Ben Curry

Three months ago, if a buyer made an offer on our listing and was getting their loan from BOA 3 months ago, I would have thought nothing of it. Today, I would think that buyer is worthless. In my experience BOA can't close buyer loans. They made lots of promises and then didn't follow thru. However, let me give you some other agents stories before I tell you mine.

BOA Horror Story #1: "I wrote a new home purchase contract with B of A as the lender. The buyer was putting down $140,000 on a $185,000 purchase price. Yes – it was a very small amount of money he was getting a loan for but B of A approved it and we were all set to close 4 ½ months later. The buyer flew out the week before to do the walk-through and get the money from his bank. The HUD-1 was emailed to me on Friday and I called the B of A loan officer to confirm our closing on the following Monday at 11:00 A.M. We were good to go – so I thought.

At 9:00 I got a call from the loan office saying B of A decided not to do the loan. I asked why it was denied 2 hours before closing (signing)? He said it was not denied, B of A had changed threir mind and decided not to do the loan. Lance Mohr"

As you can see, Bank of America cannot close home loans. Please forward this e-mail to every single agent you know. Put it on your blog. Share it thru Activerain. We must get the word out so more agents don't lose deals over BOA's incompetence. I am also forwarding a copy to Matthew Vernon.

BOA Horror Story #2: I had a Buyer for a foreclosed home. His credentials were perfect for an FHA loan. The Buyer wanted to close asap. All the paperwork was sent to his loan company (BOA). It was suggested by the Sellers agent that BOA might work faster as it was their foreclosed property. I forwarded everything on time. It was difficult to get through to the BOA contracted loan officer by phone .. my emails were never answered.

The closing date drew nearer. I kept calling the contracted loan officer, but did not receive any replies from her..I finally called a manager at BOA who informed me the closing officer was very busy with the Tax Credit. They only had a certain amount of time to present the paperwork. I accepted the explanation but explained that my customer was anxious to close on his property as he and his family were living in a hotel. The Seller's bank had stipulated a final date for Closing or the contract would be withrawn.

Another week went by and I continued to leave messages for the closing officer with no replies. I again called a BOA manager and was told that the contracted loan officer was on vacation and there was nothing that could be done until she returned...!!!

Her vacation return date was one day before the closing date. On the morning of closing date I was forwarded a copy of the Appraisal that had been performed 4 weeks previously WITH stipulation that the glass front door had to be repaired or replaced before closing!! I was not notified of this fact at any time other than the day of closing! The Sellers agent was unaware of the Appraisal report as he received it the same day as I did.

I was finally able to talk with the Loan Officer.. at this point I was ready to scream at her! She sugar coated her actions, however, the door still had to be repaired/replaced!! We were able to find a company to go out immediately to repair the door to satisfy the Appraiser. We got the Appraiser to reappraise the property just an hour before the set time for Closing.

To say I was upset/frustrated for the Buyer is an understatement. I worked miracles to Close the house .. . all because BOA's "Contracted Loan Officer" was too busy and went on vacation. I will never!!! use BOA services again. Georgie Moore."

Ben's BOA Horror Story: Another agent brought a buyer who was buying a short sale. The buyer was using BOA for their loan. I thought it wasn't a problem. Today, we are 2 months past when we got the short sale approval. They have asked for two extensions and won't give us a solid time to close. Although, "It should be any days now."

She said she could close on the 26th of August if the buyer sent her final conditions by the 22nd. He sent it and she still can't close. The processor and loan officer will not answer my e-mails and give me an answer. So we keep on asking for short sale extensions.

My bottom line: We won't negotiate a short sale on behalf of a buyer using BOA financing. We're not doing the work unless the buyer uses a lender that can actually close. I've got bills to pay and can't handle this level of incompetence.

Sellers (and short sale negotiators at BOA) don't accept incompetence from me. They demand that I do my job.

You can get a copy of all the fax numbers for congress and a fax template to send to them here: http://www.shortsaleagentadvocate.com .

Got questions about short sales? Just ask. Ben & Chris Curry

Question from an Agent: I think I put myself in a pickle would like to know how to avoid it next time. First lien holder gave me a price and a net they would allow. OK, I got the price and the first got over the their minimum net they said they had to have. So with that the HUD I offered the 2nd what ended up being 12% of their loan. (76K loan we offered 9600.00) They want 15K are saying it is final and I don't know if the first will give it up. It is HSBC and I was operating on what I had heard and that was that they would take 10%...clearly I have bad information.

Any suggestions on this one? What would have been a better approach...offer to the 2nd on a different HUD a smaller amount to start? I used the same HUD to present to both, getting the firsts approval first. Bonnie Adamson.

My answer: Ouch! Here is what I would do to avoid this in the future. Put together two separate HUDs, one for each MTG company. The first would see a HUD with 20k going to the 2nd. Meanwhile the 2nd would get a HUD with 3k and more money going to the first.

Robert Ringer, in his book Winning Thru Intimidation, talks about this problem. He was working as a mortgage broker on a hard money loan for a development. He had to juggle the lender bringing money to the table and what the developer would net at closing. Plus, he had to make some money for himself in the middle. What did he do?

He started out telling the lender he needed to grant a big loan and told the borrower he was getting less money. He juggled those two and ended up making some money in the middle.

Now, what can you do now to close this short sale? This 2nd mortgage negotiator is being a little unreasonable. Escalate the file, show them the MLS history, and remind them that they get zero in a foreclosure. Show them the docket status for the foreclosure case. If the house is close to foreclosure, you gain more negotiating power. Another thing to do is get both of the negotiators on the phone. Have them hash it out between each other. That worked for us on a deal before and it might work for you too.

Are you looking for a marketing system to list more short sales? We have developed a system to farm and convert the Pre-Foreclosure Leads and the Expired Short Sales. It enables us to list a consistent number of short sales each month. Now we are offering it to other agents.

Get more info at: http://www.AgentLeadExplosion.com .

If you're running into problems with short sale files, then you probably need to look into the How to Escalate a File Course. Get more info at http://www.HowToEscalateAFile.com .

You can get a copy of all the fax numbers for congress and a fax template to send to them here: http://shortsaleagentadvocate.com .

Got questions about short sales? Just ask.

Ben Curry & Chris Curry - Keller Williams Real Estate, Gainesville Florida.

http://www.CurryTeamHomes.com

We specialize in short sales in Gainesville Florida. Gainesville Florida short sale, Gainesville fl short sale, Gainesville Florida short sales, Gainesville short sale

One of my friend's house recently got foreclosed upon. I never listed the house. I didn't really want the listing because it was worth $80,000, had two mortgages, and it was my friend's house. This is a pretty close friend and my friendship is more important than making a couple bucks.

The REO agent contacted him. Fannie Mae is willing to pay him $2,000 to move out. However, the agent has to give him the $2,000 upfront and then wait 6-8 months to be reimbursed. She told him she didn't have the $2,000 right now, but has a closing coming up and should have the money then. This agent is still waiting for reimbursements on other listings.

The house will probably sell for $80,000 at a 3% commission. She'll make $2,400. But, this agent is going to have to give her entire commission check to the homeowner. Basically she is doing a bunch of work today and then waiting 6-8 months to get paid for it. She still has to pay for gas, lockboxes, and spend her time handling the listing and closing. It always amazes me at how desperate some people are for business.

This is what happens when you aren't proactive about bringing in new business. You end up working with low quality customers. She should spend that $2,000 on marketing to get higher quality listings. Maybe mail some letters and list a few short sales. We recently spent about $500 and listed 7 short sales.

We project we'll make about $57,000 from those listings. Based on those numbers she could turn her $2,000 into $50,000 minimum. And, she'll start seeing a profit in 3-4 months versus waiting 6-8 months.

Are you looking for a marketing system to list more short sales? We have developed a system to farm and convert the Pre-Foreclosure Leads and the Expired Short Sales. It enables us to list a consistent number of short sales each month. Now we are offering it to other agents.

Get more info at: http://www.AgentLeadExplosion.com .

If you're running into problems with short sale files, then you probably need to look into the How to Escalate a File Course. Get more info at http://www.HowToEscalateAFile.com .

You can get a copy of all the fax numbers for congress and a fax template to send to them here: http://shortsaleagentadvocate.com .

Got questions about short sales? Just ask.

Ben Curry & Chris Curry - Keller Williams Real Estate, Gainesville Florida.

http://www.CurryTeamHomes.com

We specialize in short sales in Gainesville Florida. Gainesville Florida short sale, Gainesville fl short sale, Gainesville Florida short sales, Gainesville short sale

Short sales are frustrating sometimes. If you miss any costs, you often end up paying for them. The most common missed costs are property taxes, Homeowner's Association Fees, and judgments or liens.

What happens when you get to closing and there is an extra 2K that has to be paid? Does the seller want to pay it? No. What about the buyer? No again. So who ends up paying for it? Their agent does. You don't want to spend another month re-negotiating the short sale.

Here are 3 things you need to do to avoid having to give up commission at your next closing.

1. Get updated payoffs on everything when you start the short sale. The title company needs to do a title search. Have them obtain payoffs on the Homeowner's Association.

2. Prorate everything 5-6 months in the future. It can take longer to get the short sale approved. You may have to negotiate 2-3 buyer's offers with the lender. Costs can go up very fast.

3. Update the new costs regularly as the short sale progresses.

I hope this helps you out. We have been stuck paying for certain items 2-3 times. After it happens once, you make sure it doesn't happen again.

Are you looking for a marketing system to list more short sales? We have developed a system to farm and convert the Pre-Foreclosure Leads and the Expired Short Sales. It enables us to list a consistent number of short sales each month. Now we are offering it to other agents. Get more info at: http://www.AgentLeadExplosion.com .

If you're running into problems with short sale files, then you probably need to look into the How to Escalate a File Course. Get more info at http://www.HowToEscalateAFile.com .

You can get a copy of all the fax numbers for congress and a fax template to send to them here: http://shortsaleagentadvocate.com .

Got questions about short sales? Just ask.

Ben Curry & Chris Curry - Keller Williams Real Estate, Gainesville Florida.

http://www.CurryTeamHomes.com

We specialize in short sales in Gainesville Florida. Gainesville Florida short sale, Gainesville fl short sale, Gainesville Florida short sales, Gainesville short sale

A Quick Note: I had a few people ask me if they could get in contact with Matt Vernon. We talked with him at length about the problems BOA is having with their short sales. He is well aware that they do have problems. He is working to fix them. The problem is that it takes time to change the direction of a ship as big as BOA.

Isn't it pathetic that lenders won't give us a copy of the BPOs? Wouldn't it be helpful if we could get an actual, complete copy of the BPO? Here is a new strategy you can use to get a complete copy of the BPO. A complete copy of the BPO will make it much easier to hold BPO agents accountable. We are going to use this to get copies of the BPO on all of our short sales.

Here is the step by step strategy:

1. Request a complete itemized payoff from the foreclosing lawyer. In addition, request a copy from the lender themselves. You do this by faxing them a request. Usually you will get an answer in 7-10 business days.

2. Review the payoff to see where the BPO is itemized. If a BPO has ever been ordered, it will most likely by itemized on there. If not, it may be included in some other payoff cost.

3. Since the BPO is being paid by the homeowner, they have a right to a copy under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Fax the lender's legal department a request for a copy of the BPO. Send a copy of the payoff and circle the spot where you think the BPO payment is. Request a copy for the borrower under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. In addition, also mail the lender's legal department the same request.

If the lender does not comply, then you can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov, The Office of Thrift Supervision at www.ots.treas.gov, The FDIC at www.FDIC.gov, and the Comptroller of the Currency at www.helpwithmybank.gov. Indicate on your correspondence with the lender that if they do not comply, then you will be filing complaints with them.

Are you looking for a marketing system to list more short sales? We have developed a system to farm and convert the Pre-Foreclosure Leads and the Expired Short Sales. It enables us to list a consistent number of short sales each month. Now we are offering it to other agents. Get more info at: http://www.AgentLeadExplosion.com .

If you're running into problems with short sale files, then you probably need to look into the How to Escalate a File Course. Get more info at http://www.HowToEscalateAFile.com .

You can get a copy of all the fax numbers for congress and a fax template to send to them here: http://shortsaleagentadvocate.com .

Got questions about short sales? Just ask.

Ben Curry & Chris Curry - Keller Williams Real Estate, Gainesville Florida.

http://www.CurryTeamHomes.com

We specialize in short sales in Gainesville Florida. Gainesville Florida short sale, Gainesville fl short sale, Gainesville Florida short sales, Gainesville short sale