BANK BATTLE

My hours at work were reduced - The Bank was at war with us.
I had always worked overtime, 30 or more hours a week in over time, for the past 10 years at least. My wife worked at the hospital but they cut back, she lost that job. Now she is a part time school bus driver. The house hold income has been cut more than in half so this house payment is not possible any longer.

I felt the Bank was attacking us. The Bills are piling up for this house we bought new five years ago. A nice colonial family home with newer homes around us. We have been caught in the loss of work affecting everyone in South East Michigan. There is just not enough money to go around. That house payment, Taxes, gas, heat, electric (I have to keep the lights on) our car payments and insurance. Months went by, we were barely hanging on, the calls had started coming, late fees piling up.

My wife and I talked it over one night, we were not sleeping very well. We felt helpless, had been knocked down and kicked to the curb, just felt beaten to a pulp, lost. We could not go on with this secrete, had to do something. The Bank is taking our home back. That realization helped us, we accepted the fact that we had to do something ourselves.

There is a Manufactured home village we had friends in that offered low priced lot rent and low cost homes. We put our names on the list and got a call right away. Needed to move quick but there was still that problem with the house. The market would not let us sell it for what we owed, that had been tried already. The home could not be left empty or it would be considered abandoned.



We heard a real estate investor talk at our church about "Short Sales", that sounded like it could be a way out. He was a nice guy and very helpful, he suggested that we call a company in our area that he had heard was working very hard for their Clients. A Bauer-Reno & Associates agent was contacted.

Mike Warfel came over to our house to explain the short sale process to us, he was very positive, everything was explained and we put the house on the market. He was very confident, which was a real lifeline for us, this was a way out. We got real involved in supplying all the paperwork needed to do the short sale, the proof of insufficient income to support this house. I think we worked together real well, whenever he called requesting pay stubs or bank statements we would run them right over to him. Mike made himself very available to us to keep us aware of progress, email updates and phone calls.

We got an acceptable offer quickly and signed their Purchase Agreement. Mike contacted the Bank and FAX-ed the 37 page packet to them. He also mailed them the copies so we were sure that the paper work was in their system. The phone calls and follow up emails started. Mike really worked hard calling or emailing two or three times a week. The bills and the Phone calls at home did not slow down, we owed the bank.

The time kept going by, it seemed like very little changed with the bank. Nine weeks after the purchase agreement and supporting documents had been sent in our file was assigned to a negotiator. Pay stubs and bank statements needed to be updated, answers were slow in coming but the buyer was still willing. Then 12 weeks into it the bank representative emailed Mike saying if the deal could be closed in Two weeks The short sale would be approved and lender would wave all deficiency rights. WOW, we were so excited.

The lender for the buyers was not prepared, Mike had warned him that he should get some of the ground work done. Maybe get the appraisal done and submit the package to the underwriter but for various reasons that was not done. That lack of preparedness on the buyers side caused unnecessary tension. Somehow, even though it came right down to the wire, everything worked out.

We will not be able to buy for a few years and we suffered a big financial loss. In the end we were rescued by a knowledgeable, skilled Real Estate agent with a very good company. The Bank, in the end, actually helped us by allowing us to move on with our lives. We still have our family and our health, we both can work, so that will be behind us and we can breath again. Thanks Mike.