Ben's Short Sale Insights

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. Howev...

We had an agent use our strategy to double side his short sale listing. He promoted the house using our instructions and held it open from 1-2 on Sunday. About 30 people showed up. He got a good offer that looks like it will go thru. Best of all he is double siding the house. Here are a couple ti...

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 ...

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 ag...

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...

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 dire...

I typed this up a few weeks ago after watching the webinar. I think we have a friend in Matt Vernon. But, what is up with him saying the following? "This is a visible effort on BOA's part to build a bridge with the real estate community." My notes: What does he mean by "bridge" with the RE commun...

I find it interesting that negotiators almost always counter at the BPO price. It's what their boss at the short sale department instruct them to do. I think the investors also like the files handled that way. However, it does not mean that is their final offer. It just means that is their initia...

We all think lenders are crazy to turn down short sales. However, they think that REO is better. Here is why the rules are so tough to approve a short sale. The lenders and investors don't think they are losing money by rejecting short sales. Let me explain. All that is ever brought to their atte...

Here is feedback I got from other agents about these leads. Many services sell them as "Pre Foreclosure Notice Leads." Basically, they are people who are behind on their mortgage, but a Lis Pendens or Notice of Default has not been filed yet. The lead sellers claim that you get an awesome result ...