Evelyn Santiago Realtor(R) Fox Valley Distressed Home Specialist

It was the best of times, it was the worse of times, it was closing time! I was lucky to have 2 closings last week that actually closed.

One of my short sales that I have blogged about before closed. It was rescheduled several times due to buyer's lender not giving a clear to close. It finally closed but it was not easy. Up until the las minute the short sale approval letter was revised with last minute demands from the 1st lien holder that could have dismantled the whole deal. Without the hard facts and figures from monthly market closings the lender would have forced another foreclosure instead of getting a majority of their money upfront.

The buyer got a great deal, lawyers,and two lenders made money, two realtors and local, state governments will get new tax revenue from property taxes and transfer fees. Another successful closing, another house off the market.

My next closing was with a 1st time home buyer and an investor who had rehabbed the property. This one almost didn't meet the lender's lock deadline because the earnest money was not deposited by the seller's attorney in a timely matter. Small details can really make a difference. Even a last minute lender request almost stopped the funding and release of funds due to a lender requirement that the homeowner's policy receipt be typewritten paid versus stamped paid. Are lenders getting picky??? Now that the horse has not only left the barn but closed the door and run off to the neighbor's pasture lender's are coming up with unreasonable demands that have nothing to do with the credit worthiness of the borrower.

But despite the small bumps in the road we were able to get funding and make another set of players happy. Lenders, lawyers, title company, state and local government, loan officers, sellers, buyers and finally 2 realtors.

Here is the happy buyers - getting the key to their new home:

Making buyers and sellers happy is well worth the effort of getting them to the closing table.

It's a crisp Fall day in my part of Illinois. I was on my way to my health club when I stepped outside and felt the sun and smell of fall. Leaves had fallen in my back yard that it looked like a golden field so instead I took out my rake and started piling them up. The physical work helped to ease some of the stress from my morning.

My morning was spent finalizing closing dates for a couple of transactions that should have closed last month. One was a short sale that just seemed to take forever to close even with a great buyer and financing that was supposed to be a slam dunk. But nothing in today's lending environment is a slam dunk. I will be relieved to finally close on this one tomorrow but hopefully with positive thoughts I will be able to post this one as a sold - 24 hours from now.

My other transaction is with a buyer that is a 1st time home buyer. They are so excited to have found a place they liked that you can't help but be happy to be part of this transactions. Their financing was great and the only thing that held it up was a minor thing that I had no control over - the deposit of the earnest money check becauee I no longer hold earnest money check in transactions. The wierd thing is that the seller's attorney is the one that didn't deposit the check so they can't complain about closing late or give us too much grief.

So I just fiished talking to the mortgage officer and he informed me that the title charges are out of line with FHA guidelines and that the buyer's attorney will have to discuss this with the seller's attorney. It seems that those final details are still not finalized days before the closing date. We also found out that the village of Bolingbrook has transfer fees that are pretty high - $7.50 per thousand and split between buyer and seller. Next to Chicago this is one of the highest transfer fee's that I am aware of. I am always amazed at how some cities are able to get away with this type of taxation.

Buyers and sellers continue to be nickled and dimed with fees at closing - handling fees, email fees, city, state, email handling etc.

It's hard enough to find a buyer to sell a house to with the right credit score, the right down payment and for the right price...but now we have to also contend with the right closing fees!

Late yesterday I was thrilled to open up an email from one of my pending short sale negotiations to find out that we had gotten the extension we had requested. Buyer did not have final "clear to close" on his loan and we needed 7 days to make sure we could close.

A few hours after receiving the extension I finally received an email from the buyer's agent that loan was out of underwriting and that the clear to close should be available tomorrow.

I went to bed thinking that all the loose ends were taken care of and I had a solid closing coming this Friday....sweet dreams.

Early morning Tuesday and I find another email from the servicing lender. Must be a duplicate of the previous approval. As I opened up the attachments my heart almost stopped...what is this new attachment??? The lender had sent the investor's new request - they wanted the seller to sign a promissory note for 10K before allowing the short sale to take place.

I immediately sent the negotiator an email requesting an explanation of this new requirement. The answer was that the investor required it because of the request for an extension. This was for the added expense of the delay???

After the smoke cleared from my eyes and after ranting and raving about the total loss of common sense in today's world especially with this investor who has a similar nickname as the company that makes those delicious chocolates especially those Turtles...I sent an email detail the current market stats of the home in question.

My whole morning was spent sending information so that the investor could see how this addition could so very easily derail a deal that took months to put together and that would most likely force the homeowner to let it go into foreclosure because they were not going to sign a promissory note when they couldn't afford to keep the place due to loss of income.

Long story short I finally got a NEW Revised approval letter without the additional promissory note. I guess when they realized that with 70 current active listings and only 5 sales in the last month with 3 of those being foreclosures or short sale for less than what they were getting on this house that it just MIGHT make business sense to take the money and close on the sale NOW!

Will the greed ever stop from these banks/investors??? Greed is what got them in this situation and its their greed that keeps getting in the way of closing short sales and/or giving people loan modifications.

The negotiations sometimes can go to the very end until the transaction has funded, the release of liens has been sent and recorded and those commission checks have been cashed anything can happen.

Surprises are going to pop up from time to time but with facts and figures and determination you can bring reason and common sense even when its "not negotiable".

Sipping a hot cup of coffee, I sit in front of my keyboard, contemplating the events of the last couple of weeks. The final stretch on a couple of pending transactions. One a short sale that has taken 8 months from the time I took the listing to hopefully the time it closes. The other is a 1st time home buyer who is purchasing a total rehab in a townhome community.

The short sale offer was a 2nd offer that was substituted after getting final approval letter from the 1st lien holder. I thought my problems would be with getting the 1st lien holder to allow an additional 1K to the 2nd lien holder and convince the sellers to take out a small promissory note for the last small amount. Hurdle was accomplished...all parties happy. The offer came from an agent with a well known franchise - approved price met, terms better than original, mortgage commitment date in line, closing date perfect.

No reason for me to worry - the offer looked great, conversation with buyer's agent reassured me that the buyer had excellent financials and the loan officer told seller's attorney it was a "slam dunk".

So, why am I sitting here wondering if we will close next week? Well, the loan product has been switched, extensions have been granted on mortgage commitment and closing and we are now out of the original closing authorization back to requesting an extension from the 1st lien holder to close a week later. Oh, and did I mention that the agent from that well-known franchise will not answer my emails nor my calls???? Does he know something he/she is not sharing? Unable to admit that his small delay in vetting out the loan company, his client before writing up the offer may have caused some of these issues??

Now back to my regular market listing...and the small details that might cause a delay. This was my first referral from a loan officer. A couple who are wonderful 1st time home buyers. I instantly bonded with them. They knew exactly what they wanted; financing was taken care of since the loan officer already knew he could make the loan as soon as they found a house to meet the criteria.

After less than 4 weekends of showing homes we found the perfect home. A total rehab, in their price range, approved by mother with an accepted offer from the sellers. So, why would I worry?

Put call in to loan officer on Friday to find out if we had mortgage commitment....well maybe....it seems like the earnest money check has not cleared the buyer's account and one of the conditions is to have a copy of the cleared check for underwriting to get the famous "clear to close".

So how could this small detail happen? Earnest money check was overnighted to seller's attorney since I don't hold earnest money at my company at the beginning of the transaction over 3 weeks ago. Now we realtors know that here in my state we only have a set amount of time to deposit the earnest money check into our escrow account. Checks in this day and age clear within a day or two at most for local checks.

So why did it not clear?? It appears that the attorney had not deposited the check! Why is still a mystery...will it now clear fast enough for the lender to give the "clear to close" in time for Friday's closing?

Lesson learned - always find out from buyers if their check cleared 5 days after being issued. You would think that a lawyer who is doing real estate would understand the importance of that earnest money check to a buyer's getting their mortgage loan? One would think that except this lawyer obviously was not thinking.

So, here I sit, hoping that these small details will be worked out in the end. Will we get the extension from the investors for the short sale? Will the check clear the buyer's account fast enough to give underwriting the copy of the cancelled check? Will I get paid on Friday???

Will these transactions close and make all parties happy in the long run....sellers, buyers, loan officers, lenders, investors, realtors and add a couple of slash marks to the plus side of the housing market crisis.

As the saying goes....the Devil is in the details.

Late in August I decided to set a goal of 30 bike rides before September 30th. Well, yesterday I passed my halfway point. I live in a duplex in the Lakeview subidivision in Oswego, IL. It's a mix of single family homes with duplexes. We have some wetlands with ponds and some great biking trails that run through the subdivisions and along some country roads.

The journey of getting to my 30 rides has been interesting. I have been going to a health club of one sort or another for over 25 years so am not someone new to staying fit. I work out 5-6 times a week and ride the stationary bike as part of my overall fitness program.

Sitting on a staionary bike at the gym and riding a bike on a crisp summer morning is the difference between eating at McDonald's and eating at Morton's. You get fed both times but the ambiance and quality are a bit different.

Winding through my subidivision gives me a close up view of what my neighbors are doing to their homes. From landscaping to roof replacement - neighbors are doing upgrades instead of selling thier homes.

A quick look in my MLS shows 6 listings with one contingent and one short sale in the single family homes. The majority of the listings are under $250K and are in great shape. In the duplexes we have 5 listings with 3 with contracts already - so only 2 are actually available, plus a FSBO. The prices for duplexes for the most part are under $180K.

This is a pretty stable neighborhood with lots of children along with retirees and even some single folks. Just your typical suburban neighborhood with several parks and those bike trails.

My typical ride takes me past the subdivisions to some country roads that wind between the neigboring town. I even go by some farms with horses, lots of corn and soy fields and some more unique homes on much larger lots.

Once I leave the paved trail and head out on the actual road the need to stay sharp and focused on the road takes over. As cars and trucks approach and for the most part pass by giving me wide berth I wonder why the accelerate as they pass. Riding on a bike the sound of a car approaching and picking up speed as they pass can be a bit nerve racking. I realize that getting pass me quickly is their main objective since to a driver's perception I am a obstacle just like a animal or tree limb. But according to driving laws I have the same right to be on the road as they do so perhaps a bit of caution in speed would be appreciated.

I have learned a lot of lessons on my bike rides. That people still will say hello as they pass you on the trail. That someone can even lend a helping hand when you encounter minor problems. That nature is full of sights and sounds that we either take for granted or worse, don't even notice.

The sense of fullfillment that I can get to point A to point B on my own pedal power can not be underestimated. That sometimes the simple things in life, the slowing down of our fast paced lives can bring us more joy and give us the extra charge that we need to focus on life's challenges.

The rides started out as a way to break up my fitness workout and now they have become a way to feel more alive and in tune with what is actually happening around me.

At times I wonder where all the homeowners are since I rarely see people around the homes I pass. Working, school, running errands, commuting, visiting other friends and family but their homes are there waiting for their return. Havens from the daily grind, providing shelter, and sometimes a symbol of their accomplishments.

So if you want to enjoy the bike trails, the parks and ponds/lakes in a small town in IL just give me a call and become a neighbor. Just remember to say "Hello!" when you hear.."passing left!".