It looked to us like maybe it was intended to be a volleyball pool. And that's ok too- usually we just like to float around in it and drink beer. The kids won't mind (at least for a few more years) that there will be no jumping into the pool.
The home? The home was beautiful. Decorator touches everywhere- from crown moulding to built in's galore. The entire house is done in tile (not something I probably would have done- but in this home not something that I mind). The colors even happened to match our color scheme!
Apparently the homeowners are getting a divorce- which is never a good thing. They have two children both aged within a few months of each of our children, which makes me sad for their kids because I know just how hard it was for Hayley to adjust the first night we spent in this strange new house. And while I am sad for their situation, well, I am also excited at the thought of possibly owning this home.
We wrote the offer last night and we went in aggressive. You might recall, being aggressive doesn't always get you the contract. The last contract we wrote at over 50k above list price didn't even garner a second look. We didn't go crazy with our offer this time but we did offer almost 27k above list price. In this case- that might be just the right amount. Our realtor has already spoken with the listing agent and so far of the three offers received the other two did not even come in at list price. We are hoping with all hope that our offer is the one they choose.
And yet, even with hope, we are also dreading starting this process all over again. This time the seller's two mortgages are with Suntrust. I have read some fairly positive stuff with regards to Suntrust's short sale timeline so I am going to hope it is accurate. I am almost certain that the process will be much faster than the other short sale we are still waiting on with Countrywide/BofA but we will see.
As of right now we just have our fingers crossed. The listing agent is meeting with the homeowners this weekend to present the offers to them and we are hopeful that ours will be the most attractive. Do we feel bad about writing another offer when we are currently under contract for one? Not one bit. If they hadn't jerked us around so much on the first contract we wouldn't have had any reason to doubt the transaction would go through- but with all the misinformation we have been given we honestly can't say that we think it will go through at the price we offered and we don't want to be left, eight months down the road, in the prophetic dirt.
Will post more info as we receive it on this latest short sale offer. Stay tuned!
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