BiggerPockets

Hi everyone,

We're newbies but have been following BP for a few months. We had our 1st appt today & just thought we'd ask for some opinions. Not sure which forum to post this on so I'm trying this.... It didnt go well. I scheduled an appt for David today. H/O is in foreclosure. This guy is incredible. Sheriff sale was 8/18 but he got another 2 weeks. It was his 2nd home he bought in 2005. Wife and children lives in this house. You guessed it: got caught in ARM wave & mortgage skyrocketed in 2008. Lispenden filed in 2008. He knows he's upside down. Tried to show how lucky he was considering this is 2010! Told him we needed to get the sheriff sale stopped 1st and then work on a short sale. He knows. All phone calls were good & actually sounded productive. At the meeting, he then springs upon David that he wants $20k to move with but will go down to $15k. Thinks he lost everything & doesnt care about anything but money now. The guy had 3 liquor stores and a couple of homes which he says he lost. We even suggested about credit restoration & offered to include it. He wasnt biting. We advised him that under HAFA he maybe able to get up to $1500 to move with but again, he said that wasnt enough. He said a realtor offered to buy the house BACK IN 2008. He knows he missed that boat & apparently is fond of missing boats....Anyway, our thinking is we walk away from this. Are we missing anything? 1st, there's not possible way for us to pay him ANYTHING but most, I dont think this is legal.

Well anyway, we feel like we accomplished something because we got the FIRST out of the way. Both of us gained some confidence and learned more.

Thanks for any feedback.

Take care,
Keisha

That was pretty complicated for your first time out. But each time you gain experience and confidence as you said. Time to move on to the next one with the lessons you've learned in tow.

Keisha, he's not the best person to deal with in the state he's in. It sounds as if he's lost everything already and is pretty bitter. I would use serious caution with him.

Tell him you can't give him money. The best you can do POSSIBLY is to offer $3000 that will have to be APPROVED BY THE LENDER. That way the lender has the final say. Most lenders don't want the homeowner having money considering they lose a TON of money. The way you can try to deal with him is let him know you'll request it on the HUD but the lender has final say on if he gets it approved. I would say $3000 is good for moving expenses. He's lived there QUITE sometime for free so hopefully he's saved enough for an apartment.

I had a Realtor last week losing their personal home ask if they could have a referral fee for their own house and that's exactly how I dealt with it. I told them we would TRY to ask for $500 on the HUD and if the lender approved it, we were ok with it and that way it takes the pressure off of YOU to try to pay something behind the lender's back or telling the homeowner no.

It can't hurt to ask, but I'm betting the lender will say no.

Don't waste too much effort on this guy. He's not motivated.

@ Maryann, I dont think he's very motivated either but I just dont know how much more motivated that you need to be than an impending sheriff sale! lol. We plan to follow up just to see. Thanks for the tip. We'll suggest any payment pending lender approval. David also plans on inserting some language regarding we're providing a service in trying help him, federal, investigations, & the such to discourage him from asking for any more than the $3000.
@ Steve, it was his 2nd home in his name that his wife & children lived in. They were separated. I dont know if a bank will even agree to a short sale as this is not HIS primary home. He couldnt even try to say anything else because the county tax records show him as an absentee landlord. That's how we found him.

Keisha

Johnny, thanks. That was my thought process. Like I said this guy was incredible (yeah right). lol. We'll follow up but I'm not expecting anything to become of this. But then again, wonders do happen....
Keisha

From a practical standpoint, what incentive does a homeowner have to do a SS versus letting it go to auction? Either way their credit is shot with the SS being marginally better. If it is a non-recourse state, letting it go to auction may get the owner a few extra months of free rent. So it seems to me that the home-owner really has no big incentive to do a SS at all.

Am I missing some great benefit of a SS or is it really just marginally better than letting the property go to auction?

Quite honestly, I'd take this advice.

Their are a few ways mentioned in this post as to how you can deal with it. One thing I've realized doing short sales is that if someone is combative or uncooperative once they will always be throughout the process. This just makes it end up being not worth it. I'd walk. To many deals to get stuck on that one. Good luck!

Keisha,
If you talk to another prospective seller that has this attitude, don't waste your time. Save your efforts for a homeowner that will appreciate your help. By the sounds of this guy, he is the driving force behind all of his troubles even if he did get trapped by his ARM!
Good Luck!
Bill