Weekly Update on our Bank of America Short Sale Purchase

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.

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!