Short Sales Are Sailing

Many Investors and Realtors avoid short sales like the plague. They are definitely missing the boat! My business specializes primarily in short sales and I have seen an increase in the number of approvals we are getting. The time line for a short sale varies from 90 to 120 days if you submit the lender a “complete” short sale package. Since short sales are dominating the market, the Lenders are creating more streamlined processes to conduct smoother short sales. If you do short sales, then I am quite sure you have heard of the online system called “Equator.” Equator allows all of the short sale paperwork to be processed electronically through one common venue, versus traditional and random faxes and emails. Having a file processed online avoids the common objection from the short sale lender of “We didn’t receive the documents.” Effective January 1, 2013, the newest lender that has started to use Equator is Chase. The following lenders and servicers are presently using Equator: 1) Bank of America, 2) Chase, 3) Wells Fargo, 4) GMAC, 5) Nationstar, 6) ASC, 7) Carrington Mortgage, and 8) Homeward Residential Services.

The Equator System assigns applicable tasks to each party (Agent, Negotiator, Closer, etc) including a deadline in which to complete each task. I like the fact that the lenders can no longer say “Oh, we never got that paperwork.” However, I don’t like the fact that they are tracking our information. Nationstar has taken the collection of Buyer’s information to a whole new level. They require all Buyers to fill out a loan application even though they most likely will not be using Nationstar as a lender. This application has been mandatory and this has not been waived on any of my files. If you are a Buyer on any property, you are required to provide your name, address, telephone number, DOB, SS#, assets, employment history and more. This is regardless if you are purchasing for investment or personal use and if you are getting a mortgage or paying cash.

I believe that the lenders are collecting data against all Buyers and will soon share with each other how many deals each Buyer has purchased. I had one student inform me that once he purchased over 10 properties from Bank of America, he was no longer allowed to purchase any more in his name, his wife’s name or company name. Therefore in the future, when all lenders work as a team, they will share all of this information and limit the amount of deals that an Investor can purchase. Wells Fargo started using a system called CoreLogic approximately 2 years ago which allows them to simultaneously check to see who was applying for a mortgage at the same time they were conducting a short sale. This caused Investors a hardship even though they fully disclosed to Wells Fargo their intention to buy, resell and/or fix the property, if they used my paperwork. Many short sales were not approved at that time and many Investors had no idea WHY? Some of the lenders frown on the fact that Investors are purchasing the property and would rather sell the house to a homeowner.

You would think that the lenders, since they are funded by Investors, would understand how we Investors work. We don’t buy properties at full value, as we are not going to live in the home. This is a business and we can’t make the Seller’s problem our problem by paying full value. It is the Investors, like us, that are helping the lenders get money and not go under.

Now is the time to purchase short sales and if you haven’t started you have 10 years to ride the wave, so do it now! Align yourself with a good Mentor and take flight just like many Investors around the world.

Happy Sailing!