Neal Bloom-Realtor ® Assoc.-CRS-Weston FL

Weston Florida Luxury Real Estate Market

Weston FL Luxury Homes for sale -The Ridges

2009 Market Report

About a week ago I wrote a blog post called How can the market value of a home in Florida go up $30,000 dollars in 5 weeks?.

It talked about a listing I had taken on that was going to be a tough short sale transaction. The sale was approved by the lender...not once but twice. Every time these buyers were approved....something came up at the 12th hour and they couldn't close. Lot's of excuses. Every time they asked for more time ....we gave it to them but the buyers couldn't successfully close. None of these Realtors® or MB's could get the job done.

So now my clients lender was willing to give us another opportunity to find another buyer and submit another contract within 30 days or it would be kicked out of the short sale department. And I truly thank this lender for being so patient with this difficult transaction.

If you read that post you'll understand how hard I worked on this deal. An update to that story came a few days after I wrote it. "SUCCESS"! I fought them and won.They agreed to the original price! Well.....before I had a chance to let the buyers agent know the good news......my clients informed me that they they hired an attorney and were advised not to continue with the short sale. "WHAT?"

Any experienced agent who has been involved with a short sale will know that when you take one on......you take the chance of spending countless hours on them only to fail. Some times there are things that are totally out of our control....that's the short sale game and when you play.....you don't always win.

They told me that they were going to file for bankruptcy because they couldn't take a chance that they would be issued a 1099 and couldn't pay the tax on the forgiven amount. Why couldn't they have told me this before they accepted the offer?

They weren't even sure this would happen. I told them to call their lender to verify it.They kept calling and couldn't get an answer. I let the negotiator know they sought the advice of a bankruptcy lawyer. The bankruptcy lawyer advised them that the lender might tax or 1099 the difference in the loan amount and the sale price. They said that they wouldn't be taxed on the first but they reserved the right to pursue the second. They decided not to move forward. I let them know that I wasn't an attorney but they could be in default if the buyer was still ready...willing and able to close.

I wonder if this attorney is really seeking whats in their best interest and I totally understand my clients position but how can they do this to the buyer? I hope they made the right decision.

For more information please contact Neal The Real Deal Bloom-Realtor® /Keller Williams Properties

1625 N. Commerce Parkway,Suite 105

Weston FL 33326

(954)608-5556

The Real Deal tells it Like it is in Real Estate-copyright © 2009-All rights reserved

How can the market value of a home go up $30,000 dollars in 5 weeks?

And after I thought I've seen it all...then this.

Well I'll tell you how it happened. I've had this listing for about 9 months now. It's a short sale and I've had 2 contracts on it but every-time we get down to the end....the buyers can't close because their lender declined the loan. This is a very annoying thing to have to go through. Way back when I was approached by the home owners to take this listing...I was very reluctant to do so.

It's unlike me to put an appointment off but I did it based on the information I was given by them over the phone with my initial consultation. They were now living 3.5 hours away from the subject property and wanted to meet with me there to have me list it and sell it short. At the time.....I had a handful of listings that were short sales and wasn't too sure this one would fly based on what they were telling me over the phone. They were begging me to take the listing even after I told them how the process worked so... in the end....I decided to meet with them.

From what they told me over the phone...they were already 4 months behind in their payments. When I showed up at the house...it turned out that they were really 6 months behind. I explained to them that they would most likely be receiving a summary judgment from the court. Once I mentioned this to them .....they whipped it out and it said they had 20 days to respond. The trouble was that they had been holding it for 10 days. I told them that they needed to hire an attorney to go ask the judge for an extension. They claimed not to have any money and asked we what they could do. I told them to go down to the court house first thing Monday morning and ask the clerk how to fill out the extension and submit it and then to notify the attorney that was suing them. They did this and apparently they were granted more than the normal 60 days.

After the first deal fell through....the lender allowed us to get another contract within 30 days before they would have to kick it out of the short sale department. The good thing was we now had an approved price in writing. I explained to the agent with the next offer that this was the price the bank would take and not to waste time submitting anything else. They submitted the offer and the deal died once again due to false information. They claimed that the buyer was fully qualified and showed us proof of funds...then in the end....their loan was declined.

Once again I had an approved short sale in writing and no contract. The negotiator was nice enough to give us another 30 days to get in a contract. This time we had one within one week but it had to be submitted to the workout department and would take up to 4 weeks to be re-approved.

2 weeks went by and I received a call from the negotiator letting me know that the file was submitted but since the property had sat for a while they required a new BPO to be done and would contact me for access into the property. After a total of 5 weeks and endless calls asking the status of this deal...I received an email from the negotiator....they said that they got back the BPO and that the investor said that based on the properties current value.....they now wanted $30,000 more and that I should ask for a counter from the buyer and they needed an answer within 3 business days. I was like....WHAT?

Holy Crapola...Batman!

How can a property value go up $30K in 5 weeks? It's virtually impossible for this to happen in a market like this along with the fact that this property had damage and was not in move in condition.

I called the negotiator and asked how they were able to justify this especially when they never had anyone call me for access into the property. I questioned them on how they did their BPO without actually seeing the inside. I also informed them that the buyer submitted a loan qualification letter that stated that they were only approved up to their purchase price that they submitted and that if they knew the lender wanted more then they wouldn't have searched for a home in that price range......They wouldn't have ever qualified for the higher price.

Why would I represent one price and then have to ask the buyer for more? If I knew this then I would have raised the price and informed everyone from the beginning.

I asked them to give me the opportunity to submit my own com-parables along with photos of the inside to prove my case. The negotiator appreciated that but said they didn't need them at this time.

They said they would resubmit it to the investor and let me know. The next day they said that the only issue the investor had was that the first page of the contract showed the purchase price as illegible and could I resent them another copy. I was then expecting them to approve it at the original price agreed at.

The funny thing is that they never acknowledged how they came up with a price increase in the first place.

Hopefully they'll reconsider our position.

For more information please contact Neal The Real Deal Bloom-Realtor® /Keller Williams Properties

1625 N. Commerce Parkway,Suite 105

Weston FL 33326

(954)608-5556

The Real Deal tells it Like it is in Real Estate-copyright © 2009-All rights reserved

Interesting article that I found today on my Yahoo news alerts. The actual article is through Reuters news wire. It talks about the temporary moratoriums on failing mortgages and or the properties that were headed into foreclosure.

I guess you would have to call this a short grace period but the party is over now. I'm not sure what affect this really has other than being a band-aid...well now the wounds are going to open again and the bleeding will continue.

If you want to read the entire article ...you can find it >>>HERE

For more information please contact Neal The Real Deal Bloom-Realtor® /Keller Williams Properties

1625 N. Commerce Parkway,Suite 105

Weston FL 33326

(954)608-5556

The Real Deal tells it Like it is in Real Estate-copyright © 2009-All rights reserved

Before You read this post...I want everyone who reads it to be aware that this isn't about any particular individual or company. It's something that seems to be happening on a regular basis.....not all the time but many times it comes up when it's too late to do anything but move on. Please don't contact me on the phone. Let's keep the discussion within the post.

I have a lot of friends who are in the Mortgage industry and they know what they're doing but when I can't help the client find someone suitable to represent them and help them get a loan then I have to draw the line somewhere.

If you're a consumer reading this post...you might want to take this little bit of advice I'm going to throw at you....if you're looking to purchase any kind of property and you want to pick your own mortgage broker...you should extensively interview them. Ask them how they'll be communicating with you and your Realtor. Ask them if the information that they give you will be accurate...basically you should ask them if they'll be keeping you fully informed of all aspects that pertain to the loan process. It's very important that you do this because if there is a problem....they'll claim that they have no liability if the deal falls through and that they aren't a party to the contract...but as the buyer...you and your Realtor will be the ones responsible.

You might call this a gripe but I have issues working with these types loan officers and Mortgage brokers and I'm so tired of the lying and the "passing the buck" excuses.

This particular situation can happen on a regular transaction or even on a transaction that might be a short sale..REO or Foreclosure property.

Every state has different rules and laws that they have to abide by and every Real Estate contract is wirtten different so I can only speak for contracts that are written in the state of Florida.

Now I've experienced some great things since I've been in the Real Estate industry and after almost 14 yrs in the business...I've seen the good and the bad. This is a big sticking point so anyone who might be offended by what I'm writing can just keep their comments to themselves and move on to another article to read. I'm not perfect and neither is anyone else but when it comes down to issues that come up in my transactions....I'd rather know about the issue before it's too late. I'd rather not have to waste my clients time and neither should anyone else.

Most of my business is as the listing agent....I like it that way because I know that I have more control over keeping the deal intact but when I'm working with a buyers agent who doesn't keep open the lines of communications with their buyer and the lender they choose....then all things can fall apart very fast.

I'm going to give you a pure example of a problem that's happening in our industry and with all the new changes...you would think it would stop. I'm not hear to cause problems.....I'm here to solve them if I can..So when you decide to purchase a property....you really need to do your homework. You need to have complete communication with your loan officer....your mortgage broker and your agent. If you lose control of the situation...in the end you'll be the one to blame.

Let's take a typical FAR9 contract....it's used in most deals but of course there are FAR BAR and AS-IS contracts that are slightly different...but in my area this seems to be the most consistent contract used.

On the first page of the purchase sales contract....under section #3 Financing...I'll just mention the part I'm talking about here and it clearly states and I quote...Buyer will provide the seller with either a written Financing commitment or approval letter("Commitment") or written notice that the buyer is unable obtain a Commitment with in _____ days.

Now here's the part that seems to be the problem most of the time...Buyer will keep seller and Broker fully informed about the loan application status,progress and commitment issues and authorizes the mortgage broker and lender to disclose all such information to seller and Broker.

It also states that if the buyer is unable to obtain a loan commitment after using dilligence and good faith...then as long as they inform all parties in writting within the said timeline...the buyers deposit will be refunded and the contract is null and void.

Now I'm not in the business to have escrow disputes but when the buyer and the buyers agent do not comply with the clause above....they seem to pass the buck to the Mortgage Broker who then goes into hiding and claims not to be a party to the contract.

That clause is such a crock that it should either be amended or they should just remove it if it's not enforceable.

Perfect example...I have this short sale listing...It was approved in writing each time by the lender with the price and terms they would accept. I've had three different buyers present contracts and all of them fell through due to lying by the mortgage broker. Each time I requested and was supplied proof of bank funds...full approval letters yet none could close.

On the last one most recently....2 weeks before we were supposed to close...I received yet another approval from the sellers lender and when I called the agent to let them know we have the approval and that we needed to get the ball rolling...I asked for an update on the loan process the buyers agent started yelling at me telling me that I had some nerve to ask for it and then by calling their mortgage broker...I find out that now the buyer has an issue with their credit which was never disclosed along with some sort of contingency to have a grant which was not even included in the contract.

The agent denied ever knowing about it and said the buyer didn't know about it was well. "What nerve I had to ask".....I guess I could be lambasted for doing my job to make sure my clients deal didn't fall through once again. In the end as we kept calling the broker..they kept telling us through the whole thing that it wasn't their responsibility to keep us informed. All we could get out of them was that they were going to meet with the buyer to discuss what they wanted to do. " What they wanted to do?" "I don't understand?" It turns out that two days before the closing date after countless times of trying to find out what was going on.....the lender sent some cheesy denial letter based on credit issues. Deal is dead..short sale is usually denied.

Luckily we just received a 4th contract and so far we are getting the information we need to complete the transaction.

End of story!

The approval letters that they supply are as good as getting picked up in a bar and getting someones phone number. Everyone should be aware of the type of people they are dealing with before they establish a relationship and waste peoples time.

Now I know why I can't trust most people in the mrtgage industry. they say they are trying to improve and maybe so are but these slime balls need to be out of the business.

So if that means the Mortgage people can't be held liable then they should just remove it from our contracts because if they don't the ones who will be liable are going to be the buyers and the buyers agent who represent them. You should be protecting both parties and not just one.

I would love to hear if anyone else has experienced these problems.

For more information please contact Neal The Real Deal Bloom-Realtor® /Keller Williams Properties

1625 N. Commerce Parkway,Suite 105

Weston FL 33326

(954)608-5556

The Real Deal tells it Like it is in Real Estate-copyright © 2009-All rights reserved