Update to "Friends don't let friends buy short sales"
As you may recall a few weeks ago (or was it months?) I wrote about my friends efforts to buy a Bank of America short sale. I am happy to announce that the closing happened and my friends are working on cleaning up their new home.
Of course it wasn't easy or seamless. Even the day of closing the MI (mortgage insurance) company wanted the HUD-1 to not show the money they are requiring the buyer to pay them directly. Sound fishy??? We thought so too.
Long story short the closing occurred at the 9th hour. Would I ever recommend a buyer to purchase a short sale, no. But if another client wants to purchase a short sale I will help, but first we will have a serious talk about what they are getting into and make sure they have about 6 months to wait.
I just want to share a little story with you. I have a good friend, we'll call her Connie. Now Connie and her patient husband Juan decided they had to have a particular house in a particular neighborhood in York County in Hampton Roads. This property is a great buy, about $50,000 less than it could have sold for if it wasn't a short sale. So where's the problem?
Now Charlie, the listing agent, sounds like he has it all together. He's in touch with the bank often, things are moving right along, painting us a promising picture. So Connie and Juan do their inspections and appraisal all based on Charlie's confidence that the written short sale approval is going to be here any hour.
That was 2 months ago and poor Connie and Juan are still shacked up living back home with her parents. I can't even tell you the details of what this is doing to their love life (I write a PG rated blog). Their lives are in storage. So when do Connie and Juan cut their losses and move on? Don't know. We need to pray for patience and strength for this couple. Right now Connie doesn't have much hair on her head left.
This story is to be continued...........
If you are in need of a GOOD, SUCCESSFUL, HONEST real estate agent to help you sell or buy a home in Hampton Road, VA I would love to talk with you. I have been working with buyers and sellers for 10 years and have been in the Top 10% of Realtors in the Virginia Peninsula Association of Realtors for several years.
Serving all of Hampton Roads as a Realtor® and Short Sale Specialist. A full-time professional that can be your Trusted Advisor in your next real estate transaction.
In 1999, after 3 grueling weeks memorizing facts such as the "Bundle of Rights" and other non real estate sales data I passed the licensing class and received my Virginia Real Estate Sales Person License. But I knew that having the license didn't give me the sales knowledge or experience to assist buyers and sellers with the biggest transaction of their life. After interviewing with several Real Estate Firms on the Peninsula I was offered a Transaction Coordinator position with greg garrett realty.com for Greg Garrett himself. Since then I have worn many hats within my firm and have a diverse knowledge base for not only sales but management and training as well. I am currently working full time in sales and am a Short Sale Specialist having successfully negotiating short sale transactions for my clients with Wells Fargo, Bank of America, J P Morgan Chase, Citifinacial, GMAC, Wachovia, BB&T and more.
In tought real estate market of 2008 &2009 I was ranked in the top 10% of all the Realtors with Virginia Peninsula Association of Realtors. Over the years I have achieved our local Association of Realtors Gold Award in 2003, Silver Award in 2002 and Bronze Award winner in 2008 & 2009. I have served on several committees with Virginia Peninsula Association of Realtors helping to serve my fellow agents.
I pride myself on my professionalism, determination and commitment to customer service. Whether you are a first time buyer, selling your third home, or facing foreclosure, I am here to be your Trusted Real Estate Advisor for life.
Over the last ten years I have assisted hundreds of homeowners buy and sell real estate. Those relationships are what make my sales achievements possible. With the turn in our current economy I have had the pleasure of helping many distressed homeowner sell their properties with a short sale. The national rate for successfully negociating a short sale is around 1 in 5. I have successfully closed an average 5 out of 6 transactions.
Some of the banks that I personally was successful in closing a short sale are Bank of America, Citifinancial, Wachovia, BB & T, Wells Fargo, Citifiancial, GMAC, and JP Morgan Chase.
In 2010 I obtained a Certification as a Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource. 
I am excited to help more homeowners explore their options if they are having trouble making their mortgage payments due to a hardship.
We bought our first home in March of this year and Joyce Stokes made this a very easy experience. Mrs. Stokes had everything down and ready. She never needed to come back to us to sign paperwork she forgot. She was also very fast which was great because I did not know how long my wife's window of interest in purchasing a home. Mrs. Stokes also is ready to answer any question you may have and takes only one or two hours for her to call you back and not several days.
We also went through and attempted to purchase a "Short Sale" which was horrible but Mrs. Stokes got us in and out of that without any problems.
Ryan & LaVonne Bonney
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Dear Joyce,
We would like to thank you for your dedication and service to our recent real estate transaction. Without your guidance, perseverance, and genuine interest in our needs, things would not have gone as smoothly and trouble free as they did. Not only were you available at all times, your professionalism and personal attention to us during this time was more than anyone could ask for. In the current times of poor "customer service", you have restored our faith that a customer's needs are important. Your help went beyond measure to ensure a very positive experience for us. We would certainly not hesitate to refer anyone to you for your real estate expertise and guidance. We wish you continued success in your career and again, THANK YOU!
With warm regards,
Kent and Valerie Stitt
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This letter is in reference to Joyce Stokes
Joyce worked diligently with the resources of greggarrettrealty.com to try to sell our home. Joyce was always available to talk to us about the status of the marketing of our home. She helped secure people to take care of our property while it was being shown. When we received a contract, she stayed on top of all the details, and there were a lot of details, to bring it to closing. I feel she represented us well to the other party and gave us good advice about what to do in different situations related to the closing. I have confidence in Joyce's ability as an agent.
Amy & David Morrow
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