All Forum Posts by: Mary Ann Rocco

Thanks for validating my concerns. Why not fill out both sides of the HUD-1 form if there is nothing to hide? It burns me that I'm not entitled to know where my money went...oh I forgot I've let it go.

You are all SO RIGHT! I wanted this house so bad I stayed in escrow that took exactly 1 year to the day to close. I probably paid about 20-30K more than the house is worth now, but this is the house I will spend the rest of my life in. THANK YOU for the 'gentle' slap therapy to just 'let it go'.

Mar

Thanks. In California we use real estate agents not attorneys. I ALREADY closed and have the HUD statement. It only shows my buyer costs as the 200,000 + the 16,000 as shown in the original CONTRACT. The question comes up that I am not being provided the details on how the 200,000 was divided up. I know that the 2 loans are less than 200,000. I've factored in all of the commissions and an estimate of closing but still fall short. I thought someone here could provide insight to me on where that money went.

I'm a private buyer in California on a short sale with 2 loans. Owners haven't made payments in about 16 months and left the house about a year ago.

Fake numbers here just to make my point. I took my buyer closing costs out of both sides of the equation to simplify the example.

MY ORIGINAL CONTRACT:
Sale Price: 200,000
Additonal to 2nd: 16,000
2% in Commissions: 4,000
TOTAL: 220,000

AMOUNT GOING IN TO ESCROW:
Bank Loan: 160,000
from Me: 60,000
TOTAL: 220,000

So far so good. I got copies of the short sale letters literally the day I had to close (the SS letters would expire). I wanted to understand where the money was going. The seller costs were not listed in my HUD-1 statement, just my buyer costs showing the 200,000 sale price plus the additonal out of pocket on the 2nd and the various closing costs. No details on how that 200,000 was really broken down and who was really getting what. The escrow co would not tell me when I asked , basically that I wasn't entitled to that info. Here is what I know.

Amount in 1st SS letter: 160,000
Amount in 2nd SS letter: 27,000
Agent Commissions: 12,000
My estimate of seller closing costs: 6,000 (I estimated high)
TOTAL 205,000

So where did the other 15,000 go? Why wouldn't the escrow company give me this information...why won't ANYONE give me this information? Is there some seller cost that I'm missing? Is it possible that the SS letters exclude any back interest owed such that more had to go to those banks? I moved forward and closed escrow today but I can't seem to let this go in my mind. It's driving me crazy...

Thanks so much for your insights. At least I know that my thoughts on WHY this is happening might be accurate. It was a strong offer right at appraised value and I'm pre-qualified with a 20% down. I don't think they could find a better buyer!

Any suggestions on an attorney in California?

Hello. I went into escrow last August on a house in Huntington Beach, CA. It's my dream house and the house I want to live in. I'm a first time buyer. I do have an agent.

There are 2 loans, the 1st with GMAC and the 2nd with Chase. There have been nothing but delays and it's all due to Chase dragging their feet. GMAC is not really short selling by more than 10-15K. The Chase loan is 175K and 44K is what is being negotiated. No notice of defualt has been filed by the 1st even though the owners moved out last July and I assume stopped making payments. The seller's agent had a short sale negotiator out of his office. In October the seller received an approval letter from Chase that basically said you can sell short but you still owe us the rest of the money. The seller hired an attorney after that. I've been told numerous times it was a done deal just waiting for issuance of letter...but it was all smoke and mirrors. No letter yet.

So here I am in April. Is it reasonable to assume that Chase is not moving forward either because they have no motivation since no threat of forclosure, or maybe because the seller's are not at rock bottom financially? My agent gets little information out of the attorney except to say it will happen soon. When asked why she thought no notice of default had been filed by GMAC she said they were being really understanding...WHAT? Ridiculous, but I can't figure out why no notice of default.

I'm considering closing the escrow account, i.e. backing out of the deal, to see if that makes something HAPPEN. I would be thrilled if it foreclosed and I could buy it as an REO. My fear is that by backing out now they will just repalce me with another buyer, then I lose my dream home.

Does it make sense for me to hire an attorney for a consultation on what I should do? Any referrals to someone that might provide a consulation for an hourly fee rate in California?

Any referrals or insights would be appreciate.

Mary Ann

Thanks to all. It appears that the short sale may be going through. I almost wish it would foreclose because I think the asking price as an REO would end up being less that what I'm paying on the short sale! But then again REO's create more buyer interest so that may not be true. Could end up in a bidding war.

It sure seems alot easier when you're buying as an investor instead of a roof over your head...

I'm a first time home buyer in California that found her dream home. It was a short sale with 2 loans. Very long story short, I don't think this is going to happen. I think it's going to forclose. The 1st is held by GMAC Mortage for about 650K. I made the comment to my agent that if it forescloses I want to try and get an offer in before it hits the MLS. My agent replied "good luck with that".

Is there any kind of game plan that will allow me to offer on this property before it hits the MLS?

This is a great forum. I'm very grateful for the advice.

I have some thinking to do. I'll post an update when I know the end of the story...

Mary

Thanks - that clarifies the situation for me. The bottom line is that what I'm paying for this house is unchanged. I expected to pay 754,000 which is appraised value. The breakdown of who is getting what in my contract with the seller was deceptive. Instead of the agent/neg commission of 2%, the 754,000 goes towards 6% in commissions. But the bottom line remains the same.

Now the question is do I walk away from my dream house after 4 months of being in escrow because of semantics?