Year-End Blow Out For Short Sales!

Experienced Negotiators, you and I, know that December is time to help the banks clear their books. Since many of the Bank Negotiators get bonuses, they want to see as many short sales close as possible in December.

Recently, we fought on several deals wherein the Banks kept asking for higher counter offers. Holding off until the beginning of December can put more money into your pocket. In Florida, the Banks pay all property taxes at the end of November, just before the due date, so they don’t get penalized. After that date, when you make offers, the taxes are paid and the Bank’s net has increased versus what they would have received in the month of November when taxes were not yet paid. Recently, we were fighting with a lender over $2,000 on the purchase price because the bank wanted a specific net. You might say ‘that is not much,’ but once the taxes were paid, the bank’s net was higher. Remember, that once the taxes are paid, they are no longer on the HUD as a deduction to the banks net, so by default the bank’s net increases. Did the bank still pay them either way? Absolutely, but that doesn’t affect us. The investor’s offer no longer needed to be increased to reach the bank’s net and that’s all we needed. The investor’s offer was now right in line with their value to receive short sale approval.  

On another deal, the party who signed the Mortgage Note was deceased and the other parties listed only on the deed had no financial responsibility. The intention of my partners on this particular deal was to find an end cash buyer and close back to back. Therefore, we were delaying in countering. The Bank kept calling about the counter offer and then the very next day, we received an approval letter for the amount submitted minus $500.00, which the Buyer would have to pay. The possible profit on this property is around $20,000, as a wholesale, and even more if fixed up and then flipped. Why did the Bank Negotiator send the approval letter without waiting on a counter offer? Because he gets a bonus and he needs to get it off the bank’s books by the end of the year.

Negotiators may or may not get bonuses, however, they are required to meet their numbers by having a specific amount of deals approved as a short sale, deed-in-lieu or suggest taking it to foreclosure and get more money. It is very important that you, as a Negotiator, find out if the bank negotiators get bonuses.

I have two files that have huge City Liens. The first deal wanted over $11,000 and we offered $1,000, they countered our offer at $9,585 and said take it or leave it. I countered at $1,500 and they came back at $5,325. I countered at $3,000 and they said they would accept this offer. This lien that grew to over $11,000 was just for rotten facia over the garage and some dirty driveway concrete, it was ridiculous! The daily fines grew out of control. Since Fannie Mae wanted a higher price than the Buyer would pay, the Buyer said he was willing to pay up to $5,000 towards any liens on the property. Currently, there is a water lien of $1,500 and now City lien of $3,000. We have submitted our HUD to the Bank for final approval.

I have another file in Ft Lauderdale that has a $16,500 lien just for a dirty pool and because the seller did not file a vacant affidavit with the City because the seller had moved out. This lien was just placed on the property in April, 2014, only 6 months ago. What a great fee to pay the city for going out to the house one time and finding it vacant with a dirty pool. Not happening! This matter is set before the Judge on December 16^th, wherein I will personally appear and get it reduced, as my partners are buying this property. I will keep you informed as to the outcome.

The next lien battle was unexpected. We had received an approval letter from the Homeowner Association on a deal which is set to close before December 10^th saying they wanted $3,300 for the Homeowners Association Dues. The fees were negotiated down to $2,800.00. Then we needed to confirm that there were no transfer fees and/or application fees for the buyer. Well, boy, were we hit with a shocker! A new company had just, in the past couple weeks, bought out all of the outstanding dues for the Homeowners Associations and sent us a new bill/estoppel for $7,500.00. I had to literally go toe to toe with this Attorney/Investor who wants to personally buy all the houses with the outstanding dues and fix them up and flip them himself for full profit. He told me that his intention was to foreclose on all of them and buy them. I asked him ‘what would one less house make a difference?’ and would he let us close with the $2,800 versus the $7,500. After going back and forth and asking him if he sent this offer to the Board of Directors for consideration, he finally accepted the original offer/estoppel of $2,800 that was not even expired yet from the previous attorney. The trick on this deal is to understand the Homeowners Association is run by a Board of Directors who live in the neighborhood. The Board just hired attorneys to represent the outstanding accounts owed to the Homeowners Association. I always send my offer to both the Attorney and the Board for consideration, because in the end, it is the Board of Directors who have to personally live next to the vacant homes.

During this Christmas Holiday, take the time to tell everyone you know how much you appreciate them and love them. Remember, even though it is Christmas, Sellers still need to sell their homes and need to make big decisions either to let it go into foreclosure and/or do a short sale. This is the best time to market your letters as they are getting many Christmas cards… so keep marketing!

The most recent deal my partners and I closed just last week was in Tarpon Springs with a profit of $17,000 plus. So now is the time to take action!! Attend my 3 Day Live Event in February and learn how to have profitable deals and increase your income to new levels in 2015!!

Please keep sending me your questions and topics that you would like to hear about, so I can be sure to keep feeding you with the information that you need in order to move ahead in your real estate dreams!

Happy Negotiating!

Kimberlee Frank