Turlock, CA

I know a lot has been said and written about the horrors of a Bank of America Short Sale. They have also been in the news a lot the past week or so. I know that Bank of America has earned their reputation. But my experience with Bank of America short Sales has been the complete opposite.

I had a Bank of America Short Sale listing in Ripon Ca. I entered all of the information into Equator.com and waited. And waited. Finally after getting no response I called the BofA short sale department. It was then that I was told that since the sellers had an FHA loan on the property that I would not be able to use the Equator.com system. NOT a very good way to start off.

So I FAXED the entire short sale package to Bank of America. Within a few days a negotiator was assigned to the file and within a month we had our acceptance. Everything was going great until the third week of escrow. That's when the deal fell apart due to the buyer not being able to perform.

So I put the home back on the market and immediately received another offer. I countered it to match the previous offer and then submitted it to Bank of America. I let the negotiator know what happened and he approved our new offer within a couple of days. We went on to close it and everyone was happy. The negotiator in this transaction was always very responsive to any questions I had and was easy to reach.

I also have another Bank of America Short sale listing in Livingston Ca. I have been running everything through Equator.com. The negotiator has asked for a few more documents and some updated documents and I have provided them. Today I received the following email from the negotiator: You're the BEST!!! Thank you for your quick response, and all your hard work on this file. I will be getting this sent to the investor for approval. That is the first time I have received an email like that from a bank negotiator.

I know there are good and bad in every business. I also believe that most of these negotiators are trying to do the best job possible. I also know that most of them are swamped with files. I think that if you treat them with respect, like you would like to be treated, more often than not you will get the same in return.

My good friend Jim Browning has done quite a few 203k renovation loans in Turlock and the surrounding areas. JIm has been a 203k consultant since 1996 and gets rave reviews from his clients. We are so proud that he has joined The Mike Young Team again and look for great things as we move forward.

Jim and I are available to give talks to Realtor associations, builder and remodel contractor groups, and home inspection groups.

Builders and remodel associations or sub groups like NARI and similar organizations will find they have access to more jobs and in many cases become excellent referral agents for our lenders. When you have a job that you get on your own and the client feels the cost is out of their reach it may be "Perfect for a 203k" renovation loan. I can't imagine a home improvement that can't be completed with a 203k renovation loan other than the obvious - no luxury items like a pool or spa. Though we can provide up to $1,500 in renovation to the pool if it already exists. There are some builders that actually become consultants. I had two contractors that called me about the same time as a lender had contacted them and asked them to become a 203k consultant. This was two unrelated lenders calling two separate contractors at the same time... hello... that means there are lenders who are not happy with the consultants they currently have to choose from. In any case I told them both that they should take the next job they get offered and let them know I would be the consultant and we would use that job and others like it to provide them with OJT (On the Job Training) as consultants. One of them called me and I contacted the other one and invited him along too. It was interesting to see that they both were a little upset that the other one had been invited both chiming in that they wanted to be the only new consultant in that area. NOT. One of them actually wanted construction jobs and only did this to fill out his day and possibly make some additional money.... great way to do that by the way. The other was ready for a career change but had an active contractor's license which he intended to maintain. We managed to get through the inspection, it was turned in and once they got their approval by HUD one of them took over the draws for the other one. How nice it was for the contractor and the consultant to have met earlier. Did I tell you that just about sixty days later the one contractor had 24 jobs under construction and the other guy was a consultant on 18 jobs and plan reviewer on 6 jobs that he took over when the first consultant did the consultation and found that they borrower wanted him to do the work. The feature of "Plan Reviewer" allows this to happen. There is a conflict of interest to be the draw inspector and the contractor on the same project but if you are the consultant and want to be the contractor you merely need to order a "plan review" for another approved consultant and then they check your work, effectively call it theres now, and become the draw inspector. I think they actually like each other now. lol

Home Inspectors are always getting accused of "killing the deal" whenever they find anything that they were hired to find.. .lol. They are always between a rock and a hard place in that regard. I did an inspection behind a licensed home inspector in a state that required licensing to find they called a foundation "adequate" when it had already failed. The client got a free new foundation out of it but the comment from the home inspector was that "he didn't want to kill the deal by reporting that bad foundation"... wow. What we do is teach the home inspectors to become referral agents for us or train them to become consultants if they qualify.

Realtor associations are great contacts as they quite often have lenders who join the meetings, that is how I've met some of my better clients. In any case we try to educate the Realtors and agents that the horror stories they may have heard aren't the "normal 203k" in fact with the thousands we have done we can count the problem deals on one hand. I've talked to great consultants around the country like Michael Grace, Garrett Feis, and Gary Smith, Walter Lovely, Marcus Smith, Gordon Goldman, and Jim Browning, just to name a few and we all have similar stories. Most of the time when you hear someone talking bad about the program it wasn't even them that had an issue, it was someone they heard about years ago. The key to a successful 203k project is using a proven team or working with someone who has the moxie to join a team of professionals who do know what they are doing. Don't be shy but do be smart and find that proven team that can guide you and your client through the process and keep them in a safe harbor.

Century 21 M&M and Associates has anounced that they will again be a major sponser of the News10 Coats for kids this year.

I know that the recent hot weather is still fresh in your memory but it's never too early to start thinking about coats for kids. We are accepting new or gently used coats for kids at all of our offices.

You know you are going to have to clean out that closet anyway, and last years coats are probably not going to fit the kids this year. So why not donate them to this worthy cause?

Give me a call and I will even pick them up in Stanislaus and Merced counties.

You can call me at 209-633-2839 or send me an email at jpatton@c21mm.com .

I received a call today about one of my short sale listings. The caller left me a voice mail. She said that there were some security issues with the home. It was from the bank that has the mortgage on the property.

The issues were allegedly two open windows, an open slider and lock boxes on the front door. So I went to take a look.

Well, I knew the lock boxes were on the front door because they are mine. I was not sure how this was a security issue. All the doors were locked including the slider.

I did find one open window. It was in the bathroom above the shower. It's one of those windows that is about 6 inches tall and goes across the length of the shower. Security issue?! So just in case I closed it.

So I called the lady back from the "Too big to fail" bank and told her I was at the property and it is secure. I then asked her about why the lock boxes were considered to be an issue. Her answer was "probably because they are not ours". HUH? I asked her if whoever was at the house did not see the big for sale sign in the front yard? (just like the one to the left here) She said that she didn't go to the property one of their inspectors did. I tried again. I said I realize that but didn't your inspector notice that there was a sign in the yard. I asked her if she realized that the house is listed as a short sale and that I have been negotiating with her "too big to fail" bank for some time now. Her response was, "so you are calling to report that the property is secure?" I guess she really didn't care that the house was for sale and that I was negotiating a short sale with her bank.

Yesterday I was speaking with another client that has his home listed with me. It is a short sale and we are just a couple of days away from closing. He told me that he gets two calls every morning about a half hour apart from his bank wanting to know if he would like to modify his loan. Now he has told them repeatedly that he is doing a short sale on the house and it will be sold in a few days. I guess in the opinion of the "too big to fail" bank that is just not a good enough reason to stop calling him to modify his loan. And oh yeah, before he listed the property with me he tried to modify, they told him he couldn't.

Maybe these two stories might illustrate part of what is wrong with the "too big to fail" banks.

I received a call today from a lady that is thinking about doing a short sale on her home. This particular home owner has a Wachovia mortgage. Wachovia / World Savings short sales are the least complicated short sales of all the banks out there. You do NOT need to provide tax records, pay stubs, bank statements , etc. The one thing you do need is enough time to complete the transaction before the foreclosure date. Once Wachovia sets a foreclosure date they will not postpone it for a short sale, even if the property is in escrow. So if you want to do a short sale on your Wachovia financed home don't wait until it is too late!

The good news is that Wachovia short sales usually move pretty fast. In most cases I will have an answer from the Wachovia short sale manager within 7-10 days.

I work closely with a local Wachovia short sale manager. He actually lives in the area, I am not dealing with a call center in another country.

There are several reasons why a short sale may be the best option for you. The lady I spoke with today was just going to walk away. After I spoke with her she said she was glad she called me. She had no I idea what her options were.

If you are thinking about walking away from your home because you can not afford the mortgage any more give me a call. Find out why a short sale may be your best option. I am a full time Realtor with Century 21 M&M and Associates and a Short Sale Specialist. I have taken classes and have received extensive training in the Short Sale Process. I am also a Certified Distressed Property Expert. I can help you with short sales with other banks too, including Bank of America, Chase, US Bank, Ocwen, Greentree, and many more. Call me today.