Thank you all for your responses.

Hello Jj and thanks for your post.

Typically, Countrywide Mortgage (now Bank of America) uses a "three phase" process of handling short sale reviews and approvals. If you've noted that a negotiator has been assigned and a BPO has been completed, then you are at about the 1/2 way point through Phase 2 of the 3 phase process. Typically (and the time lines change for each state), the longest period of time is spent in Phase 2, with the 3rd and final phase being--relatively speaking--one of the faster parts of the process. I'd estimate that you are about 4 weeks away from being pushed from Phase 2 to Phase 3. Once the file moves to the final Phase 3 negotiator--the one who actually reviews the price, determines if there will be any additional conditions on the sale, and approves or denies the transaction, you're within about 2-3 weeks of crossing the finish line with respect to the approval.

After this, of course, you'd still have to complete the process of inspections and loans, but that will be a happier 30 days spent moving toward closing escrow.

Hang in there, and I'll keep my fingers crossed for your quick and speedy response from B of A!

Sincerely,
Grace Morioka, SRES, e-Pro
Area Pro Realty
San Jose, CA
Co-Host: "Naked Real Estate" on http://www.blogtalkradio.com - This week "Common Mistakes Sellers Make"

I agree with my fellow agents, with all they've said. I must say that the hardest part is over once the negotiator has been assigned and the BPO done. Not to say that the transaction isn't going to be challenging from that point. But at least you have a solid contact point from here on out. Still the process will run it's course another 30-60 days. There is a bright side to this long process. It gives buyer the opportunity to validate their offer over time. Last year what was a good offer in February wasn't such a good offer in July. Prices where falling from 2%-3% per month! So buyers had the opportunity to walk away. The past 7 months has seen trends stabilize. No one can guarantee the future of home values but at least the trends are in your favor that if you're locked into a short sale for more than 90 days - your offer will still retain the value it had at delivery.

I just finished one where they were the second lender and it took four months for them, but on it they did an appraisal. It then took another two months for them to approve the sale, so that one sale took just over six months.

I have a listing right now where they are the only lender and the offer was accepted by the seller on August 12th, and the full short sale package was submitted on August 14th. It takes Countrywide 7 - 10 days to put the files into their system. The BPO was done on September 19th, and the file was closed today as they said the offer was so much lower than the BPO. I believe the BPO is about $30,000 too high. The BPO agent used three brand new homes as the comps which made the value way too high especially with the new homes having multiple upgrades. Plus my listing requires all new carpet, new paint, tiles and has several areas of stucco that has cracked and got water behind it and therefore needs to be redone. Would you buy a short sale that needs about $20,000 in repairs for the same cost as a brand new home with multiple upgrades?

We now have to resubmit the file and ask for a review. However it will take about a week or so to send us written notification that the file has been closed. When we resubmite It will once again take them 7 - 10 days to get the file in their system again and then they will decide whether they will review the file.


Countrywide/Bank of America is definitely the worst I have ever worked on.
Most lenders if they get a really high BPO will contact us and let us know. I can usually talk to them and resolve the issues. With Countrywide/ Bank of America they just notify you that the file has been closed. There is no talking to them, instead we must ask for the review.

Sincerely,

Jeff Launiere, P.A.
Real Estate Consultant
Keller Williams Realty
813-469-3163 (Direct)
800-622-0886 (Fax)
Info@SweetHomeTampa.com
http://www.SweetHomeTampa.com
http://www.SweetHomeTampaBlog.com


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there is no way to know. they are the worst. Last one i did with them was april and closed about 2 months after BPO and nego. assigned. I will personally not do another ss with them.

I have been contacted by people who thought the short sale process was a SHORT one. But you shouldn't let the name of the long drawn out process fool you. It can take months and months to hear anything back. Paper gets shuffled back and forth between asset managers, brokers, attorneys and bank officials dozens of times. Huge stacks of paper are involved, make sure you have an agent that has completed short sales before and isn't attempting to figure things out with your future on the line.






Clair F Bee III
Keller Williams Realty Capital District
518-724-5870 : Office
ClairBee@kw.com
Http://www.ClairFBee.com

Hi,

Good luck, Countrywide is by far the most challenging lender to work with in the industry on short sales, very slow and extremely inefficient and overwhelmed with the multitude of poorly underwritten loans that they made. Assuming they have completed the BPO and assuming they have assigned a negotiator, hopefully you should have a written response within 30 days. Make sure that the listing agent is staying on top of this file and makes contact with Countrywide a minimum of once a week.

Best of luck.

Sincerely,

Marty Kaiser
Keller Williams Realty
407-595-9700
marty@floridasells.com

From my experience, and from word of mouth, Countrywide (Bank of America right?) tends to be a little slow in assigning negotiators and getting BPO's done. Be patient. The short sale process is tough. Once a negotiator is assigned, which takes a lot of paperwork, especially if there is more than one lender, I have heard to expect 30 to 90 days before acceptance/rejection of any short sale offer. Upon acceptance, standard escrow dates should apply... keep in mind those are standard dates in the eyes of a banking system overloaded with problems and inventory.
Do everything you can to get them all your paperwork in at one time, in the manner that they request (I believe they expect loan numbers written out on every page faxed in, fax only 10 pages at a time etc.) and as soon as you can to get things rolling...
Good luck!