The new jobless figures were released this past week as Harry Reid reported, "....Only 36,000 people lost their jobs today....." Joblessness is a large contributing factor to mortgage defaults. With unemployment being high, many families are just hanging on. More defaults equals more preforeclosure sales. Are you ready for the increase in short sale listings? What are you doing to get your share of the short sale market? Listing agents can no longer afford to ignore short sale listings because they are such a significant portion of the market.
Harry Reid Jobless Report Video
Last Week's Bank Closings
Last Friday regulators shuttered banks in Florida, Illinois, Maryland and Utah. The FDIC took over Sun American Bank, based in Boca Raton, FL, Bank of Illinois in Normal, IL, Waterfield Bank in Germantown, MD and Centennial Bank in Ogden, Utah. First-Citizens Bank & Trust Co., in Raleigh, N.C., has agreed to assume the assets and deposits of Sun American Bank and to also share losses with the FDIC on $433 million of the failed bank's loans and other assets. Heartland Bank and Trust Co., in Bloomington, IL, is acquiring the assets and deposits of Bank of Illinois, and is also sharing losses with the FDIC on $166.6 million in loans and other assets. No buyers were found for Waterfield Bank and Centennial Bank. The FDIC has set up a new savings institution for depositors of Waterfield Bank that will operate until April 5th. This will allow customers access to their deposits and also gives them time to open accounts at other banks. The FDIC approved the payout of Centennial Banks depositors and the checks will be in the mail on Monday, March 8th. Zions First National Bank in Salt Lake City has agreed to accept Centennial Bank's direct deposits.
FDIC officials have stated that the pace of bank seizures this year is likely to increase in coming months.
One Rule On Piecemealing Short Sale Documents
If you want your short sale to close, do not piecemeal short sale documents. Always make sure you have a complete short sale package before sending it in to the lender. Incomplete packages will likely get set aside without any alerts to you or the seller that the package was incomplete. This is one reason days, weeks and months can go by on a short sale. At most lenders, there is a customer service or phone center receiving realtors, sellers or AOs phone calls. This is a very efficient idea from a lender's perspective as it keeps the negotiators working on cases without having to field the pesky update inquiry phone calls however the nature of this beast is the increased likelihood of a communication breakdown between the negotiators and customer service areas.
Case in point. An incomplete short sale package arrives. The first level negotiators or admin does not realize the package is incomplete. This happens quite often because this personell are usually trained to glance at documents to verify there existence rather than actually examining the documents for accuracy. Here are some actual packages I have received while working for Timothy J Cotter, PA and as a short sale negotiator working for a large mortgage servicer: Four pay stubs included but they are not recent. Bank statements were faxed but pages 2 and 4 are missing on each month's bank statement. 1040s were included but schedules were missing. Only one year 1040 included when two years are needed. Pay stubs were missing because the seller is unemployed but there is no easy to find documentation of job status in package. Hardship letter is provided but the hardship letter is not up to date. These files have a very high chance of being set aside without the listing agent being notified. Of course, the ramifications of incomplete short sale packages are lose-lose.
At Timothy J. Cotter, PA, we have a comprehensive document that we provide to our realtors we have the experience to anticipate when additional support documentation will be necessary to get the short sale processed. Before submitting a short sale package, we cannot rely on a lender representative to tell us what documents are necessary due to the chance for error. The lender representative may have not taken into consideration what investor the defaulted mortgage has and they more than likely did not take into account the specifics of the particular file being inquired about. By the time the misinformation is discovered a short sale may be lost.
Professional Courtesy
Did you hear about the lawyer on vacation whose sailboat capsized in dangerous, shark-infested waters? He surprised his traveling companions by volunteering to swim to the far-off shore for help. As he swam, his companions were startled by the appearance of two dorsal fins -- great white sharks, heading straight toward the lawyer. To their surprise, the sharks allowed the lawyer to take hold of their fins, and escorted him safely to shore. When the lawyer returned with help, his companions asked him how he had managed such an incredible feat. The lawyer answered, "Professional courtesy."
This lawyer joke is an old one and I am using it to illustrate a point. The point is, the punch line, "Professional courtesy." Did you ever try to communicate with a foreclosure attorney as a realtor? If you have, your experience may have been less than desirable. That's assuming you were given a return phone call. Of course law offices should return phone calls to realtors promptly. Many don't, especially considering their heavy case load these days.
Working for the law office of Timothy J Cotter, it never ceases to amaze me of how quick I receive return phone calls from foreclosure attorneys no matter how busy they are simply because I work for a law firm. They have shown me "professional courtesy." I'd like to ask you, if you are not using a law firm to negotiate your short sales, why not?
Close more short sales.
If you are listing agent or a broker who wants to speed up the short sale process, the best way to do this is to have the short sale experts negotiate your short sale listings. Bill Burress at Timothy J Cotter, PA can help you get your short sale listings to the closing table. Timothy J Cotter, PA offers a short sale negotiating process that is no cost to realtors and realtors keep their commissions.
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[Click here for an informative video regarding the short sale negotiation services of Timothy J Cotter, PA]
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Lawyer joke source, lawlaughs.com. shark picture source, news.com.au.
