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Ocwen Short Sale – What
does it Cost? Great question. The short story – almost nothing and as always it
depends on what state the property is situated in. For California the answer is
pretty simple – almost nothing. I say almost because there are some fees and
expenses that the bank won’t pay for that need to be addressed. Those fees are
city / county utilities such as water, sewer and garbage and usually HOA dues.
Now if we know ahead of time that making those payments are going to be a
hardship on you we can work on a work around early in the transaction. All the
rest of the expenses including commissions, negotiating fee, closing costs,
escrow fees and the like are all paid for by either the bank or the buyer. How
great is that. So what does it cost the seller to complete an Ocwen Short Sale?
Next to nothing if anything.
In addition to the
lender specific Short Sale application, generally what is
required in a Chase Short Sale package is two years tax
returns, two months of your most recent paystubs, two months of your most
recent bank statements, a hardship letter describing the reason for the Chase
Short Sale, a financial statement showing your income and
liabilities, an IRS form 4506T, and depending on the loan type and West Sacramento Short Sale type you may also
need a form 710, RMA or a Dodd Frank form stating you have not been convicted
or felony larceny, theft, forgery, fraud, money laundering or tax evasion in
the last 10 years. The form 710 and RMA are similar but different in that each
is a government form asking for the same information in a different format. You
normally don’t need both in the same Chase
Short Sale.
While this all sounds
overwhelming, it’s really not all that bad. The key is to turn in a near
perfect Chase Short Sale package from the beginning
and the negotiations will go much smoother
Why Would Wells
Fargo Accept A Short Sale? Real simple – it’s all about the
money. That’s the short answer. The long answer – in a West Sacramento Short Sale the lender or end
investor stands to lose about 15-20% less in a Short Sale vs. Foreclosure. Wells
Fargo, like all the other lender / servicers are for profit
companies. Their job is to, make money for the Wells
Fargo shareholders. Millions in executive compensation and
bonus depend on it. So if you are the CEO, CFO, Senior Vice President or any
other high level executive and you have to decide to accept a West Sacramento Short Sale or foreclose and
lose an additional 20% what are you going to do? Take the West Sacramento Short Sale of course. It’s
called first loss is best loss. If the future loss looks greater than the
current loss it is prudent business to take the first loss and move on.
Now, what is important
here is the Wells Fargo Short Sale has to net Wells
Fargo more than the foreclosure. If the Wells
Fargo Short Sale offer is so low it makes better sense to
foreclose, you can bet they sure will. Again it’s about the money and where Wells
Fargo will lose the least amount. Generally a fair market value
short sale offer will trump a foreclosure for mitigating loss.
Bank of America– What is a Short Sale? Great question. Simply
put a West Sacramento Short Sale is any sale where
the bank gets less than what is owed and the bank agrees to forgive the balance
of the loan.
Now depending on what
state you are in or the type of short sale you have the bank may or may not
waive their right to seek a deficiency judgment and / or pursue the borrower
for the balance still owed.
Fortunately for most
borrowers in California to complete a West Sacramento Short Sale both the first
and second mortgagor must agree to waive their right to seek a deficiency
judgment and forgive the debt. Now because the lender can’t seek to collect on
the unpaid balance they will report the unpaid balance as income to the
borrower to the IRS on a form 1099C. Under most circumstances the borrower can
avoid paying income taxes on the phantom income but it is always best to
contact a qualified tax professional before completing the West Sacramento Short Sale.
Serviced Released West Sacramento Short Sale. Just the thought of
another Serviced Released West Sacramento Short Sale is enough to
drive me crazy. What is a Serviced Released Short Sale? Service released is when the servicer
sells the rights to collect the payments and service the loan to someone else.
What happens in a West Sacramento Short Sale when it is
service released? In most cases the file starts not at the very beginning but
pretty darn near close to it. We have had instances where we only had to update
some of the financials and then again have had instances where we started from
scratch.
The important thing to
know about a service released short sale is to know its coming. A good West Sacramento Short Sale Specialist is
going to be asking those questions from time to time during the negotiations.
There have been instances where we have been able to have the file held over
from the service release to get the deal closed. Again, it’s about knowing
where you are with the file and all the other moving parts.
Bank of America Short sales. Love ‘em or hate
‘em, if you are going to have success in West Sacramento Short Sales you are going to
have to learn to work with them. It’s funny (peculiar not ha-ha). We can click
right along with never an issue on a Bank of America Short Sale for months
without a problem and then all of a sudden every file is a dog fight.
Unfortunately we are in the Bank of America Short Sale dog fight mode.
We have several files that for whatever reason seem to get hung up or stalled
at every turn. We have some very helpful contacts at Bank of America Short Sale Department that
we go to when there is a problem file. For the longest time we had no reason to
bother them and then this week we had to reach out three separate times.
Fortunately for us our Bank of America Short Sale escalation
contacts know we don’t cry wolf and each time we have reached out within hours
the file is miraculously back on track or the Bank of America Short Sale negotiator is
calling us with an update. The funny thing is, if the Bank of America Short Sale negotiator was
doing their job in the first place I would not have had to escalate the file.
Go figure.
The real issue is I suspect
the problem is going to get worse before it gets better. Why? Because the
Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Relief Act expires at the end of this year and Bank of America Short Sale volume should go
up the closer we get to the end of the year. We certainly don’t expect Bank of America to gear up for the onslaught
– that would require forward thinking on the part of senior management.
The moral of the story
is if you are considering a Bank of America Short Sale or any West Sacramento Short Sale for that matter
you can’t start early enough to ensure getting the file closed before the end
of this calendar year.
OCWEN / GMAC Short Sale.
Seems like we are talking nearly every week about Ocwen Short Sales. Why is
that you say? Well, pure and simple Ocwen has been very active in buying up
servicing rights from many of the larger lenders such as Bank of America and GMAC in particular.
One of the changes to
come about with Ocwen buying old GMAC loans is the use of the Equator system.
Previously all Ocwen short sale packages were faxed to the Ocwen Short Sale
department and handled by fax and email. What we are finding now is the old
GMAC Short Sale files, now Ocwen Short Sale files are being handled through
Equator, the on line processing platform used by many of the lenders.
Is there really a
difference? Only in that the Ocwen Short Sale package is broken into smaller
parts and the formatting is slightly different. Makes it a little more
challenging but now we know it’s no problem at all. The basic Ocwen Short Sale
requirements remain the same and a complete Ocwen Short Sale package is always
required for quickest success.
Got a problem or
question with an Ocwen Short Sale or loan? Give me a call. Let’s see if we
can’t get you some help.
Citi Bank Short Sales.
Who doesn’t love Citi when it comes to West Sacramento Short Sales? Of all the lender /
servicers we work with none are as easy to work with as Citi. Doesn’t matter if
it is a first mortgage, second mortgage or Home Equity Line or HELOC, Citi
truly “gets” it. The powers to be seem to understand that a Citi Short Sale
saves them money and have put systems and processes in place to expedite the
process. Think about that. The longer someone spends on a file the costlier it
is and the more people you need. The Citi Short Sale department has figured
that out.
The personnel in the
Citi Short Sale department are about as nice and helpful as can be from the
person who answers the phone to the negotiator all the way to closing – at
least that is our experience. Our most recent Citi Short Sale was hung up in
the initiation process. When I called to confirm receipt of our Citi Short Sale
package the woman on the other end told me it was nowhere to be found. Rather
than telling me to re-fax she had me email it directly to her and she stayed on
the phone until it came in and she uploaded our Citi Short Sale package into
the system. Trust me you don’t get that kind of helpful service at the other
banks.
To get a better idea of
when your West Sacramento home will be worth what you owe, log in
to www.shortsaleandloanmod.info for a free
estimate or call me today for a free no obligation consultation or for the
latest West Sacramento short sale information. Call me
today and sleep better tonight; you’ll be glad you did.
Blomquist continues,
This sounds like a good way to reduce foreclosures and prop up home prices, but
as we will shortly see, the proposed program is oddly risky and likely to
encourage additional defaults.
According to the Federal
Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will offer “a new,
simplified loan modification initiative” to borrowers who are at least 90 days
late with their mortgage payments. Modifications can include a lower rate, a
loan term stretched to 40 years and principal forbearance in some cases.
“The loan,” says FHFA,
“must be owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Homeowners must be
90 days to 24 months delinquent, and have a first-lien mortgage that is at
least 12 months old with a loan-to-value ratio equal to or greater than 80
percent. Loans that have been modified at least two times previously are not
eligible.”
The program is open to
borrowers who have already modified their loans once, perhaps a few years ago
when rates were higher. This, at least, is a good idea.
So according to
Blomquist, what’s the big difference between the new program and the
modifications offered previously? No-Doc Modifications.
FHFA says the “key
difference is that borrowers will not be required to document their hardship or
financial situation, but will be able to accept a Streamlined Modification
Offer by simply making the trial period payments and agreeing to the terms of
the modification.”
According to Blomquist,
The new government initiative is in some ways commendable: We surely want fewer
people foreclosed and if there’s a way to modify mortgages that makes financial
sense for both lenders and borrowers then we should take a look. Unfortunately,
the FHFA program misses the mark. It is understandable and even laudable to
give troubled homeowners the chance to prove themselves worthy of a loan
modification by making three trial payments. But eliminating the requirement
for these homeowners to show they have a financial hardship before entering the
trial modification period creates a moral hazard.
Those who can afford to
make their current mortgage payment will be rewarded if they strategically
default, in which case they can qualify for a program in which their new
monthly payment is lower. The end result: Fannie and Freddie—and ultimately
taxpayers—get a lower rate of return on a loan without any evidence that
lowering that rate of return was necessary.
The reason given for
eliminating the hardship documentation requirement: it “eliminates the
administrative barriers with document collection and evaluation.”
Blomquist says it,
Sounds more like a rationalization for cutting corners rather than a solid
defense of doing what is right for the American taxpayer.
So, aren’t no doc loans
how we got into this situation in the first place? Thank you to Mr. Blomquist
for so eloquently saying what needs to be said
Our typical initiation
to Green
Tree Short Sale approval time is generally 47 days on average.
I am almost embarrassed to say this one took us nearly 70 days to get approved.
Our fault, Green
Tree’s fault, Fannie Mae’s fault – does it really matter.
The bottom line is the file took us longer than it should have but we did get
it approved!
We did have numerous
escalations on this file in an effort to keep it on track however my good
friends over in the Green Tree Short Sale Department are just
swamped to say the least. It’s funny. When you get them on the phone they are
generally pretty gruff and in a hurry to get you off the line with the least
amount of information. The secret I have found is to empathies with them and
joke around. By the time we hang up with the Green Tree Short
Sale negotiator we have not only the information we needed on
the file but a little taste of how over loaded they really are – which explains
a lot.
The bottom line here is
when we now deal with a Green Tree Short Sale file, we know it is
going to take 60 plus days to negotiate. It’s about setting the right
expectation with the sellers and buyers alike and the better expectation you
can set and meet the better the transaction goes.
Bank of America Short Sale Foreclosed On. Wow now
that is painful. Has it happened to us before? Honestly – yes but not more than
once or twice. There is not more sickening feeling than working on getting a Bank of America Short Sale approved only to
lose it to foreclosure and that is why who you select to handle your Bank of America Short Sale is so very
important.
This past week I got a
call from a Broker in our area who was just in a panic. She said “Mike, I have
a problem and I didn’t know how to handle it. Can you help me?” Well now of
course I said yes. In the field of Short Sales how do you NOT help one another?
Anyway she was working
on a Bank of America Short Sale that was being
negotiated by one of Bank of America’s third party providers – Dignified
Transition Solutions or DTS. Full disclosure here, I am not a fan of DTS. When
they first started out they were great. Now, in my opinion whenever I get a DTS
file I know I will be escalating because the customer service is just not there
anymore. But I digress…
OK so what had happened
was this Broker friend of mine said she was negotiating a DTS file and there
was a foreclosure sale date. The DTS negotiator swore up and down that the sale
date was postponed. Low and behold the date was not postponed and because this
particular broker doesn’t do many Short Sales she did not confirm with the
trustee that the sale had actually been postponed. The property went to sale
and was sold to a third party at the courthouse steps. The homeowner and broker
found out when the person who bought the property knocked on the door. My
Broker friend was asking for an escalation contact to get the sale reversed.
While I gave her what I
had, my experience is with Bank of America Short Sales is once a third
party has bought the property at the courthouse steps it is virtually
impossible to reverse. The key is to not let it happen in the first place.
While any agent / Realtor / Broker is licensed to complete a Bank of America Short Sale, most should not. When
looking for a West Sacramento Short Sale Specialist make
sure they really are just that – an experienced Short Sale Specialist. Your financial future
depends on it
Bank of America Short Sale with DTS. DTS or
Dignified Transition Solutions is a 3rd party vendor hired by Bank of America to administer their Short Sales. They started out initially offer
agents “Pre-Approved” Bank of America Short Sale leads that really
amounted to no more than getting agents to door knock delinquent Bank of America borrowers. Did the program
work? I suspect not. Anytime you have a bank suggesting you use one of their
“preferred” agents hang on to your wallet. You have to ask yourself, if there
comes a time where the agent has to look out for Bank of America’s best interest or the
borrower’s best interest, which way are they going to swing? To the one time
borrower client or to the goose that lays the golden eggs and sends them
business every month? Now I am sure there are very good agents in this program
but why roll the dice?
Why a Default Advocate? Simple, the Default Advocate want’s what’s best for the
homeowner period. It that is a Bank of America Short Sale – great they get
paid. If not and another solution is better for the borrower then a true Default Advocate is good with that as well.
They know the borrowers they help stay in their homes will remember them the
next time they hear of someone needing help.
Anyway I digress. Bank of America Short Sales with DTS. Not
only does DTS administer the pre-approved program but traditional Bank of America Short sales as well.
Dignified Transition Solutions – good thing or bad thing? My experience is the
folks at DTS are like anywhere else. Some good some not so good and that’s why
we have escalations.
We had a Bank of AmericaFHA Short Sale where we had received the
Authorization to Participate in just under 30 days. As you know an FHA Short Sale is a two-step process. Three
if you really think about it. First FHA has
to approve you for liquidation vs. retention which is short sale or deed in lieu vs. loan mod. Once
approved for liquidation you get the ATP orAuthorization to Participate. The
ATP tells you what the minimum FHA will
accept on the short sale and what the list price should be. Once you get the
ATP the lender then reviews the offer and related documentation for final FHA short sale approval. Leave it to the
government to take 60-90 days to do something private industry can complete in
as little as two weeks but that of course is another story
So back to the story. We
received our ATP but the approval was lagging. We followed up on the file twice
a week every week to no avail until we finally escalated the file not only to
the team lead but to HUD directly. Funny thing. We escalated to HUD in
the morning and had a response from our negotiator that afternoon.
Anyway short story long,
the negotiator called us and said ours was one of the cleanest most complete Bank of AmericaFHA Short Sale Packages he had ever seen. I
know that killed him to say that but honestly we pride ourselves on submitting
clean files that get approved. With a clean file in hand and approval on its
way we will be looking at closing this escrow in as little as 30 days. Another
homeowner saved from foreclosure. Life is good.
Ocwen Short Sale
Information. Seems nearly every week we are talking about one of my favorite
lenders Ocwen. I know it really goes against conventional thinking but I have
grown to truly enjoy working Ocwen Short Sales. Most agents don’t. The reason I
think is fear or miss-understanding. Ocwen has a system and you have one of two
choices, work within their system or struggle with the file until you do. There
is an old saying that applies to Ocwen Short Sales and that is, “This ain’t Burger
King, you either get it their way or no way at all”. And really, let’s think
about it, if you are asking a company to forgive hundreds of thousands in debt,
is it really too much to ask to show the entity that is forgiving the debt that
it is warranted? I think it’s fair. If you were asking them to loan you money
it would be the same questions.
In fact what a great way
to look at Ocwen Short Sales or any other West Sacramento Short Sale. Think of it as the
same process as applying for a loan only in reverse.
Why do we like working
on Ocwen Short Sales? We understand the process and who to go to if a file gets
stuck. Treat them right and they will treat you right. We had two recent instances
where we needed to escalate the file and within 24 hours of escalating the file
was back on track. How awesome is that? Got an Ocwen Short Sale question or
problem with the file? Give me a call or email me. I am more than happy to help
