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        <title>Minna Reid's Blog</title>
        <link>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/short-sale-success-stories/</link>
        <description>The Blog of Minna Reid, CT Realtor, short sale specialist. All about real estate and short sales in Connecticut from Minna Reid - CT's #1 Short Sale Realtor.</description>
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            <guid>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/a-ct-nationstar-and-bank-of-america-short-sale-success.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/a-ct-nationstar-and-bank-of-america-short-sale-success.html</link>
            <author>minnareid@gmail.com (Minna Reid)</author>
            <title>A CT Nationstar and Bank of America short sale success</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
The rising costs of living and long daily commute left these CT homeowners tired and scraping change to make ends meet until they decided they had enough. Realizing they would likely never pay their way out of the upside down home they decided to cut their losses and short sell their home to move closer to work.


Originally a Bank of America first and second mortgage, the week we listed the home the first loan got sold to Nationstar, making the process a little more complex than originally anticipated.


It took two months to find a buyer for this home in the dead of winter. A short sale package headed to the lender. Nationstar is hit or miss. They have been known to be on the ball and approve in a few short weeks, and I have also seen the opposite with this unpredictable lender. It took almost 3 months to get Nationstar to approve the sale and even then Nationstar demanded a cash contribution from my sellers. With a little negotiation we got the contribution down to a manageable $1,500 and the first was approved with full debt settlement.


Bank of America - usually a breeze - dragged for weeks further as the negotiator proved difficult and unresponsive. Bank of America finally approved the short sale on the second mortgage - also with full debt forgiveness - with barely a few weeks left on our short sale approval letter from the first.


The buyers moved quickly and shortly thereafter this Nationstar/Bank of America short sale closed.


OWED: $215,000 (Nationstar 1st Mortgage $170,000 + Bank of America 2nd mortgage - $45,000)


APPROVED AND CLOSED WITH FULL DEBT FORGIVENESS: $115,000 with seller contributing $1,500


TOTAL TIMEFRAME LIST TO CLOSE: 6 months


 


 
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            <pubDate>Thu, 17 May 2012 15:31:24 -0500</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/central-ct-wells-fargo-fha-short-sale-just-10-short-weeks-to-a-happy-ending.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/central-ct-wells-fargo-fha-short-sale-just-10-short-weeks-to-a-happy-ending.html</link>
            <author>minnareid@gmail.com (Minna Reid)</author>
            <title>Central CT Wells Fargo FHA short sale - Just 10 short weeks to a happy ending!</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
This Colchester, CT homeowner was at the end of her rope as even FSBO efforts to sell while saving money had not ended in a successfull sale of her upside down property.


Little did we know that this particular short sale would be among the simplest and smoothest I have ever seen.


Since the loan was FHA (which offers short sale preapproval) we sent a complete short sale package at the same time we entered the market at an aggressive price. Just 18 days passed until we secured a strong buyer. Less than two weeks later we had the ATP - Approval to Participate - in the FHA short sale program.


We quickly sailed through inspections, appraisal and final approval...and this Wells Fargo FHA short sale closed 5 weeks later.


OWED: $180K


APPROVED AND CLOSED: $167K with full debt forgiveness and $1,000 seller incentive


TOTAL TIME FRAME LIST TO CLOSE: 10 WEEKS
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Thu, 03 May 2012 10:21:08 -0500</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/another-bank-of-america-short-sale-success-in-connecticut.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/another-bank-of-america-short-sale-success-in-connecticut.html</link>
            <author>minnareid@gmail.com (Minna Reid)</author>
            <title>Another Bank of America short sale success in Connecticut!</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
Although Bank of America is generally pretty easy and quick in their short sale processing as of late - there are always exceptions.


The property was well priced and agressively marketed and went under contract in just over 8 weeks. A full short sale package headed to Bank of America, where negotiators fumbled around with the file for several weeks - insisting my seller go HAFA even though he did not qualify for the program. My client was eventually able to pull out of HAFA and go with a traditional short sale.


It took another few months and two negotiators for Bank of America to reach a state of decision on the file. The property was considered an investment property and the loan had private mortgage insurance (PMI). This particular PMI company had just been shut down and taken over by state regulators...which proved to be very bad timing for my seller as the MI company demanded a very large note in order to approve the short sale. Several more weeks passed as we fought the contribution request and at the end of the day agreement was reached on terms.


A month later this Bank of America short sale closed.


OWED: $550,000


APPROVED AND CLOSED WITH FULL DEBT FORGIVENESS: $340,000, with seller agreeing to $50,000 promissory note


TOTAL TIME FRAME LIST TO CLOSE: 7 excruciating months


 
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:40:06 -0500</pubDate>
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        <item>
            <guid>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/a-connecticut-bank-of-america-short-sale-approved-and-closed.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/a-connecticut-bank-of-america-short-sale-approved-and-closed.html</link>
            <author>minnareid@gmail.com (Minna Reid)</author>
            <title>A Connecticut Bank of America short sale  - approved and closed!</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
Bank of America is really on the ball lately with getting short sales approved rather painlessly ( for the most part anyway...) .


I originally listed the Mansfield, CT home after a fellow Realtor referred her foreclosing client to me. The property went on the market...and stagnated. The owner was reluctant to reduce the price of the property aggressively and as a result it took 4 solid months of marketing and 5 price reductions to finally secure a buyer.


It took Bank of America about 6 weeks to counter the purchase and ultimately the sale fell apart over a difference iof $2,500. We ended up back on market again.


A month later the buyer had second thoughts and agreed to up his offer by the required $2,500. Bank of America took just a few weeks to approve the sale. A few judgement liens were sorted out and a few weeks later the Bank of America short sale closed with full debt forgiveness for my seller.


 


 
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            <pubDate>Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:10:46 -0500</pubDate>
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        <item>
            <guid>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/another-connecticut-gmac-fha-short-sale-success.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/another-connecticut-gmac-fha-short-sale-success.html</link>
            <author>minnareid@gmail.com (Minna Reid)</author>
            <title>Another Connecticut GMAC FHA short sale success!</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
GMAC - now my very favorite lender to work short sales with - delivers again.


When this Connecticut homeowner first called me, he seemed quite skeptical that a short sale was a possibility for him. Given his circumstances he was sure that his only option was to simply walk away and let the home foreclose as he believed he would never be approved for a short sale. I believed otherwise.


As the FHA PFS (pre-foreclosure sale) program allows preapproval, we immediately sent a full short sale package to GMAC and the home went on market. 7 weeks later a buyer was secured, which coincided perfectly with the timing on my sellers approval into the FHA PFS program. Unfortunately our FHA appraisal came in a tad high and the home had some inspection issues so some renegotiation with GMAC followed.


GMAC finally approved the short sale with our new terms and soon after this Manchester, CT short sale closed.


OWED: GMAC FHA insured loan - $230,000


APPROVED AND CLOSED, with $1,000 seller incentive paid out to homeowners: $150,000


TOTAL TIMEFRAME LIST TO CLOSE: 4 months


 
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            <pubDate>Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:02:14 -0500</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/a-happy-ending-to-a-miserable-metlife-short-sale-experience.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/a-happy-ending-to-a-miserable-metlife-short-sale-experience.html</link>
            <author>minnareid@gmail.com (Minna Reid)</author>
            <title>A happy ending to a miserable MetLife short sale experience </title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
MetLife...The only positive thing I can say about this bank is that I am overjoyed they are no longer writing new loans since January 13, 2012. They truly do not belong in the mortgage servicing business.


I listed my clients home in June of 2011. Since they had an FHA insured loan, and the FHA short sale process is rather simple and predictable, I mistakenly assumed we were in for a smooth ride.


Boy, was I wrong. MetLife has one of the worst and most unresponsive loss mitigation departments I have ever seen. Not only did they blatantly disregard our file for weeks and months on several occasions, they even failed to follow FHA guidelines. On several occasions we were forced to get HUD to intervene to keep the file moving along.


One very patient buyer, endless frustrations and 10 months later - this MetLife FHA short sale closed and my South Windsor, CT short sellers were able to move on past their underwater home and finally say goodbye to MetLife.
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:21:28 -0500</pubDate>
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        <item>
            <guid>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/mccue-mortgage-sticks-it-to-the-taxpayer-a-ct-fha-short-sale-success.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/mccue-mortgage-sticks-it-to-the-taxpayer-a-ct-fha-short-sale-success.html</link>
            <author>minnareid@gmail.com (Minna Reid)</author>
            <title>McCue Mortgage sticks it to the taxpayer - a Connecticut FHA short sale success </title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
McCue - Where did you go wrong?


McCue Mortgage used to be a pleasure to deal with and was generally efficient in their short sale processing...and then something happened. Some new folks showed up in loss mitigation...and the rest was all downhill.


This Meriden CT home first sold within a month on market in a multiple offer situation. The buyers were paying over market value. A full short sale package and high hopes headed over to McCue.


Four months passed as McCue's new loss mitigation staff fumbled around with our short sale file, ultimately declining the file. McCue cited lack of default as the reason for the decline, despite the fact FHA guidelines do not call for a default in order to get approval into the FHA Pre-foreclosure Sale program.


Sigh....


My sellers then defaulted and we started all over. The buyers were long gone and our next try back on market was not as successfull as the first. 6 months after originally going on market we secured a second buyer for $20,000 less than the first.


McCue spent another 2 months fumbling around some more with the file until ultimately we got an approval and the short sale closed.


Sure, it cost McCue Mortgage an extra $20,000 to muck up the file the first time...but since FHA (read taxpayer dollars) covers that loss to McCue...I guess it's no loss for McCue.


Hey, what's an extra 6 months and $20K when the taxpayer is footing the bill? Thanks McCue.


 
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:34:41 -0500</pubDate>
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        <item>
            <guid>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/another-ct-nationstar-hafa-short-sale-approval.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/another-ct-nationstar-hafa-short-sale-approval.html</link>
            <author>minnareid@gmail.com (Minna Reid)</author>
            <title>Another CT Nationstar HAFA short sale approval!</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
So it seems at least a few lenders are successfully incorporating HAFA into their short sale processing. Despite massive delays in HAFA processing with most lenders, at least Nationstar seems to have this HAFA thing down.


Back in May of 2011, this Plainville, CT property was first listed. Two months later we secured a buyer for the property. The file headed off to Nationstar. Unfortunately the first time around the file lagged at Nationstar so long that Hurricane Irene came to Connecticut and sent most of my clients street underwater.


The property flooded, became uninhabitable and the buyer walked. In September we went back on market. Soon after we secured a cash buyer...however yet again Nationstar took their sweet time and by January our second buyer also got tired of waiting and walked.


It only took a week to re-sell the property. Third time's the charm!


Nationstar finally kicked into gear...and a month later were ready to approve the short sale. It was at this point that Nationstar offered HAFA to my client. She agreed and two days later the sale was approved through HAFA and a few weeks later this Nationstar CT short sale closed!
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:06:07 -0500</pubDate>
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        <item>
            <guid>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/ct-chase-short-sale-success-fannie-mae-owned-loan-with-no-default-required.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/ct-chase-short-sale-success-fannie-mae-owned-loan-with-no-default-required.html</link>
            <author>minnareid@gmail.com (Minna Reid)</author>
            <title>CT Chase short sale success – Fannie Mae owned loan with no default required!</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
I’ve been hearing a lot lately about Fannie Mae forcing customers to go into default in order to approve their short sales, so I knew we’d be up for a rough road with this client. While most of my clients are behind in payments by the time they call me, this CT home seller had reasonable income, heavy liquid assets, great credit and intended to not miss any payments in order to preserve her excellent credit.


Any condo in Connecticut is a tough sell right now as condo financing options here have really crumbled. However, after 2 months on market a buyer was secured for the condo. Chase’s (the servicer on this Fannie Mae loan) short sale processing has really eroded over the last few years, and gets more difficult and time consuming all the time. Chase is also on a huge mission (as many other lenders are) to push every last client into HAFA-which is not always the best choice for the client.


Just under 3 months and lots of pushing later we finally got a response from Chase. They were willing to approve the sale - with a lien release only and keep their right to pursue a deficiency….or for a 10% contribution on the loss on the first mortgage, they would provide a full deficiency waiver.


My client wisely chose to contribute to get a full release on the loans.


The amount of the contribution was renegotiated to a lesser amount and a month later this Chase short sale CLOSED with my client never missing a single payment!


OWED: $230,000 - 1st and 2nd mortgages with Chase


FULL SETTLEMENT WITH CLIENT CONTRIBUTING $5,000: $121,000 - net proceeds to Chase.


TOTAL TIMEFRAME LIST TO CLOSE: 5 months
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Fri, 09 Mar 2012 08:31:54 -0600</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/a-ct-short-sale-success-with-aurora.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.homesbyminna.com/blog/a-ct-short-sale-success-with-aurora.html</link>
            <author>minnareid@gmail.com (Minna Reid)</author>
            <title>A CT short sale success with Aurora</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
After several failed attempts at modifications and several listings with Realtors who failed to short sell his home, this Mystic, CT short seller finally called me to get the job done.


After an initial price correction, a strong buyer was secured for the property in just under 6 weeks and a short sale package headed to the lender.


Aurora can be unpredictable at times. Unfortunately we were out of luck this time as the negotiator assigned to our file proved completely unresponsive. He refused to communicate via email, never answered his phone and his language skills were severely lacking – leading to a long painful road to short sale approval.


3 months of struggles later – this Aurora short was approved, and closed soon after.


OWED: $260,000


APPROVED AND CLOSED: $180,000
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Fri, 09 Mar 2012 07:43:20 -0600</pubDate>
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