Ahhhhh, a successful BofA and HAFA Short Sale Closing!

For those sellers and buyers out there, never lose hope! The process of a Short Sale weighs on everyone involved in the transaction. All parties must be committed, responsive, and be blessed with patience!

In this transaction, I represented the buyers. We thought we were entering a standard BofA Short Sale through their Equator system. As it progressed, the sellers opted to go through HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative Program) which was just in its infancy! It was uncharted territory that very few had any experience with! I spent many hours over at ShortSaleSuperStars.com which was extremely helpful and beneficial. Although not all transactions will be the same, here's the time line we experienced:

April 22: Seller accepted buyer's offer (WooHoo...multiple offers, but we came in with a clean, fair market price, all cash offer)

May 26 (5 weeks): BofA countered to seller with minimal requests which seller accepted...(wow, short sales aren't as bad as they're hyped to be!)

May 27: BofA offers HAFA to sellers and they accept. Out of the Equator system it goes over to a separate HAFA department. (thinking to self...okay, it's only suppose to take 10 days for approval...worth it so sellers can enjoy the HAFA benefits)

July 28 (9 weeks): Get word that it was HAFA approved (NOTE...this is 9 WEEKS, not the 10 days!) Now it goes back over to the BofA Short Sale Dept via Equator.

Aug. 30 (5 weeks): Preliminary Acceptance and needs an updated HUD and Proof of Funds. (By the way BofA...you're welcome that I caught your typo error in which you were approving the offer for $20,000 less!)

Sept. 15 (2 weeks): Finally got written approval from bank...buyer now proceeds with inspections.

Sept. 30 (2 weeks): CELEBRATION...closed escrow!

So, from the beginning to the close of escrow, the process took about 5 months. From my experience, the HAFA program did not speed up or streamline the short sale process. Of course, I was the Walnut Creek Short Sale Agent on the buyers side of it and not privy to full details between the sellers, bank and Equator file. I'd be curious to hear from those of you who have gone through the HAFA program to see if you experienced a similar time line or not.

Special thanks to my buyers for hanging in there. It was worth the wait and will be a great home for this beautiful family...Congratulations!