This home in the Port Dixie neighborhood Shalimar Florida has been approved for short sale. There were two mortgages, Seterus(formerly LBPS), and CCO Mortgage for a total encumbrance of about $227,000. 

Senior Lien:  Seterus
Balance:  $190,000
Junior Lien: CCO
Balance: $37,000
Property Value: $140,000

This short sale was approved by Seterus in just four weeks. They allowed 6% of the junior lien balance to be paid to CCO. CCO took 120 days to approve the sale. Their reason for the delay was understaffing.  They required the seller to make a payment prior to closing.  Both lenders issued a full waiver of deficiency.  After approving the short sale, Seterus changed the locks on the house anyway.  This required a counter-lock change to give buyers access to do their home inspections.  All in a day’s work.

If you are considering short sale to avoid foreclosure, contact a Shalimar short sale agent.  We can write your success story together.

It’s Wendy!

This Holiday Isle home in Destin Florida has been approved for short sale.   A large home at over 3000 square feet, and yards from the Gulf of Mexico, it was originally purchased for a million dollars in 2005.  Here are the short sale details:

Senior Lien: Vericrest Financial

Senior Balance: $845,000

Junior Lien: Specialized Loan Servicing (SLS)

Junior Lien Balance: $130,000

Contract Price: appr $450,000 – less than half the mortgage balances!

The Vericrest portion of this Destin short sale was processed on a software platform called Res.Net.  Similar to Equator, but not as user-friendly, Res.Net required me and my team to enter weekly “market” reports on the property detailing showings and market competition and sales.  At time of contract, we were required to actually upload our pre-ordered title work and provide details photos, similar to an appraisal or Broker Price Opinion.  The figures from the preliminary settlement statement (HUD-1) were entered into the system, but fields were not clearly labeled so it was difficult to figure out.  Even the Vericrest negotiator stated Res.Net was not user friendly to them, either, and asked me to directly email her several times instead of using the software.

Vericrest approved the short sale and agreed to pay SLS about $11,000 to release its lien.  Both lienholders issued a full waiver of deficiency.

Do you need to sell your Destin Holiday Isle home to avoid foreclosure? Be sure to contact an attorney and an experienced Destin short sale agent.

It’s Wendy!

This home in Emerald Lakes, Destin Florida, was just approved for short sale.  An uncommon scenario, it had three liens.  The first was an IndyMac mortgage, the second, a Bank of America home equity line, and the third, a judgment from another creditor. 

The seller’s attorney said the short sale could not be accomplished, especially with waiver of deficiency.  We succeeded, however.  Here are the details for this Emerald Lakes, Destin Florida short sale:

Original purchase price - $490,000 in 2005

IndyMac - balance – $350,000

Bank of America – balance -  $50,000

Judgment Lien - $40,000 Note: Judgments in Florida may attach to all the borrower’s Florida real estate, even if unrelated to the property or even if a homestead property

Sale Price - $260,000 appr

Notes: Since the property was owner-occupied, we asked IndyMac if they would consider the HAFA program, which is beneficial to sellers who are doing short sales, as it grants a waiver of deficiency. IndyMac said they were not participating in the HAFA program.  They referred their short sale processing to a company called Service Link.  Service Link kindly reduced the agents’ commissions by 1% and placed a 1% “service fee” on the settlement statement to pay themselves.  The file was approved with a small credit for buyer’s closing costs and waiver of deficiency.

Bank of America approved the short sale after initial numerous delays in “outreach” seeking participation  in the HAFA program.  The seller rejected HAFA twice by phone, as IndyMac would not participate. The file had to be re-initiated three times.  Bank of America waived deficiency for $2700.

The third lien, the creditor judgment, released its lien for $1000.

Total time for this short sale approval?  About 60 days.

If you are considering short sale to avoid foreclosure in Destin Florida, consult an attorney and an experienced Destin short sale agent.  We can write your success story together.

This home in Lighthouse Pointe, Navarre Florida, was just approved for a VA Compromise Sale.  A VA Compromise Sale is similar to a short sale, but is used for loans guaranteed by the Veterans Administration.  Since the Emerald Coast is home to Eglin Air Force Base, Hurlburt Field, Whiting Field and Duke Field, many local sellers have VA home loans and may be able to use the program if they are unable to sell their homes to cover their mortgage balance.

One of the key differences between a typical short sale and VA Compromise Sale is the disposition of the deficiency.  According to the VA website, ” If your loan closed on or after January 1,1990, you will owe the Government in the event of a default only if there was fraud, misrepresentation, or bad faith on your part.” So, in most cases, you will not have to pay back the difference between the net proceeds and your outstanding balance.

Another difference in the VA Compromise program is the length of time the VA appraisal stands. With most short sales, the servicing lender will order a valuation (either an appraisal or broker price opinion), that will be valid for two to three months. In the VA Compromise program, the valuation, conducted by a VA certified appraiser, is valid for six months.  That is not always good, especially in a declining market.  So if a sales contract does not get approved, the targeted price will have to stand, and not be adjusted even if competing properties are priced lower.

This home in Lighthouse Pointe had a Bank of America mortgage.  VA delegates the loan servicers to handle the compromise claims for them, so there is no need for the homeowner to contact the VA directly.  This approval only took 30 days!

If you need to sell your Navarre Florida home as a short sale, HAP or VA Compromise Sale, contact an experienced Navarre short sale agent.

It’s Wendy!

Wendy Rulnick, Broker, Rulnick Realty, Inc.

Call (850) 650-7883

 
This home in Antioch Estates, Crestview Florida, was just approved for short sale.  There were two liens, Bank of America and USAA.  Don’t moan and groan, Bank of America was the easy part of the approval!

The market value of the Antioch Estates home was under $120,000, but the senior lien, Bank of America had a mortgage balance of about $150,000.  Through negotiations, we were able to get a waiver of deficiency for the remaining note, and Bank of America agreed to pay USAA $6000 out of the net proceeds. 

The junior lien, USAA Federal Savings Bank was more difficult.  That mortgage balance was around $80,000, and the $6000 offer from Bank of America was not acceptable to USAA to settle the account. 

Negotiations with USAA were lengthy, taking four days to respond to each request from the seller.  The USAA choices were: pay 75% of the loan balance to settle the account in full, or pay 25% of the balance at closing (almost $20,000), and continue to pay on a promissory note for the remaining note.  When I relayed USAA’s request to Bank of America, they almost closed the file due to the extraordinary junior lien demand.

With each increased offer to “settle” for cash from the Crestview short sale seller, USAA increased its minimum requirement to simply release its lien. (Originally, USAA stated they would release the lien for 25% of the outstanding balance.)  During negotiations, the “25%” grew to whatever the seller offered to settle (less than 75%). I questioned this, and was told USAA was trying to “minimize promissory note payments post-closing for the seller’s benefit”, if that was the seller’s end decision. Of course, that doesn’t make sense.  USAA was, in my opinion, just requiring as much as it thought was obtainable.  USAA is not the easiest short sale lender to work with, but with persistence, you can succeed.

If you are a Crestview Florida homeowner considering short sale to avoid foreclosure, consult an attorney and an experienced Crestview FL short sale agent.

It’s Wendy!

Wendy Rulnick, Broker, Rulnick Realty, Inc.

Call toll-free 1-877-ITS-WNDY (1-877-487-9639) or local 850-650-7883 ext 204

Email Wendy: itswendy@rulnickrealty.com

Crestview FL Real Estate

Crestview Short Sales & Pre Foreclosure Help.

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