Chris Ann Cleland, GRI

Can Northern Virginia buyers renegotiate sales price after short sale approval? As a Northern Virginia short sale listing agent the answer seems obvious. NO. Of course not. So why are there buyers out there that write an offer, wait for approval, get approval, then turn around to renegotiate the sales price?

THESE NORTHERN VIRGINIA SHORT SALE BUYERS ARE BEING REPRESENTED BY AGENTS WHO DO NOT UNDERSTAND SHORT SALES!

There is no such thing as ONLY renegotiating the sales price. Let's say you made an offer on a Gainesville townhouse. It was listed at $160,000. You offered $158,000. While waiting three months for approval of your sales contract by the seller's lien holder(s), you notice other townhouses coming on the market for $150,000. When the approval comes in at $158,000 you think, "Well, now I don't want to pay any more than $150,000."

The only way you are not going to pay the approved sales price is if your appraisal comes in below that sales price. The lien holder(s) have already done a BPO, or their own appraisal, to determine the market value of the property. They approved the sales price because it was in acceptable parameters of market value.

If you go through the loan underwriting process and your appraisal shows a lower value than you were willing to pay, the sellers lien holder(s) understand they must lower the sales price so your loan can be funded, or go fishing for another buyer. The former is a much smarter business decision.

You can't simply go back to the bank and say, "But the neighbors house is listed for less." Sorry Charlie. Game over. You are starting the approval process all over. If you are dealing wit a short sale listing agent with half a brain, they will hand you a contract release form, change their MLS remarks to indicate the short sale has been approved, give the sales price approved, and catch a buyer willing to pay that approved sales price.

When you are purchasing a Northern Virginia short sale, make an offer that you are willing to stand behind. If you aren't willing to pay what you offered, why are you offering it in the first place? You are wasting everyone's time, including your own. If it is the amount of time you waited that has you questioning the homes current value, let your appraisal sort it out.

If you don't want bad publicity, don't do anything wrong. Seems like a simple equation to me. Then again, most things in life boil down to very simple principles.

While I am not a sports follower, I do enjoy talk radio. Lately, I find myself listening to Washington's The Fan now while driving, our new sports talk station. Most of the time it's background noise. Not today. There was a gentleman being interviewed by phone with a bad attitude. I perked up and listened more carefully. It was a top level executive for the Washington Redskins. He was being interviewed by a show host who is also a sports reporter for The Washington Post. If I were a sports follower, I would have remembered their names. Honestly, it's irrelevant.

The gentleman representing the Redskins was irate over The Washington Post blowing negative issues within the Redskins organization out of proportion. Issues like lawsuits against season ticket holders, selling tickets to brokerages, and the like. The Redskins guy was indignant with his interviewer. Every objection he had was not to proclaim innocence, but that the Post was blowing things out of proportion.

I stopped being a Redskins fan when Dan Snyder took ownership from the Cooke Family. The atmosphere changed. The once free team practices were no longer free to the public. There was a HUGE fee to attend practice. Parking prices at the stadium went through the roof and if you wanted to park elsewhere and walk a longer distance to the stadium, well, there was an "entrance fee." The joke quickly became that sooner or later, Dan Snyder would charge you for the air you breathed during the games.

While working in ad sales for Redskins Radio, I was given a first hand account of Dan Snyder's management style that my friend had encountered for himself.

The broadcast booth for the games was on the exclusive club level. The engineers would hand truck their heavy equipment to the broadcast booth by the only route possible, through a posh restaurant on that club level. The engineers wore jeans and t-shirts. They had a lot of grunt work to do, so who could blame them?

My engineer friend was wearing black jeans and a t-shirt one Sunday when one of the stadium managers stopped him and told him he would have to take the broadcast equipment in a different way. No way was he coming through the restaurant with that stuff. My friend explained why he HAD to come in that way (there was no other access). The manager came back, after calling Mr. Snyder and my friend was told he would have to wear a collared Redskins t-shirt. "No problem," my friend said. "Just bring it up. I'm in a time crunch." That's when my friend was told that he would have to go to the gift shop, at that moment, and buy his own. My friend, needing to get the broadcast feed ready for the game, told the manager what was at stack and pushed past him to the broadcast booth.

The game broadcasts were done by Sonny, Sam and Frank. Sonny Jergenson (Hall of Fame QB), Sam Huff (Hall of Fame Lineman) and local broadcaster Frank Hertzog.

During the broadcast, there were two minute commercial breaks. My friend, during one of those breaks, got up to run to the nearby men's room (on the club level, of course.) He was stopped by the manager and told that due to his shabby appearance, he would have to use the bathroom on the main concourse. I'm sure you can imagine the time it would take to get there, stand in line and return. My friend had a verbal altercatio with the manager, and went about his business. When he returned to his broadcast position, the broadcast booth was LOCKED so NO ONE, not even Sonny, Sam or Frank could leave to use the facilities.

So back to this radio interview. The Redskins rep is angry as he can be and blaming The Washington Post for the "villification" of Dan Snyder and his management. After hearing this irate attitude and the argument over and over that the Post was blowing everything out of proportion I thought back to that story my friend told me. Is it any wonder that Dan Snyder and his staff has horrible reputations and one of the most beloved institutions in Washington, DC is suffering year after year at his hands?

I think Dan Snyder and his staff need to go back to basics. Treat people the way you want to be treated and, if you don't want bad publicity, don't do anything wrong.

Bank of America short sales and their endless runarounds and contradictions have left a bad taste in my mouth for this banking and lending institution. Two years ago, my largest short sale problem was Countrywide. Countrywide would take many months to review files and just when you were getting ready to dig your own grave, the approval would come through. That wasn't the end. Just because Countrywide approved your short sale, didn't mean squat. I had an approved file closed for not sending in a form that Countrywide never asked us for. That was dealing with Countrywide.

Well, when a seemingly good bank (Bank of America), swallows a large problem whole (Countrywide), you know the outcome. The problem remains, but under a different name. Bank of America.

I had been working on a short sale with Countrywide/Bank of America for well over a year. It was a divorce. The first contract we sent at the beginning of the listing, was denied in one month. Why? Not enough money. It was the the highest offer we would ever see on the property in question.

The second offer came about six months later. Was with Countrywide/Bank of America for three to four months. Lower offer, but the writing was on the wall. The local market was in decline. The neighborhood where the property was located was in a steeper decline. Those months it took to accept the offer came back to haunt Countrywide/Bank of America when the buyer's appraisal came in. It was nearly $20K off the accepted sales price. Countrywide/Bank of America refused to accept the appraised value and my sellers were forced to kick that buyer to the curb.

Put the property back on the market, not expecting what we really needed. A cash buyer willing to overpay for the home and forgo their own appraisal. My short sale prayers were answered when that third offer came in. My sellers sent it in. It was the amount that Countrywide/Bank of America has refused to move down from in our second scenario AND, there was no seller subsidy as there had been in that second scenario.

Despite what should have been flagged as a slam dunk, Bank of America (no longer calling the monkey on its back Countrywide) took four months to get back to us on this deal. The deal was accepted BUT, the approval letter wa not the same approval letter as Countrywide had sent before. This one left my sellers wide open to collections in the future for the shortfall of the mortgage payoff.

We asked Bank of America to remove that wording. After all, they had received MEGA money from the U.S. Government to help them cover such shortfalls. Seemed qutie greedy of them to take from the government and then threaten to take that same shortfall amount from my sellers. The loan would be repaid and then some.

When Bank of America refused to changed their short sale approval letter and remove the collections language, my sellers declared bankruptcy and told Bank of America to shove it. My sellers refused to move forward with the short sale, and who can blame them? Now Bank of America has paid the attorney's fees to foreclose (estimated at a low end of $40K in my state) and will continue to face the same or worse market conditions. Not a good business move, but that's Bank of America for you. Wasting America's money!

Don't miss the model home furniture sale in Gainesville's Heritage Hunt on October 31, 2009. This is a one day only sale, starting at 9am and ending at 2pm. Buy designer selected furniture, art and accessories from this Key West Style Condo plus more from another condo. Cash and Checks Only, ID required.

Directions to Heritage Hunt in Gainesville (for those unfamiliar) are as follows:

Take Route 66 West to Exit 43B (Route 29 North.) At the exit, bear left. At the traffic light cross Rt. 29 Lee Hwy onto Heathcote Blvd. Turn right at first traffic light at Heritage Hunt Dr. Sign in with the gate guard. Follow the Lennar signs to the condo models, first building on the right. Parking is in front of the building both condo buildings. The sale is in unit 103.

For more information on this sale, or to get on the email list for Model Home Furniture Sales all over the metro area, email Amazing Grace at amazingraceinc@gmail.com.

I am proud to announce that there are two places you can go for Northern Virginia Model Home Furniture Sales. Thanks to the power of Active Rain, Cindy Jones and I will be given the details on Amazing Grace's Model Home Furniture Sales in plenty of time for you to put it on your calendar.

Normally, Amazing Grace sends out an email a day or two before a sale to a mass distribution list. If you read my blog, or Cindy's blog, you'll get the information on upcoming Northern Virginia Model Home Furniture Sales weeks before others in the area.

Stay tuned. Grace has a big one planned for November!