Exactly as "Fed Up" posted below, I put in an offer on a BoA/Countrywide short sale on April 8th, 2009. I offered 93.6% of the short sale price, so I feel it was a very reasonable offer, at the very least. 6 MONTHS later, I have still not heard anything definitive... I'm still hanging on, but the tax credit is about to expire, so i may have to bail.
It looks like I was "tricked" into believing that I was just unlucky in my situation, but reading all the responses below, now I know that the BoA responses are most likely corporate-mandated lines of BS. Here are the things i have been told in the past 6 months:
- My paperwork was lost
- The file was given to a new negotiator
- The file was "escalated"
- The file is in the hands of the final negotiator
- They are merely waiting for the signature of approval from the investor

Does any of this sound familiar???? It should -- they're all the same BS lines that were given to all people that have posted on this thread below. It appears to me that BoA management is instructing their short-sale dept to give these responses. Why? I have no clue, to me it makes no sense. But anyway, if you are reading this and you have a short-sale bid in on a BoA property, then good luck, but you may be waiting for awhile longer...

Real Estate Pro Colorado. Whereas your argument does hold some merit, it is very limited in it's scope. I will give you credit for the point that sending in fake offers is not a great practice for agents to do. However, the reason agents are doing this is because of the extended time that BofA takes in handling these short sales. I have been involved with dozens of short sales at my real estate office and no one is as horrible as BofA. I have one now that is on it's 5th negotiator and every negotiator gets 30 days to respond in any way to the file. In addition, the negotiators are arrogant, rude, and non-responsive. Bank of America needs to exposed for the way they are handling these proceedures. There is no defensive that will satisfice for the manner in which BofA is abusing its power and authority in regard to short sales - not to mention the significant amount of money that is being lost due to properties being forced into foreclosure when they could have been sold for a higher dollar amount. BofA is also commiting a disjustice to the individuals credit that is being harder hit by foreclosures than by a short sale.

I worked at BofA for 12 years and during the past 18 months we have been told via management weekly, not to waste time with short sales paper work and to push clients into foreclosures when we can.

Why, because a federal program exists to write down foreclosures but not short sales. Until this law changes all banks will act the same. BTW the law was enacted in 2005.

I think one thing that most of the general public forgets is how the housing crisis has forced thousands of homeowners into short sale. I'm one of them. While I didn't have a loan with Bank of America, I am very familiar with their process and how the short sale process works as that's what I do for a living. Countrywide was the largest servicer in the country servicing loans for nearly every bank. Most of the public doesn't even know that. Yes, the short sales take a long time with Countrywide/Bank of America, but most people have no clue that each short sale negotiator has over 300 loans in their pipeline. Think about it, 3 offices, hundreds and hundreds of negotiators (All phases...1, 2 and 3) all with at least 300 loans. Not to mention how many loans haven't been assigned yet. This is why they take so long. How many agents submit fake offers just so they can list the property saying "bank approved". Do any of you realize how much of a ficken waste of time this is to a negotiator? Why are they working on offers that don't exist?? I've heard numerous agents do this because they think they can get a quicker approval. Ok....but what does that do to the other agent's who have a legitimate offer? This is why it takes so long to get through these loans.........

I am the purchaser of a short sale in Oregon. BOA received our offer that the seller accepted on 4/8/09. The seller has since submitted their financial information 5 times........Our offer is in line with BOA's appraisal that was done in early June. Our appraisal was done 5/27/09. The listing agent has been diligent about contacting BOA and has now been told a "negotiator" has been assigned...........this was in July. We have now issued a deadline of 8/27/09, as this is the date our appraisal expires - still no action. The bank's appraisal will expire about a week later. Very frustrating...........we are relocating to the area, have a child in school...........the list goes on. I believe that BOA is behaving in a FRAUDULENT manner. What are they waiting for?? What a waste, and empty house - for a year. I have been hauling water to maintain some of the nicer plants that would be expensive to replace............I'm sure to no avail at this point.

Good Luck with that. I have been waiting for ONE YEAR!!!! For Countrywide now Bank of America to complete my short sale and today found out that because I claimed Bankruptcy last month my transaction is on hold for another 2-3 months. I call weekly for updates and each week it's the same thing a new negotiator is assigned who never calls me back so "managers" escalate my file to order the BPO...the same one that was allegedly ordered on 12/20/2008! I'm so distraught. When I orginally called them for help because my commissions were few and far between they told me to get another job because it wasn't their fault. One year later I told them that I'm so upset to be potentially losing my buyer and only shot at a short sale which will likely cause it to go into foreclosure and sherrif sale...I said that this will make my credit even worse that I will have to wait 7 years to buy again vs. the 2 years for doing a short sale the customer service representative said "what did you think was going to happen to your credit when you filed Bankruptcy it's not our fault that it's wrecked"!!! I couldn't believe my ears. I'm an honest person who is a victim of the economy I was proactive about making things right finding someone to lease the place and then buyers and what do they do....lose my paperwork 3 times and completely blow me off!!! This is hands down the most unprofessional abomination of a company that I have ever dealt with!

I might add here, if you really want the house and you have the time to hang out until they figure it out AND you're prepared for the worst to happen that they reject the offer. I just had this happen. We had a short sale offer on the table for 3 months and it was a considerable amount OVER the listing price. We just found out alst week it was rejected. So, unless we come up with a new offer and are willing to sit around for another undefined period of time, we're done with that one.

The point is, you need to try for the best but be prepared for the worst. From there, you can make your decision on whether or not this is a process you're willing to put up with.

We, as real estate professionals appreciate when people post their uncomfortable experiences here so we can tell our clients about them. Many buyers think they are going to get a GREAT deal and it's going to be a piece of cake with a short sale/foreclosure. They may get a great deal/they may not, it may work, it may not. It's a matter of where a buyer's comfort level is with the level of risk. If a buyer is comfortable with the high risk/no control of a short sale/foreclosure, that's their choice. But I like them to go in with their eyes open and that's hard to do without being able to show them some stories. Thanks!

I have a house listed in the Dallas area as a short sale. I submitted the short sale package to BOA with 2 offers on May 29 as well.. I've called them daily since then... finally 2 weeks ago I find out that it was assigned to someone that doesn't handle short sales. It is very frustrating. One of the buyers bailed out (I don't blame him) the other one is hanging in there.

Today, I was able to talk to the head guy of the short sale dept. He is the one that assigns the analysts. I have been asked to call back on Friday for an update.

So, hang in there if you think it's worth it to you... It's a waiting game it seems.

The bank has no obligation to do anything. It is solely at their discretion to even consider a short sale. On average only about 1 in 3 short sales come together in my experience so you may wait (months more potentially) to get a response (which still might be no) or you can move on. Short sales are very aggravating and it is very common for them to take 2 months or more so you are not completely out of normal yet.

It depends on how bad you want the house... if it is really the best and you have to have it, wait it out.