Looking for advice

[Jonathan Sparks]

We have been trying to sell our home for almost three years. We finally decided to cut our losses and have a buyer offering approximately 85K less than we owe. Our loan originated with Countrywide and is now with Bank of America.

We have all the short-sale paperwork on our end ready to go: hardship letter, income statements, taxes, etc.

I am looking for advice on this offer. Our mortgage balance (we only have a 1st) is 304K. should we negotiate with the buyer before presenting to the bank (they say there is wiggle room) or is that totally up to the bank???

also - should we hire a lawyer to help with negotiations? our real estate agent doesn't have much short sale experience, though no local agent seems to have much knowledge.

we call the bank weekly as we are now 60+ days behind on payments and they have assigned us to a short sale negotiator. . . problem is the phone cuts off every time we try to call them.

Any advice would be appreciated. These are serious buyers and we want to expedite this deal.

[Justin S.]

Jon-

Bank of america is very slow and painful to deal with so prepare youself for a long ride. Since you loan is an FHA loan, the bank will come and appraise the value of the property. They may decide to take less appraised amount but in most cases, they will try to get that amount.

The value of house seems to be much less than $300K since its been on the market for so long.

The buyer/agents low ball offer is consistent with an investor and is probably wanting the bank to counter him/her. Its pretty common and will kick start your short sale process. The buyer may walk if they do not get it at that price, but at least you'll know what can sell for it once the appraisel is done.

On your question of deficiency judgements, you really should speak with a lawyer about this. The rules vary state to state, and the bank will try and do their best to reserve the right come after you. I'm not saying they will, but they will want to keep their options open. You need to get it in writing and make your contract contigent on the bank waiving all deficiences. Your lawyer can give you the correct verbiage.