HAFA Short Sale Success Story
11 months and 2 days.
The amount of time my client and I had to go through to close my latest HAFA short sale in the North Lake Tahoe area.
A big part of that eleven months was not “official” short sale negotiations but a series of actions — big and small — before we even established contact with the lien holder.
My client deserves as much credit as she did a LOT to get this deal done. The lender routinely asks important documents to be submitted the next day ( and it wasn’t easy to get), she supplied it within a few hours.
I will say it again: to reach a successful short sale, the agent and the homeowner need to form a strong partnership. Doesn’t mean you always have to agree — no, but at the end of the day you need to be committed to get the the job done.
It all started with a call from her in a cold winter day on October last year. She said that she found me on this site and is in dire need of help to avoid a foreclosure on her property, which was already in default.
I asked who holds the lien(s) on the property and if she has explored the “Modification” part of things and told her that in order for this to work out I will need her 100% dedication to help me as the bank would ask a lot from her that she would have do on her own. She said yes and off we went
Three months after she was denied with the “modification”, I then suggested to her to explore the HAFA short sale program. Mind you, I have not listed the property just yet. She and I were just laying the groundwork.
Another three months passed by, then the BPO was finally done (“Bank Price Opinion”). Two months after, the “HAFA Short Sale Agreement ” was supplied by the bank. This was our first big milestone. We then listed the property for that amount and within two days I hooked a buyer.
The next step should be closing next month, right? Nope.
It took another two months before the bank issued the “Approval Letter” with the buyers name in order for the buyer to move forward with their loan.
(Note: HAFA short sale agreement is not the “short sale approval” but all terms need to match the HAFA agreement.)
One month after — finally, SUCCESS.
My buyers got the house they loved, my seller got out of a foreclosure and some “change” ($3,000 for them to relocate). I got paid and earned new friends.
Life is good, the journey was an arduous uphill climb but it was all worth it.
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