All Forum Posts by: Mitch Freed

A property just sold at auction that has a 60K federal tax lien. I have been to the IRS website and I am familiar with the 120 day timeline for the IRS to redeem the property.

Has anybody ever successfully purchased the lien from the IRS and redeemed the property on their own. If so, what discount did the IRS take and who did you contact?

Thanks in advance.

Mitch Freed
Portland Home Savers
503.784.4833

I looked into Sharkbait and I liked the overall idea...but it definitely screams high maintenance.

When I started receiving the NOD excel files my main goal was to figure out a way to filter and streamline the research process. All you really need is a one page summary that provides the property address, mailing address, 1st and 2nd lien, fair market value (I use the tax assessed as a benchmark as it is posted in the NOD) and finally a ratio that compares the debt to the value...what the NOD programs like Sharkbait are doing is basically pulling all this info out of the Excel file and re-organizing it for you in a user friendly format....and they charge accordingly. In reality, the basic program isn't that hard to design. You may consider speaking with a free-lance computer programmer...could save you some money and you can make updates as your success grows...adding filtering features etc... it doesn't need to look fancy or have a logo on it which is the bulk of what you are paying for.

There is a post in the short sales forum about contracts and timing that provides an interesting spin on double closings...something called the BLAST (Buy Low and Sell Today) transaction that combines an Option Contract with a Notice of Option that is actually filed with the county..the guy who posted may have some insight on these double closings as it sounds like he has been successful with them.

http://forums.biggerpockets.com/viewtopic.php?t=18741

There are quite a bit of short sale courses out there...they all make it sound easier than it is.

They also don't take into account their market vs. your market...and some packets you may buy could be very outdated. The packaging may look new but the content doesn't apply to the way banks are reacting today to today's investors negotiating tactics.

They try and paint a picture of an ideal short sale...banks stepping up and taking discounts...loss mitigators listening to reason after you show them your contractors estimates, price opinions, neighborhood stats, sex offenders etc... and rightly so...I firmly believe the people advertising short sale seminars and boot camps are NOT actively doing short sales...otherwise they would have no time to market their products...therefore they lose credibility in my book.

The upside is that they prepare you for the process, what paperwork to get from the homeowner so you have authorization to talk to the bank..and that will save you a lot of time.

But don't buy into their success stories...the pictures of paychecks people receive at closing...its all smoke and mirrors.

Try Dwan Bent Short Sale Secrets...it comes with some good Bankruptcy stuff as well.

The title company should put all of this together for you. You say the bank wants to net 161K so your offer will have to be higher than that...so when title puts together the HUD-1 they will outline how much you will have to pay. Have you opened escrow yet?

Here is yet another short sale horror story...this one is with WAMU..only a 1st mortgage. Payoff was originally about 270K.

Initial Offer two months ago was 200K. BPO came in at 239K and then they got another that came in at 279K. We spent two months calling them and each week they promised a counter...but it never came in.

Auction date is April 29th..yeah, tomorrow. Counter came in Friday the 25th at 259K. Their explanation of the counter price was that they split the difference on the BPO values....real scientific of them.

The loss mitigator, or better yet, her title is Homeownership Preservation Specialist, stated that if I wanted to get the auction date postponed all I had to do was accept the counteroffer of 259K.

So today, I did. I emailed, called several times and accepted the counter price in writing. They returned my emails with this..."too many last minute offers are being submitted. If you want this property, bid at auction." Opening bid will be in excess of 280K...and they had a BPO come in at 239K...does anybody see anything wrong with this picture?

I just can't wait to see what WAMU does with this one in REO...the property has been RED TAGGED by the city of Portland as illegal to occupy dwelling...i mean, have fun with that.

The problem is the Loss Mitigation deptartment are run by uneducated hourly employees who get hammered with calls and emails every day and handle at least 100 files at a time. Their supervisors are probably so fed up with the whole show they would rather the property go to foreclosure because then it's off their plate and then the REO Departments problem. What a joke.

You can definitely get a release form from the homeowner and no there would be no breach of contract.

All you really want to do is have the authorization to speak to the bank about your offer and send them your short sale package info. This can actually be accomplished with a simple fax stating that you have authorization to request information regarding xxxxxx loan at xxxxxxxx property on behalf of xxxxxxxxxx borrower. I would make sure the fax contains the borrowers name, property address, mailing address, loan number, and last four digits of their SSN.

You may have to send this form in 3 plus times before the loss mitigation dept receives it...but it will get there eventually.

Usually the homeowners are more comfortable just giving the agent the authorization...so if you can win over the agent and convince him/her that with the authorization, you can take a lot of the work off their plate...then they may go to the homeowner and get the authorization signed for you.

Hey guys funny story...i posted my experience with OCWEN some time ago..you can find it earlier in the thread.

I am still in negotiations on that property and the listing agent just got an interesting phone call from the loss mitigator.

Apparently they are spying on these threads and found my post and threw it in my face. They quoted my post word for word to the agent and threw quite the tantrum. They are taking it very personally that somebody is out there sharing experiences...what a nightmare for them!

You would think they are working all day long trying to help the homeowners in default they as they claim...but apparently they are surfing the web and spying on our threads...quite professional of them.

In other words, be careful what you say about OCWEN or any other lender for that matter...or on second thought...screw'em, banks like OCWEN are losing their investors so much money...cash buyers negotiating short sales are the only ones out there trying to improve the market situation and they are making it extremely difficult.

Oh yes..and I have a gift for the OCWEN rep who doesn't like her name mentioned (Natalie)..CHAPTER 13 BANKRUPTCY. Good luck explaining to your boss that you could have closed a transaction but lost it because you were wasting your time surfing the web.

Loki,

Consider your area vs. mine before you state what is true and what isn't.

Different markets call for different procedures. Portland's market is not as bad as most. Therefore, banks want to see homes on the RMLS, with a listing history before they consider a short sale. Believe me, I have quite a few going right now....and if you look at the FSBO lists vs. the RMLS listings tagged for short sales...you will see, in the histories, that the homes start out well above what they owe and eventually drop to the short sale point...and then they list as a short sale in the RMLS.

I agree that you can do a short sale without listing on the RMLS...I said MOST banks require it.

I am confused how a bank would step in and offer to sell the property...banks don't sell properties unless they own them in REO. They would prefer the homeowner cure the default and have a performing note then selling short.

Plus, in Oregon, any home in short sale can accept multiple offers. Therefore, the bank can hold out for higher offers even though the seller has already signed off on one. Short sales here are a pain.

Furthermore...deficiency JUDGMENTS are for Judicial Foreclosures and only occur when the homeowner is foreclosed on via the court system and not trustee's sale. Then again, these laws depend on the state.

When a short sale occurs there is no judgment against the borrower...if the lender sells short they may require the homeowner to sign a "Promissory Note" for the difference...if the homeowner refuses, then the lender can kill the deal.

The title companies will generally provide the info at no cost. If you have a friend who is a mortgage broker, ask them to put you in contact with their escrow agent of choice. Inform the agent that you are looking at investing in pre-foreclosures and would like to be added to their NOD mailing list.

They will want your business in the future when you need to open a transaction...so yea they will be accomodating for NOD lists.