Countrywide is the largest mortgage company in the US…think they are dealing with a short sale problem at the moment? You betcha. (not to mention short sales of their stock! Wish I had shorted them at $40!) They have now been taking over by Bank of America Mortgage.
Countrywide’s Full Spectrum Lending division was the King of awful sub prime mortgages the past few years, and now those loans are going bad. If you have a countrywide loan and are facing foreclosure, a short sale of your home might be your best option.
I did a short sale of my home (and I had a first and second mortgage on the property) earlier this year. It can be done, but it requires patience and a plan and a little help. There are a zillion schmucks out there who will offer to “help” you when your down. Some are legit, most are not.
What I Did In My Short Sale
What I did (hiring a real estate agent with short sale experience) worked for my situation. It may not for your short sale, but I found it the best option. Working with a real estate agent you at least can get a background on the person, and if they work for a larger brokerage you know they have resources to help you. Think short sales are hard for you? They are equally as hard on the real estate agent! Getting a short sale deal done (especially right now with the overwhelmed lenders like Countrywide) takes alot of work. I do think its the best option vs. foreclosure though. You can also read my 7 steps to a successful short sale guide.
You Need An Experienced Short Sale Agent!
From my blog here I’ve developed an extensive network of real estate agents that have short sale experience. If you’d like a referral, fill out the form below and I’ll have someone available in your area to help with your short sale ASAP.
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Hello all,
My wife and I are hoping for a faster result than the experiences I’m reading about here. We are in the early stages with CW. We had our offer on a short sale home accepted by the seller on Feb. 11 09, so we are 3 weeks into the process.
Our agent told us that the negotiating with the lender has to be handled by the sellers agent and the title company. He said the title company being used is very proactive and will be contacting the lender a couple times a week.
We have a deadline on the offer contract for mid-March for the lender to respond to our offer. From what I’m reading from others experieces we shouldn’t be too optimistic about hearing back by the deadline?
We’re suppose to get an update about where we are in the process from CW on this upcoming Monday. I’ll post back with updates on our process as we go. If any of you have any advice on how to get the offer into the negotiator’s hands more quickly, please let me know?
Any advice? My story is a couple posts above on 3/5/09.
Hi Chris,
I contacted my agent today. She said I should expect my closing paperwork from the escrow company in the mail next week at the latest. At that point, there is nothing else for me to sign, receive, or file. I will officially be DONE with this nightmare!!
Awesome!!!!! Thanks so much for all the information you've provided! Good luck with everything else going forward!
I was told this week by my agent that the lady at the title company who is handling the process with Countrywide on this deal, who does SS all day every day, says that her experience with Countrywide right now is 2-3 months from the time they accept the package, which they have in my case. So I guess I need to just sit and be patient.
I would like to make a short sale. We are 150.000 upside down on a 320k mortgage. Ive been out of a job but my wife works. We want to get out. It is a 1br condo in great shape. We have been using our savings to pay the monthly mortgage and has run out and next month will most likely begin to miss payments. We also have credit card debt and leased cars. If we go for a short sale, should we continue making payments on our credit cards? .. From reading the posting on Debtkid it says keep paying on the credit cards to keep your credit active, but wont the lenders see that and decide that your paying on your credit cards and not the loan. ( they will then not accept your need for a short sale) ?
also, when you file for short sale when will your credit become effected? If you have 0 % aprs presently, will these cards then become higher interest rate automatically once you file for a short sale or during. Ruining your chance to pay off the debt while going through this hard time.
Can anyone give advise as to what steps to take so that you are not running in the hole in the long run. ??
and that you don't end up in foreclosure or bankruptcy.
Thank you.
Dear Small World,
Your credit becomes affected as soon as you become late on your mortgage. Based on the fico score your credit started from, i.e. someone with 780 fico will probably get hit about 200 points whereas someone with a 600 fico will probably get hit about 100 pouints. The issue right now is getting out of this property and having you be in control of how it will be done as opposed to the lender foreclosing on you. you will then be able to rebuild your credit and based on current fha guidelines, be able to purchase again in 24 months. My company and I have over 200 active shortsales in California with a team of seasonned negotiators working on your behalf. No up front cost to you. If your lender is countrywide, i can get this done in 60 days or less as we arte in a preffered program with them. None of the horror stories your hear about on all the bloggs. The key for you is asking a lot of kestions and you'll be able to know exactly what route to take…..
My company's website is http://www.360realty.com
@ Small World –
We should begin by noting that a short sale will only remedy your mortgage woes. Consumer tradelines such as credit cards, installment loans and the like are an entirely different matter. Lenders like CW are only interested in whether you can pay your mortgage. If the answer is no, then you have sufficient cause to pursue a short sale. You need not demonstrate abject poverty, only the inability to keep up with mortgage payments. If you wish to protect your good credit, missing payments on credit cards and auto leases would be the wrong way to go.
Simply beginning the short sale dialogue with CW will not wound your credit. It is only affected adversely when:
- you start missing payments
- a short sale is closed (the damage can be nominal depending on the # of missed payments)
- your property is foreclosed on by the lender either by trust deed or deed in lieu
The APR on other credit tradelines should not be affected as there is not actually any type of recorded public notice for short sales, only the associated credit reporting to the Big 3 bureaus after closing. The only fundamental difference between a short sale and any other residential real estate transaction is that your lender has agreed to accept a payoff which is less than what you owe them.
One other note. A competent, proactive, short sale savvy agent is the key to making your transaction go. You cannot expect to effectively screen and identify good realtors from bad unless you familiarize yourself with the entire process. Read this thread from beginning to end and take notes. Interview realtors like you would a nanny for your kids. Your financial future relies their performance and you cano't afford to pick a loser.
Thank you for your response. I am definitely interested in finding a Short Sale Agent. Do you Recommend a company in N. VA area. Will I need to work on this quickly because as of present I am current but will most likely fall behind next month and does this qualify us if your starting only at the beginning of the process?
Other Questions:
1. How would we qualify for the short Sale? Do we need to submit any paper work, bank statements etc. ?
2. Your stating that if we keep current on all other credit co. ( cards, Car, etc.) that our credit would not be hit until the date we actually sell the house short ?
3. We do have our 1st with CW. If we are current as of present and we call them to discuss a short sale would it be best to have a legal attorney or agent represent us with the first process or start it ourselves. I would not want to have an issue with CW just because we were representing ourselves.
4. From what I hear you submit an offer say our house will only sell for 160,000 presently ( this is the amount a Realtor expressed it would sell for) . Will the lender accept that much for the short sale and absorb the rest of the cost ? or will they say we need to sell it for more. And then if we cannot, we end up in foreclosure after trying for 4 months and not making payments. Then we will be in more of a disposition.
I have read most of this blog and it seems that many people have different issues, although some relative. It is hard to get personalized info. I appreciate your help, it has been encouraging.
@ Small World –
1.CW will require several documents, collectively referred to as 'financials'. When you contact CW to start the process, they will tell you exactly what they need (i.e. recent paystubs, bank statements, etc.). It would be a good idea to already have these papers together in-hand.
2.Unless you start missing payments — mortgage or other — there is no penalty to your credit until after closing.
3.In my view, attorneys just get in the way and add a higher degree of difficulty to an already stressful process. CW may be less willing to work with you if they believe that you are angling for some type of civil case against them. One need not speak 'Legalese' to converse with their lender. When you tell them that you can no longer meet your payment obligations to them, they'll get the picture right away. CW is not in the home ownership business and they don't want to foreclose if they can avoid it.
Cw does not ask the listing agent to provide a BPo which is a borker's price opinion. They will order their own through Landsafe which is a third party. Va is right in your being proactive and not letting the lender take your property….
I, myself closed on a CW short last September. They did take a BPO and later ordered an independent appraisal which actually came in about $15k higher than the BPO. They accepted the BPO any way and I closed about 3 weeks later. The listing agent — whom I know pretty well — is a genuine short sale expert and really went to bat for his client.
In response to your post. Yes I can recommend an agent there for you. You should start on it now but you have plenty of time as you have not become late. It takes a minimum of 6 month for the property to get foreclosed on.
1. Who are your lenders and how much do you owe on each?
2. Your credit will get hit as soon as you miss your first mortgage payment.
3. 360 realty can do all the paperwork and negotiation on your behalf. The agent on the ground in VA will take care of marketing the property and finding a buyer.
With Countrywide 360 realty deals directly with the office of the president with a dedicated team of Countrywide representatives. We can get this done in abou 60 days… Countrywide will also pay your property taxes and up to $8,000 to satisfy the second lien holder. 360 realty would represent you in negotiating this.
4. It all rest in the offer being about 10-15% of the market value, not what you owe…. I will help you determine what is acceptable to the lender.
If you need to email me confidential info use stephan@360realty.com
4.
4.CW will want your agent to submit a 'BPO' — a broker's price opinion. Based on that figure, CW will weigh offers from potential buyers. It is in everyone's best interest that the BPO be a reasonable figure for a quick sale. Lenders gain nothing by insisting on a higher price — such is a good way for a lender to become a homeowner. Again, a competent — and persuasive — agent is the key.
Disregard anyone who suggests that you leave it all to them and just wait for the phone call with the good news. Your knowledge, vigilance and direct participation are required to assure success.
Hi all –
What an impossible journey this sounds like. We are trying to do a short sale on our house which we are severely under water on. (It's listed now, no offers yet.) If we succeed, do any of you know how long we'd have to wait before buying a new house somewhere (assuming we could get financing)?
TIA,
CiCi
@ CiCi –
Recovery time will depend on many factors. Monitor your credit closely, paying particular attention to your fico score. With credit as tight as it is, a score below 680 will keep you out of the game. Also, be prepared to put 20% down on any conventional loan. The days of 90-100% financing are gone and will be for a while. Beware of sub-prime lenders who say they can work with bad credit. Such is the genesis of the problems many Americans are now facing.
Another knowledgeable poster here by the name of highlndr has written of a credit monitoring service which she used to keep on top of her credit scores. An excellent plan. In the meantime, plan on being a renter for a time. Regroup and get your financial status healthy again before heading back out into the wild.
I dont understand CW – Do they want to keep the properties? Will they benefit from not doing a short sale? Do they legally have to try to short sale the property? They are not acting in good faith.
-09/28/2008 received offer for $430k (original loan$580)
-11/24/2008 CW assigned a a representative (this was not the negotiator)
-01/2009 Negotiator assigned
-02/5/2009 CW contacts my realtor says Shortsale is approved if I (seller) pay CW $20,000. Realtor tells CW she will get the 20,000 from buyer – CW says NO must come from seller!!!! WHAT???
So my realtor said CW doesnt want to sell your house I cant help you.
We are trying to purchase a short sale home. It has been a month now with no response from the sellers lender CW. We hate all of this waiting around, as the buyer is there anything we can do to speed up this horrible process? Also the seller accepted our offer, but we now have to wait to hear from CW? Why would the seller have any right to accept offers if its not there decision anyway?
In a short sale the seller (the owner of the property) not the bank decides who to sell the property to or whom to accept a contract from with (secondary) the approval of the bank.
Make sure the lisitng agent is experienced in short sales or this purchase will never happen…..
Thanks Stephan. The listing agent is experienced but we our still confused about this entire process. We really love the home so hopefully it will pay off to be patient. 299,000 asking price. 285,000 offer (accepted). Appraisal from our lender 325,000. Can the appraisal give CW the right to go after the full 325,00 or just the 299,000? Thanks for any help.
@ AJC –
The appraisal ordered by your mortgage lender is never shared with the seller, CW or anyone else. Therefore, CW will not be advised of the appraised value unless they order their own independent appraisal — which they will likely do.
I cannot repeat this often enough: until you have the written approval letter from CW, you have no deal. What you have presently is, in essence, an offer on a short sale. Nothing more.
From what I’m reading the listing agent plays a big part in getting a SS done, but my realtor told me that the title company is the one who keeps pestering CW weekly to move things along, and that it will take an average of 2-3 months right now with CW to get an answer back on our offer? Does this sound right?
My Fiance and I put an offer in on a short sale from Countrywide back in October of 08. It is now the end of March 09 (5 months later) and we still have not hear a thing. About a month and a half ago we got a call from the listing agent asking us if we were still interested b/c the lender is ready to move on it. We said yes we are still interesed and even drew up an addendum re-instating the October offer. We gave them 30 days to reply. 45 days later we still have not heard a thing. Our agent has called the listing agent for a status but the listing agent says she has NO IDEA when we will hear anything. Apparently the file went to a negotiator but then was re-assigned to another negotiator b/c the orginal one has way too much work. We are ready to pull the offer. This is holding up my fiance and I to become a family. VERY FRUSTRATING.
@ BWAT –
Your agent mistaken. Escrow officers have little vested interest in making the sale go and they aren't in the pestering business. Realtors are. Any seasoned escrow officer knows that a short sale contract without a written approval letter from the lender is NOT an active contract. Frankly, aside from a prelim title search, there is little to be done as far as title work is concerned until the approval letter is issued. The listing agent will need to take the point in pursuing CW as will the seller.
@ VA Loan Guy
Well someone’s doing something right it looks like. We got news yesterday that CW will assign a negotiator by the end of this week, and that things should move along quickly then.
So just to recap our timeline so far:
2/11/09 – Made offer on SS, which was accepted by seller
3/10/09 – Got word that the CW accepted the package and that assigning a negotiator would be the next step
3/15/09 – Extended contract offer on house for another month
3/30/09 – We got news that CW will assign a negotiator by the end of this week
So all and all it seems that progress is being made little by little, and I’ll post again when we have news. We are using a VA loan, any advice on anything we need to do with the VA in the case of a SS?
Thanks in advance!!
Fred is absolutaly correct. The payoff is worth the effort you put into closing the purchase. if you can get authorized to speak to the seller's lender things will go a lot faster as most listing agents do not have the time to call in to the bank in the frequency that they should. Hang in there…..
@ BWAT –
Make sure you have your current VA Certificate of Eligibility in hand and ready to go. Many lenders can now handle this for you quickly and easily via the ACE system. Also, the home will need to be in decent shape and move-in ready. The VA is not fond of "fixers" and the appraiser will note any such serious deficiencies. Be sure to keep your loan officer up to date on the events as they unfold. CW typically does not allow for lengthy escrow periods, so your lender will need to assign an appraiser and move quickly for a timely closing
@ VA Loan Guy
I’ve have the VA C of E and we are pre-approved with 2 different banks, so we are good to go on that front. The home is move-in ready so we should be good there too.
One reason I think we are having slow but steady progress is that the Lady assigned to our case at the Title Company is calling CW every other day. We are a week behind when CW was suppose to assign the negotiator, but we are suppose to find out something tomorrow 4/14.
I’ll post an update when I hear something new.
Thanks,
Barry
Just fyi info re: After the short sale… It's been 4 weeks since my short sale closed – and I monitor my credit weekly. 2 bureaus are now showing notes re: CW other than the payment being late – notes are "Improved" on Transunion and "Settlement" on Experian. My scores are still 2 – mid 700's and a 694. A little lower than before, but not horrible.
Please note – even after it closed; CW called me to ask when I would get the account current. (Arrgghh!!) I repeatedly told them my condo had sold. I tried to be proactive in working with them, but was told it could take up to 30 days for all their departments to be advised of the final SALE. I finally contacted the negotiator who handled my sale; and she updated all their info systems. No more calls for over a week now!! Yay!!.
By not paying my mortgage while waiting on the short sale, I didn't have the interest to write off on taxes, so I owe over $3000 combined for state and federal. That's it – I hope this info answers some q's about AFTER the short sale nightmare.
Best wishes and good luck to all of you ~
to highlndr:
"By not paying my mortgage while waiting on the short sale, I didn't have the interest to write off on taxes, so I owe over $3000 combined for state and federal. "
how many months have u not made your payments prior to short sale closing? how does one figure out the state and federal taxes payable?
thanks.
@ highlndr –
Congrats again. It was a long road, but you got through it with minimal collateral damage. Well done.
@ BWAT –
Your escrow agent is going way beyond the call. You owe her a gift certificate for a couple of dinners at her favorite steakhouse. I have an escrow officer who went the extra mile for me once recently, now she get's all of my closings — 5 and counting. A rare find indeed.
Where is the listing agent? He/she should be on CW like white on rice — and the seller, as well. Several posters here have had success contacting the CEO of B of A. It might be worth a try to kick your deal into high gear.
@ VA Loan Guy and others I have communicated with along the way,
I would just like to say thank you one more time for the information, encouragement and support you provided to me, and continue to provide – to everyone on this site. I can't imagine going through this ordeal without the support and information sharing here. It was one year ago this week that I found out my condo would have to be listed as a short sale. It was "sold" two times before the final sale finally went through, and it finally closed, just one month ago.
I'd like to add, To any sellers who are totally stressed and feel like your sale will never happen – Hang in there!! It's only been a month since my sale closed, and it is such a huge relief!! It already feels like it was a lifetime ago.
**Thanks and Good Luck**
@ Grace –
My taxes were done at the end of the year, as normal. I didn't pay the mortgage from August through the end of the year. Also, the propery taxes were included in the mortgage, so I didn't pay the Dec. 10th installment.
I'm a single parent, and this was the first year in 5 years that I wasn't able to claim either one of my children's college tuition & education expenses. So, I didn't have the same deductions as in previous years; which certainly contributed to the total taxes owed, too.
I stayed in contact with my CPA/taxman throughout the short sale process, and he advised me early on that it was going to be a painful income tax situation without the mortgage interest or education expenses. But, I was lucky and had no settlement payout on the short sale.
@BWAT – Definitely do get in touch with anyone you can contact in the president's office at B of A. The contact that worked for me was an e-mail to a VP in their Consumer Mortgage division. I used "Spoke.com" and a few other sites to get executives' email addresses and fax numbers.
@ VA Loan Guy & highlndr
Thanks for the advice on contacting B of A, I’ve done so and I’ll post any response.
I’m not sure how active the listing agent and the seller are in contacting CW.
@ highlndr
I contacted an Assistant VP in the mortgage loan department at the HQ for B of A named Anthony Ebright. He wasn’t much help and wrote back the following:
“I would love to help you, but there’s nothing I can do. You will have to deal with the long wait until the banks get caught up. ”
Just wondering if you had the name of the individual who helped you out @ B of A ?
Thanks in advance!
I am so sorry you are having to deal with this, and I totally understand.
barbara.j.desoer@countrywide.com was the name referred to during their initial call to me, but I had sent out quiet a few emails and faxes from pure frustration. I can't confirm her title right now, because I maxed out Spoke on the free look-ups they offer. I also accessed the BofA main site, and submitted a request for help through their mortgage menu's "Contact Us" communication tool; and sent a fax to the local B of A Home Retention office in Brea, CA.
I originally tried all the names I could find in California, especially So Cal, (hoping they would be more inclined to help, if I kept close to where I lived) and CW's offices in Calabasas.
And this was back in September, before the CW/BofA merger really gelled, but I was really anxious and willing to try anything.
Good luck!!
@ highlndr
I tried contacting the e-mail you sent me, but it got bounced back saying that address no longer existed. Thanks again for trying to help, this process is so frustrating.
Update:
Well after 70 days since our offer was accepted, I found out this morning that a negotiator was finally assigned yersterday. The lady at the title company who is the one staying on CW to keep things moving said that CW is now suppose to have 30 days to either accept or counter our offer.
I ‘ll update again when I have something new to report.
I have just purchase dean Graziosi profit from real estaste book with no money down. How do you go through these short sales with the bank if you have no money down or any purchasing steps I need the 1-2-3- and a-b-c- because the book goes all around this step.
Well finally last Thursday, 85 days after our offer, CW had a BPO done. They should have it in hand now, and we should here something in the next couple weeks. They’ve also asked the seller for a few more documents, so we are encouraged that we may be coming close to an end of this process.
I’ll update again when we hear more.
Wow! And I thought I had it bad! Reading all these comments is making me more sick.
The taxpayers are being looted trillions of dollars and I can’t even get a measly short-sale home because Countrywide … I don’t know! I don’t know what they are doing. I can’t get any answers and I’m fed up!
We put an offer on a short-sale in January 2009 and it’s been on a mystery negotiator’s desk at Countrywide for almost 30 days. My agent is supposedly an experienced short-sale person and they can’t get any answers.
What is the problem? I don’t believe the lines that I’ve been given about Countrywide being overwhelmed. There are a thousand excuses out there. Is this amusing to them? Or are we dealing with B of A?
Thanks for reading my rant.
I’ve submitted a solid offer for a CountryWide property that’s listed on the MLS. Countrywise is the only note holder for this property.
It’s been a few weeks with no word. Feeling my real estate agents aren’t following up well or asking the right questions.
How can I jump start the process to make sure my offer is being considered?
As a seller, I have been very concerned about the hit I would take on my credit scores. I just checked my credit report tracking sites. My short sale closed 9 weeks ago, and this is the first month since October 08 that I have no negative entries or comments on my credit report, so this is great news!! If my credit scores have already hit the bottom after the short sale, I don’t have much to complain about. The worst hit to my credit report was about 40 points, and I’ve just sent letters to the 3 bureaus re: the short sale. So, maybe now I can breathe again…
@ Jeff & Eric,
My experience was CW doesn’t look at documents much until the 30th day, or the 31st – when it’s on someone’s desk. They were overhwelmed when I dealt with them, and I can only imagine that it may be worse now. Keep calling, and make copious notes about your efforts at communications. Try to get on someone’s radar – pls look back about 6 weeks as I wrote about my efforts & experience at contacting people there. I suggest you try for both – contacts at BofA AND CW. Good luck, and don’t give up!
@ Highlndr,
Thank you for the reply. I will be writing emails to Countrywide/BA executives and calling 866-880-1232.
I tried emailing barbara.j.desoer@countrywide.com but I received a failure notice.
I’ll keep everyone updated.
Jeff – Here’s a fax # 800-658-9364 – that worked for me.
Call it a coincidence…I don’t know. 20-30 minutes after I emailed the CEO of Bank of America the head of the real estate company I’m using for the short sale called me.
He said that he talked to the negotiator at Countrywide and they are now countering. They are countering $15,000 more than our offer! After all these months they are countering that much over?
Our offer was definitely NOT a low-ball offer.
I would definitely say that I don’t believe that is an accurate BPO that they conducted.
Highlndr – are you recommending that I email the presidents, send fax, etc eventhough this property hasn’t been assigned to anyone? Guess it can’t hurt.
We tried to get the seller realtor get us a letter of auth for my buying realtor to gain access to CountryWide…. but he won’t let us do that…for some reason. And the seller realtor isn’t pushing them AT ALL.
We’re considering hiring an external negotiator with CountryWise experience to help us. Is this a good idea? Anyone have any contacts?
@ Jeff
What was the email address of the CEO of Bank of America that you used?
We are close to being in the same situation as you, a negotiator has been assigned and they did the BPO on the house a week ago. We’re expecting word back on our offer any day now.
Thanks,
Barry
@ Barry
ken.d.lewis@bankofamerica.com
Good luck to you Barry. We countered back yesterday so I’m sure it will be another 30 days till we hear something. Ouch!
Actually, I’m going to call and email people everyday. We’re ready to be done with this one way or the other.
Wow, this website has been eye opening, and overwhelming to say the least. Even after spending hours reading post after post of how much CW sucks, I can honestly saw I am a bit relieved its not just me going through hell. So maybe since we’re all in the same boat some of you can shed some light on my situation.
My husband and I stumbled upon a house in Georgia, It was supposedly foreclosed, but when we made the offer at the beginning of march, we found out CW never actually followed through foreclosure with the previous owner, so after coverting to short sale, the previous owner accepted our offer, but we all know with CW that doesn’t mean JACK.
In April we were assigned a Negotiator, the property was appraised, and now halfway through May I just found out they have ordered a BPO. I really don’t have any experience in real estate, and this will be our first home, so I’m really not sure where to gauge our progress, and if we’re anywhere near an accept/counter situation. Does anyone have experience with BPO’s?
We are dealing with an agent who says she calls CW once a week for updates, I call her about twice a week to make sure she’s actually doing her job AND send her emails. I hate feeling left in the dark, which seems to be Countrywide’s MO. We are holding on the the fact that we are the ONLY offer on the house.
Any advice is greatly appreciated!
@ Becca
A BPO is a “Broker Price Opinion” and as I understand it this is an independant appraisal by a broker, so I’m a little confused as to why they did and appraisal last month and are now doing a BPO. Seems like overkill on their part.
In our situation they only have done a BPO, and we should hear soon what CW’s decision is based off of the BPO.
Good luck!
@Eric,
That fax number was from when I dealt directly with CW Ofc of the Pres staff in the Calabasas office – five months into the process, and in the process of losing my second “buyer”. It was a blessing, because the communications I sent there always got into the right hands. I can’t say it was always the news I wished for; but it was current info, and I actually rec’d follow-up calls. So, they “coordinated” things for me. The staff there are not “financial” or “mortgage” people, but they run the administrative offices for the executives. So, you might not get miracles, but it’s a step…
Also, when you do get “on the radar” with the executive offices, it changes how things are handled for you. When you call in, and enter your account number on the keypad per the automated menu, your call gets routed to someone who is assigned to and is actually familiar with your account / sale. (It’s great! Weird, but great!)
I tried hard to be an informed, pro-active seller on my short sale. I had a smart, honest, communicative, hard-working agent, but my short sale was poorly handled by CW.
I really feel for each of you currently in this situation, and wish you the best.
My husband and i are currently feeling the crunch as our lease is about to run out and are hunting for a quick place to move until CW makes up their mind. Its been 10 days since our last update from CW, no word on the BPO. I’ve been putting the pressure on the real estate agent but doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere.. Frustrated, needed to vent, not sure what else to do
Looking for an opinion: We made an offer on a San Diego home we really love in early November 08. Short sale with Countrywide, of course. Month after month, file is being sent on for “final approval” probably 4 different times. The property auction date was postponed several times. The BPO came in at $545, our offer is at $530, a model match came on the market and closed 2 months ago at $525. The latest phase was the negotiator II who had not gotten back to us within the “30 days” we were told. Friday before last (May 15th, 45 days) the negotiator 2 said she had finally received her p/o demand and would finish processing the file. Last week we were told it was sent on for “final approval”. Again. So today we hear that now the file is going to the “investor” who will get back to us in about 2 weeks. The investor doesn’t have the file yet, no, they will get it in the next couple of business days. So… probably monday June 1st, and we should hear back maybe by June 15th. Maybe. So the question is… it’s been over 6 months now, we are living month-month at a premium rate in a tiny 2-bed apartment (family of 5+dog), and now we’re told there’s yet another layer of approval to this process that could take weeks… so… should we stick it out? Do we give our notice and go find a more permanent, larger residence, or do we suck it up and wait out the next few weeks? How many fricken phases are there? If the “investor” approves, then what happens? Open escrow, or wait for Countrywide to shuffle the file to another previously unmentioned list of people? I guess you can say we’re frustrated beyond anything we ever could have imagined. Why can’t somebody lay out what the actual steps and timelines are? When does it actually END? Thanks.
Marcus,
I’m attaching an email from Countrywide with the steps and approximate time frame that was emailed to me. We have an offer in a home in San Diego and were lucky enough to have a friend high up in the company so it was escalated right away. I’m not sure what that means but our offer went in mid April and the appraisal has been done and submitted and it is now in phase 2 assigned to the next negotiator.
1. Fax packages to 888-491-4947, no cover sheet required, account number on every page.
2. CW receives 10-30k faxes per day
3. Any packages between 50-100 pages are overloading their server and are automatically get dropped, we will still receive confirmation on our side however it will not be received on their side
4. CW requests that we send 10 pages at a time and fax after 5pm local time
5. Packages should include the following: offer, hud, listing agreement, hardship letter, 2 years taxes, 2 months bank statements, and auth letter
6. 7 business days to receive a fax
7. If there is no foreclosure status a BPO will be ordered TAT=13 days, if there is a foreclosure status, file is assigned to Phase 1 and negotiator will manage BPO
8. Receipt of BPO valuation will take 10 days to log in their system
9. Phase 1 negotiator assigned in 10-17 days. Phase 1 reviews docs received and ensures that the BPO is in. Phase 1 TAT= file for 15 business days
10. Phase 2 negotiator ensures that the transaction is an arm’s length transaction and double checks the docs. Phase 2 TAT= 15-30 calendar days
11. File then is with Manager for approval for 5 business days. If it has mortgage insurance, the file is with M.I. company for 14-21 days
12. File then goes to the investor. TAT=30-45 days
13. If approved, TAT=7 days for a final approval letter
**Please keep in mind that if there are any changes to the transaction even with the same buyer, the file is returned to Phase 1.
Marcus,
My husband and I are in the same boat, as you’ve probably read the previous posts, alot of us are in it! We made an offer in the beginning of march on a short sale home and were told 12 days ago we had been assigned to a phase 2 negotiator who then ordered ANOTHER BPO. We are facing the exact circumstances, in that we too are living in a tiny apartment with an expiring lease and are looking doomingly at the whole month to month thing while we throw our money down a rat hole while CW makes up their mind.
I have often wondered in the grips of frustration if a threat to withdraw our offer will get things moving? Thanks Logan for your post- it looks like we’re in for another few months of agony.
Thanks for the replies, both of you. This is so frustrating… my wife is flipping out and wants to move NOW… I hesitate to go through the pain and hassle of a move only to have the property suddenly come available in 4-5 weeks…. Ugh. After sticking it out for over six months it would be a total waste of time, money, and energy to bail on it now. But again, my wife has had it.
My general feeling is that a threat to walk would simply kill the deal altogether.
Unreal.
Marcus I do think it would kill the deal if you threaten to walk. They could care less. I agree it is very frustrating and now with the rates going up it’s more frustrating. Hang in there you might here soon. There is a great forum for San Diego that seems to be very helpful with this whole process and a great place to ask questions and vent. Piggington.com
Becca, good luck with your offer. We are also renting and our lease will be up in September. If we have to go month to month we are ok with that. It is predicted that prices will go down further and I do think we have plenty of time. I like to check patrick.net everyday and keep up with the housing news.
Update:
Got word today that CW has all the docs they need from the seller, the BPO was done a few weeks back, and that everything has been turned over to the “Final Negotiator”.
Which we were told means that we should finally have an answer in a couple weeks. We better because our rate lock expires June 29, so we need to close by then to not lose our 4.5% rate.
See my posts above to see our entire timeline.
Thanks for listening. aaaAAARRRHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
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