Short Sale Hell! Been there and back.

Ok here it is. I will keep my buyers names under wraps but I will tell you their story. It's a story of "SHORT SALE HELL!"

Players:

• Buyers-Nice young couple that just wanted a home.
• Two brokers. Joyce Davis and myself Steven Beam
• Bank: Countrywide. Evil villan.
  
• Seller. Nice couple from Arvada.

On April 2, 2008 my buyers and I submitted an offer on a nice 3 bedroom home in Arvada. We knew going into it that this was a short sale and we were probably going to have to wait at least two months. They decided after a month to go ahead with the inspection. (minus the sewer scope until we have a fully accepted offer) The inspection went fine and we really only had a few minor concerns which the sellers took care of quickly. No problems so far.

In our 4th month the buyers had enough so they decided to go after another home not far away. We submitted the offer, got it accepted and scheduled the inspection. The house was a mess with electrical problems and then the sewer scope revealed a 4 foot break in the line. Oops! Of course the sellers declined to fix it since it would have cost them around $4,000. I believe the sellers were banking on the next buyers not scoping the line and getting away without correcting the problem even though they are supposed to disclose this problem. So yes. My buyers have now spent close to $1,000 on inspections with no house to live in and nothing even close on the horizon. All the time living in a friends basement.

After the failed attempt to get a second house the listing broker from the original offer called to say that she still had our offer into the bank and that if the buyers were still interested they could resubmit an updated offer and continue their wait. So that is just what they did. Another 30 days pasted and Countrywide said they didn't like our offer because we were only asking for $5000 in closing costs. They said most buyers needed 3% in closing costs which would mean we would now need to resubmit an offer asking for an additional $1,000 in closing costs. Do you see what just happened? The bank wanted to give the buyer more money for closing costs since everyone else did it that way. The bank just declined an offer to have us resubmit asking them for more money in closing costs therefore lowering the offer to the bank. STUPID! Our new imporved offer was now asking for $6,000 in closing costs. The buyers didn't care they will just use the extra dough to buy down their rate.

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In August we got a call from Courtywide. Our FIRST RETURNED CALL IN MONTHS! They told us they had moved the processing center and trained hundreds of new employees to handle short sales and not to worry we would have an answer in 7-14 days GUARANTEED! After a few weeks they ordered what was probably the 4th or 5th BPO and appraisal on the property just to make sure they were not getting screwed. They were not. Finally after another month we got a call and they have after 7 months of BS approved the short sale. YEAH!

Bottom line. If you don't have a lot of time to waste or major patience don't go after a short sale. Short sales can cause a lot of brain damage and not to mention expense. We still have not closed the property. Should close this month. I hope. I'll keep you posted.

Overall I will have to say that my buyers have been very level headed and patient. They never really got upset and they kept their eye on the ball. I can only hope for their sake the property does in fact close since they just paid to have the sewer line scoped and thankfully it was all clear. I'm sure they are over $1,000 in inspection costs now.