No buyer yet, but hopefully after I get the payoff letter I will be able to reduce the price to get it sold. One thing I learned is that before you pick a realtor to work with, ask them how they will market the property to sell quickly. Make sure that they understand short sales but that they also are good at marketing.
Update: Countrywide called, I have a negotiator assigned and an appraisal has been ordered. Negotiator asked who the appr. should call and of course I told her that I was the contact. I got the call the next day, the appraiser is a woman. She asked if the homeowner would be home, I told her no I would meet her at the house. I put together a little packet of information in a folder to present to her when she arrives. The packet has some photos I took with description of damage or missing items, a repair cost sheet, listing history of the home, and the sexual predators within one mile printout.
I’ve been reading marketingmasters blog on influencing the BPO and also purchased a book on negotiating to help me at this stage.
On last Wednesday, I met with the appraiser. A woman who was careful to not smile or be overfriendly to me, she gave a firm handshake and immediately began to look around at the property. I told her that I wanted to point out a few things and then I would let her go about her business. First I showed her all the faults that I found with the home including repairs, missing items, cracks and anything else that I had found wrong. I then opened my folder gave her a packet of infomation containing neighborhood statisitics, sexual predator list, MLS listing history and copy of the purchase contract. While she was outside measuring the home I tried to develope some rapport, we talked about divorce, children and my upcoming vacation. This was my all out attempt to make an influence.
Afterwards I asked how long it usually takes to compile the data and come up with a figure, then asked if I could call her to see if the numbers are close to the purchase price. She politely said that she is working for the bank and that she is to report her findings to them only. So much for winning her over. I let it go at that.
One of the challenges with this short sale is the property condition, it’s a new home (8yrs). One of the ways I tried to work around this was to mention the quality of the construction. I pointed out that the interior doors were hollow, the light fixtures were low end and there was no ceramic tile in the house. I also pointed out the missing landscaping and cost of replacing the fence in the yard that had been cut down and partialy left in the ground. OH well, I can only wait and see what happens…
Small victory update: After the appraisal, I stopped at the exwife’s attorney’s office. When I arrived he was just getting ready to leave. I gave him the shortsale packet from countrywide and asked if he would please call his client and ask her to sign so the house could avoid sheriff sale. Couple of days later he calls me himself and tells me that the paperwork is ready to go! This was one of my biggest challenges on this deal so I am feeling pretty good. Now both parties are on all the documents and it has been faxed to the negotiator… fingers crossed.
THIS IS A QUESTION FOR STRANGECONDITION,
HOW DOES ONE GET A JOB WITH A BANK DOING THIS WORK. I AM INTERESTED IN BEING ON THAT SIDE. I HAVE BEEN A PROCESSOR/UNDERWRITER FOR THE PAST 14 YEARS…
THANK YOU
Ok things are looking good so far. I recieved a payoff amount from countrywide. The appraisal came back at 128k as is condition, because this is an FHA loan there are certain guidelines that cannot be negotiated. One of these guidlines is that they must net 82% of the appr., which in this case would be about $105k. I sent in an offer for 80k but it was rejected by countrywide due to the fact that they must net $105k. So I know that they will accept my offer as long as the net amount is what they need. Therefore the ball is totally in my court and I have until May 19 to make it happen.
I have the home listed for $145k with my realtor and I am having an open house on Sunday.
I am allowed 1k of seller credits if the home sells in 90days and I am also allowed up to 2k in repair expenses that will be given as a check during closing. If there is over 2k of expenses for repairs I will need 3 estimates.
Any creative ideas on how to increase my profit spread?
Hello GWhiz,
Reading your step by step activities is like watching a reality show. I am doing extensive reading on the pre-foreclosure and short sales business, and I gotta tell you, you are reassuring all that I am learning in the books.
I cant wait to read the ending…
Best of luck and thank you.
Any updates?