All Forum Posts by: Jackie Patterson

Karen,

California has several rules and regulations that make it difficult for a 3rd party to facilitate a short sale.

You can definitely negotiate the deficiency with a local credit union. I just got a $42,000 deficiency reduced to $6000 payable at $50 a month over 10 years for a seller. Just be sure you get it in writing as part of the approval.......BEFORE you close. You may find it easier to have someone else negotiate on your behalf. It can be hard when you're personally involved. If you already have an attorney involved they could probably do it, or perhaps the listing agent could work on your behalf.

Welcome, Sue! We do quite a few short sales in Wisconsin, and have a terrific title company we work with as well as several Realtors. It appears to be a good market. You might consider looking at short sales as you begin your REI career. Interesting that you ran a green-building non-profit. My husband is a certified green professional builder. With your background you might consider green rehabs. It's great for marketing, and would give you an edge.

We facilitate short sales for many Realtors that don't feel they have the time or expertise to do it themselves. I think having someone that specializes in short sales gives you a better success rate. Our negotiator has successfully completed over 4000 short sales. Having a professional can make a big difference. Bill Gulley is correct, we don't represent the bank, we're representing the seller, and we don't get paid unless we get an approval letter with a closing. Although we don't work in California, we do in most other states including Maryland. What David and Melodee are asking for is found to be beneficial by many Realtors and title companies.

Welcome to Bigger Pockets, Travis! You've come to the right place to learn about all kinds of real estate investing.

Ryan - Sounds like you need to agree to disagree. The amount of time spent going back and forth could probably be used more to you advantage on work that will lead to a closing......regardless of what you call it or what kind it is.

By the way, I've always used the terms "simultaneous closing" and double or back to back closings. This isn't something new or made up by Will. They are not the same, and the terms are not used interchangably.

Welcome, Randolph!

It's good that you're spending time reading and studying about REI before jumping in. There is a lot of good information here on Bigger Pockets, and many experienced people that are willing to answer questions and give advice. Good luck!

Thanks, Jerry for the kind words and vote of confidence!

This is certainly a short sale situation as long as there is a hardship of some kind that we can point to as a reason to short sale. Divorce is usually a sufficient reason. You also don't need to be an owner-occupant to do a short sale. We do them all the time for sellers that have moved on and for investment properties. You should tell you friend to get in touch with someone that specializes in short sale facilitation. I'd be happy to talk to him if he wants.

A lender agrees to accept an amount less than owed (short sale) by issuing an approval letter. That letter will have several conditions which must be agreed to before the property can be transferred in a closing. These conditions often include arm's length affidavits that must be signed by all parties. There are no surprises. If you sign the affidavit and agree to the terms, then you have to abide by them. In many cases, these affidavits are signed and submitted with the purchase agreement, so no one should be surprised at the restriction.

That being said, those conditions are not included in every approval letter, and can be sometimes be negotiated out if you know how.

The second issue I see while reading this thread is the FHA 90 day no flip policy. As J Scott noted this was waived in 2010 and has been extended into 2012. However, some lenders have imposed their own underwriting restrictions, so you may have to guide your buyer to a lender that allows it.

Kent, Monica and Danny are all correct. You can get a BPO lowered if you can justify it. We've done it many times. Of course the best thing is to get a proper BPO in the beginning!