Peter Nielsen

Congress just enacted a new tax credit for first-time home buyers who purchase a home between Jan 1-Dec 1, 2009. You are a first time home buyer if you have never owned a home or haven't owned in the past 3 years. As a credit and not a deduction, this means that you will get the money regardless of the amount of tax you would otherwise owe. The amount is 10% of the purchase price of the home, up to $8,000. Unlike the $7500 credit in place in 2008, this one doesn't have to be repaid! You qualify for the full credit as a single buyer if your income does not exceed $75,000 and for married couples, if your income does not exceed $150,000. A great site for details is www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com, sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders.

If you're a first-time homebuyer in the San Francisco Bay Area, and want to take advantage of this benefit, you can contact me at 415-299-0487 or Peter@MarinRealtyExperts.com.

The tale of this short sale continues. Today I phoned Countrywide again. They told me 2 days ago that the short sale package I'd submitted was with the "Short Sale Review Team." The person who answered the phone this time (it's a different person each time I call) hadn't heard of such a review team. But she looked up the file on their computer and said there was a note that they were trying to decide whether to obtain an interior BPO (Broker Price Opinion) or a full-fledged appraisal. She confirmed that they already have a drive-by BPO. I reminded her that their loan was in 2nd position and that they would be offered only a nominal sum in any case, so the value of the property is really a moot point. Plus, I had supplied them with all of the comps within a 1/4 mile in the last 6 months, so they should have all they need to make a decision. She told me that they have to follow their procedures and to call back mid-next week to see if a negotiator has been assigned by then. You would think that a bank would understand that time is money and they are frittering it away by not having any sort of exception handling procedure that would allow common sense to assist with decision making. More next week...

To read the previous segments of this story, you can visit the blog on my website at www.MarinRealtyExperts.com, and you can subscribe to see how this short sale unfolds. Any questions, feel free to contact me. Peter Nielsen 415-299-0487 or Peter@MarinRealtyExperts.com.

I got a call this morning from Accredited Home Lenders, the holder of the first mortgage on this short sale. Kudos to them for being proactive! They have been pleasant to deal with. Unfortunately, they are going to sell their loan to Select Portfolio Servicing on March 1, and it's unlikely that we can close out this deal before then, for 2 reasons: I need to get Countrywide's approval, since they hold a second loan, and even if they were to agree today, Accredited would require an interior BPO (Broker Price Opinion) which they farm out to another vendor, Goodman Dean, and it's taking about a 1 week turnaround, so that wouldn't be back until March 3.

I called Countrywide to see if they had a negotiator assigned. No, but the package is with the "Short Sale Review Team". They have a BPO in hand, but it will be a couple of days before they assign a negotiator. They suggested I call back Thursday or Friday. I explained that we had an all cash offer and they can expect only a token amount in any case and asked if, with that information, the decision making could be expedited. I was told, "no." Apparently, they need to go through their set procedures and have no provisions for exceptions. I then called back Accredited to see if they had any connections with Countrywide and was told they don't. So, it's looking like this deal isn't going to be approved this week and who knows what dealing with the new loan servicer will be like. I guess I'll find out next week.

If you're interested in the previous installments of this story, you can find them on my blog at www.MarinRealtyExperts.com. Peter Nielsen (415) 299-0487 Peter@MarinRealtyExperts.com.

It's Monday morning, so time to check in with Countrywide to see if the short sale package I sent them last Tuesday, Feb 17, has made it into their computer yet. Hurray, they now say they "received it" on the 20th and will assign a negotiator. I'm to call back "within 48 hours" to see who that might be. So, that's some progress. Then I called the first lender, Accredited. My contact there whom I'd been told would handle the case said the package wasn't accessible from her computer, but after we determined that it had been faxed to a general fax number and not hers, she found it and thanked me for submitting such a complete package. I had thought that she would be the negotiator, but she is only the package screener. But she did then assign it to a negotiator, gave me his phone number and said he'd be calling me. She marked it RUSH - ALL CASH in hopes of getting it approved before the loan is sold to a new servicer on March 1. That's going to be tight.

You can read the previous parts of this story on the blog on my website at www.MarinRealtyExperts.com. Peter Nielsen (415) 299-0487 Peter@MarinRealtyExperts.com.

If you have been following this story, it left off last week with the title company not sending the Preliminary Title Report until last Friday at 6:30pm, too late for them to put together the expected closing statement (HUD1) that the lenders need before they will look at a short sale request. Since Monday was President's Day, I was able to get that from the title company on Tuesday. With that, I sent off the short sale packages to the first and second lenders, that included all of the information they asked for. Before the first lender (Accredited) will agree to a short sale, they need agreement from the second lender (Countrywide). Since a foreclosure would wipe out the second loan, it is in the interest of a second note holder to accept a small payment, rather than get nothing. In my letter to Countrywide, I suggested $1000. I called the next day and spoke with Rachael, who told me to call back on Friday, since the faxed paperwork is not yet in their computer. I called today and the phone was answered by Sharon, who told me that the paperwork is still not in the computer , so call back on Monday. One thing of value that she did tell me is that they need updated bank statements and payroll stubs, since they have ones on file fro September when the homeowner had been in contact with them in hopes of doing a loan modification. She said that the "loan modification request" field was swithed to "short sale request" as a result of my call on Wednesday, so at least we're now traveling down the right path. My job for today is to get them the updated bank statements and payroll stubs, which is no problem, since those are part of what I faxed already to the first lender. We'll see if we're in the computer on Monday!

You can read the previous parts of this story on the blog on my website at www.MarinRealtyExperts.com. Peter Nielsen (415) 299-0487 Peter@MarinRealtyExperts.com