Hi Pam,
Rather than repeating information from the previous posts, I'll simply say this- in our market(Raymore, KC, etc) the asset managers /loss mitigators are not shared with buyer's agents- the information regarding that seller is confidential, and often the listing agent has a hard enough time getting needed information with the current privacy laws.

It can take a long time to get an answer on a short sale- they are dealing with so many. The best advice is to make sure your offer/paperwork in complete to their standards- for instance, if they require pre-approval from a direct lender, don't submit one from a mortgage broker, even if it means not using a personal friend or family member.

Hope this helps!
Krisan Mitchell
Coldwell Banker All American
816-388-7555
Your Kansas City Referrals are Appreciated

typically the bank limits who they talk to, otherwise they can't get their work done for talking to every tom, dick and harry who has questions about the property. BY LAW, the seller's agent has to submit all offers on the property, however, some banks take the initial offers verbally from their agents and negotiate them verbally, then have the buyers agent rewrite their contract then resubmit it with all the terms spelled out in writing that have just been verbally negotiated, so that the bank only signs one piece of paper and it has the final offer on it that has been agreed to.

Short sales and foreclosures can take MONTHS to get an answer back from the banks. We had one in our office with 8 good offers, all over the list price and part of them cash deals that could close in less than a week, and the bank sat on it long enough that the home went from short sale to foreclosure (over 6 months). The bank then took the home off the market, processed it through their foreclosure dept and relisted it with their own contracted realtor - in the process throwing out all the contracts that were sitting on the table. During that time they were trying to resolve 2nd and 3rd mortgages (one was a home equity loan caused by those checks the banks send you in the mail that are actually open lines of credit against the equity in your home) on the home, but the end result was that the home buyers who weren't investors had to move on and the investors were the only ones who could afford to still be interested in the property when the bank finally had it relisted with the second agent and started accepted contracts again.

bottom line, banks work on their own time lines, they don't respond until they are ready. Putting any suspense in a contract that you expect the bank to meet is worthless, because they won't, but they will expect you to meet any suspense they put in the contract papers and addendums they send you or they will fine you heavily (ie not closing on time, changing anything in the contract after it's accepted, etc) It is NOT something that the listing agent or the buyers agent can control.

The short sale lender is not always disclosed and if it were they lender would not provide any information to your agent if she did call. The sellers agent is given written permission by the seller to permit correspondence with his agent and this is often limited to the lenders attorney only. Not sure of your states disclosure laws but all offers MUST be submitted. Contact the agents broker and or manager if you suspect anything different than what is being stated.
Good luck!

It actually is common for the listing agent not to share information, it doesnt make it right but most assett managers at the bank do not want to talk to the buyer or their agent. they have so many loans they are working with it is impossible. Now if you want to know, you can simply do a title search, pull a copy of the mortgage and then look up their number, ask for the short sale department and try it. However be known that if they do not have written authorization to talk to you, they usually will not give you any information regarding the short sale. You can ask if they have your offer or even ask to send it directly, but without the listing agent and the sellers assistance , you really do not have any chance to get the short sale to work.