Hopefully, you are working with a Buyers Agent. You say that the listing agent has been very difficult to deal with but it might be that the bank is not cooperating with the listing agent and he/she can't give you anymore information than what she/he can get. Short Sales are usually very frustrating and you have to be patient and hope that they will eventually close. There are probably some good deals that aren't Short Sales in your area. Get your agent to show them to you. You might be able to find something that could close in 30 days!

Hi Vicki,
I do hope you have gotten some answers by now, but let me share an experience we had which might possibly have happened to you. If the mortgage was with Countrywide (now Bank of America), it is possible that the file was closed without your offer having the opportunity to be submitted. It happened to us in January when the investor turned down the offer the same day that my husband spoke to them and when he called back the NEXT day to find out if they had accepted it, they had closed the file without even a counteroffer. Go figure!

It is important to remember that the employees working for the banks come in all types. Some of them are great and some of them are not. We liken short sales to the 'wild, wild west' because the only thing that is certain is that the rules keep changing.

As some of the other agents asked, did you have your own agent representing you? The other question I wonder is - was the listing agent experienced in dealing with short sales? We have language that also protects buyers in short sale contracts, including not having the binder deposited until we receive lender approval.

Unfortunately, there are no easy answers or solutions. Each short sale is a little different depending on the number of liens, the experience of the agents involved, and how the bank negotiates with the seller. Some sellers refuse to sell at the last minute when the bank demands they sign a promissory note. Also, the note can be sold again during the negotiations.

Hope you have found a great agent to work with. If not, we are experienced in dealing with this type of transaction.

Hi Vicki,

Some banks are better than others, sounds like you got a dub. These short sales are so frustrating. On my binders I always put (binder of $$$ due in 1 day upon lienholders acceptance) so no money comes out of your pocket right away, especially when your dealing with these short sales.

Hope everything works out for you!

Best Wishes,

Tara Cornett
Vanguard Realty Inc.
Fleming Island
taracornett@vanguardfla.com

Vicki Kelley,
Your score of 825 is EXCELLENT, congratulations.The advice below is correct. Have you got a Pre-Approval or a Written Commitment Letter? Pre-approvals mean nothing to the banks. I offer my clients a commitment letter within 24 hours of having a signed application and supporting documentation. Please call on me if you are still in need of a lender.

regards,
Frank Olguin
Mortgage Banker
AmericaHomeKey Inc.
500 W. Cypress Creek Rd, Suite 330
Fort Lauderdale, FL. 33309
Folguin@americahomekey.com
Hablo Espanol
office 954-771-7715 x104
cell 561-386-9731
pfax 954-379-4469
Florida Mortgage Lender
No. ML0700325

Hi Vicki-
Did you submit your offer with the listing agent or did you have your own agent? Did he give you a reason why the first offer was denied? In our experience, most banks want a mortgage commitment letter( not pre-approval) if you are getting a mortgage, or proof of funds if you are doing a cash deal. Did he give you a reason why yours was not being considered?
It seems like you are not getting the whole story, or that something was missing in your offer(like the mortgage commitment letter vs a pre-approval letter from the bank.) Did he say why your offer was rejected?
I have a suggestion to you that you might want to use your own agent to submit the offer (again), if you used the agent who listed it. That way you have him/her looking out for your interests and can get to the details and facts of what is going on. MOST agents do anyway, and I am sorry you had this experience. In the state of Florida, 95% of agents are Transaction Brokers, which means that they deal honestly, fairly, etc with all parties and work for the "transaction". Short sales are difficult, at best, take alot of patience, and all banks are different. I hope this helps!

Vicki,

I certainly understand your frustration. I've worked with a number of buyers and sellers in the past couple of years on short sales and have had some good successes and some frustrating failures. In every case of failure the buyers I worked with walked away from the transaction because of the extreme difficulty of working with the particular bank or listing agent involved with the short sale.

The scenario you outlined is very perplexing. If your offer was submitted and accepted by the listing agent for this home you should have been notified that your offer was in one of two statuses. The first case seems most likely that your offer was accepted as a back up offer and would not be presented to the banks until the first offer was accepted or rejected by them. Typically if the first offer is rejected, then the listing agent should come back to any additional buyers that submitted back up offers and verity that the buyers are still interested in submitting their offer. In many cases the listing agent has learned more from the banks about what they will and won't accept for an offer and can work with other buyers to determine whether their offers are too low for the banks prior to submitting those second offers.

Another possibility (and this doesn't seem to be your case based on the info you provided) is that all offers can be submitted to the banks at the same time for review and the bank will chose the best offer (and it doesn't have to be the first offer). I've had that situation happen for a couple of my buyers where their offer was the second offer submitted but was the best offer and were the ones accepted.

The listing agent may be relisting the home because the listing expired during the short sale process (a good agent will obtain listing extensions from their sellers until the short sale is resolved so it doesn't expire) or because the price or terms have to change based on feedback from the banks, or because the seller wants the listing to appear as a "new" listing in the multiple listing service (MLS).

In any case, I'm very surprised that the listing agent isn't submitting your offer. If you are still interested in this home, I am a Realtor in Orange Park / Fleming Island and would be happy to assist you. Since I am not the listing agent for this home I would act as a buyers agent representing only you in this transaction and ensure that your needs are being met. If you would like my help please contact me at any of the numbers below.

Good luck.

Scott Sullivan
Realtor
Prudential Network Realty
3535 Highway 17, Suite 10
Fleming Island, FL 32003
C: 904-327-5676
O: 904-269-1716
Scott.Sullivan@PrudentialNetworkRealty.com

Hi,

The short sales and REO are difficult to very difficult. Rewards are high, but so is the frustration.

There is no recourse. In dealing with these situations, don't fall in love with the deal or the property. Get several lined up, take on the top one and make it happen. If it don't go to number two. Get an experienced agent. You should have been forewarned of the situation, sounds like you were not.

I really liked several properties that I wanted to buy, but they didn't happen. I think I am good at this type of purchase, but I can not make it happen everytime. Even for myself.

It is a PROCESS!

Sincerely,

Blaine Rabe
904-874-0814

Vicki, the listing agent may have been given a net value (contracted purchase price minus all expenses) from the sellers lender that your contract would not be able to meet. Or who knows. You are dealing in an area that requires an expert in short sales from the buyers perspective. Representing yourself in this area is tough since you don't know and the listing agent may not tell all the issues involved. Contact a Realtor who is experience in short sales and have them provide you with the representation you need to conduct the transaction. Most likely it is no expense to you since the listing agents brokerage pays your agent. You may still have a shot at the home you want, you just need help from someone who has been down this road before.

Hi Vicki,
Let me preface by saying that transaction processes do vary from state to state. I practice in CA. When my partner and I take offers on a short sale property we take all offers to the seller, which is still the person who took out the mortgage. The seller, with our guidance, chooses the most viable offer from the bunch and we the proceed to send that offer to the lienholder for approval. When there are secondary offers, or "back-up" offers, we send them an addendum indicating that they are in back-up position #1 or 2 or 3, etc. This way, everybody knows exactly where they stand. If the first offer fell out, we would automatically call the agent who presented back up offer #1 and see if their clients were still interested. And we would continue this process until no more back up offers were left. At that point we would put it back on the market.
However, I am concerned that you put earnest money out when you didn't have a contractual acceptance from the bank AND are in a secondary position.
As I am not familiar with FL real estate law or their contracts, I'm not sure if I can advise recourse on this matter. I am also not familiar with what was said or contractually agreed to by the listing agent. In real estate it is always beneficial to get everything in writing! You may have some kind of recourse with your local board of realtors. Best of Luck!

Try to keep in mind that the bank has the last word on a short sale and they certainly don't seem to follow normal protocal. Are you working with the listing agent or do you have your own agent ?