Melissa Zavala, Author at The BiggerPockets Blog

Archive of Melissa Zavala

Melissa Zavala is the Broker/Owner of Broadpoint Properties and Head Honcho of Short Sale Expeditor®. Before landing real estate, she had careers in education and publishing. Many folks say that Melissa is genetically pre-disposed to success with short sales. In fact, last year she and her staff obtained over 500 short sale approval letters! When she isn’t speaking with lien holders, Melissa enjoys practicing yoga, walking the dog, and vacationing at beach resorts.

Melissa has written 79 articles for The BiggerPockets Blog.

Short Sales

Value Disputes and Bank of America Short Sales

by Melissa Zavala May 22, 2012

If you have completed more than a handful of short sales, then you have likely have been involved in a value dispute with the short sale lender. During the course of the short sale, the short sale lender sends out another Broker to complete a Broker Price Opinion (BPO) for the short sale listing. The bank then, [...]

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Short Sales

How to Address Closing Cost Credits in Short Sale Transactions

by Melissa Zavala May 15, 2012

Agents, buyers and sellers are abuzz because it’s a seller’s market again. Just a few weeks ago an agent friend of mine received 24 offers on his short sale listing, and another property in my area got 10 offers the very same weekend. When reviewing short sale offers with clients, it is important to look at [...]

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Short Sales

Updates to the HAFA Program

by Melissa Zavala May 8, 2012

The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA) is a government-sponsored program aimed to provide additional alternatives to foreclosure. Aside from loan modification (the government’s HAMP program) and underwater refinance (the government’s HARP program), the Treasury has also provided options for distressed borrowers through short sale and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. This program is a little bit tricky, and you really need to [...]

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Short Sales

Short Sales – How to Manage the BPO

by Melissa Zavala May 1, 2012

I’m not going to say that I am super strong. I’ve done some martial arts and some kickboxing, but if I hit you, I probably wouldn’t take you to the floor. Nevertheless, I know the best way to fight a bad Broker Price Opinion (BPO). I can knock that baby to the floor in three easy moves. And… [...]

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Short Sales

Improved Short Sale Processing Time – Fact or Fiction?

by Melissa Zavala April 24, 2012

If you are considering the purchase of a short sale or if you are an listing short sales, 2012 may be the year for you. First off, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, which protects certain short sale sellers from tax liability, is set to expire at the end of the year. The [...]

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Short Sales

Short Sale Changes at Bank of America

by Melissa Zavala April 17, 2012

We all know that Friday the 13th is considered to be bad luck according to western superstition. Yet, ironically, on Friday, April 13, Bank of America made a few major changes that may make our short sale processing times more efficient. The goal of these changes is to make short sale processing through Equator (the Internet-based platform) [...]

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Short Sales

A Short Sale Is Like a Game of Clue

by Melissa Zavala April 10, 2012

Remember when it was Professor Plum in the library with the lead pipe? Well, solving the mystery in a game of Clue would be a much smoother and more efficient death than what you might see in the wacky world of short sales. If a short sale were like a game of Clue (by Hasbro), [...]

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Foreclosures

Distressed Borrower Programs – Will They Work?

by Melissa Zavala April 3, 2012

There seem to be more and more programs each and every day that are coming out of the woodwork to help distressed borrowers save their homes from foreclosure. Here are two of them that looked pretty interesting at first glance, but if you read between the lines, you may find something entirely different: Bank of [...]

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Short Sales

Contract Failures and Cancellation Rates

by Melissa Zavala March 27, 2012

I got a call this week from a newspaper columnist who wanted to get my opinion on some of the latest data noted by the National Association of Realtors®. You see, it’s some pretty interesting stuff. Check this out: Fifty-one percent of NAR members report that contracts settled on time in February, 18 percent had [...]

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Short Sales

Short Sales and Buyer Deposits – It’s a Pickle

by Melissa Zavala March 20, 2012

I received a call earlier this week from a buyer’s agent whose buyer was purchasing a short sale. This agent was not a happy camper. His buyer had signed a short sale addendum and agreed to deposit the earnest money into escrow, yet somehow the agent had overlooked that little ditty. Now the buyer did [...]

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Short Sales

Buying an Equator Short Sale

by Melissa Zavala March 13, 2012

If you hear the word ‘equator’ associated with a short sale, this does not mean that the property in question is located somewhere near the middle of the globe. It simply means that the short sale transaction (perhaps the property that you are listing, buying or selling) is being processed through an online (Internet-based) platform [...]

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Real Estate News & Commentary

Buffett and Trump Say Buy Real Estate Now

by Melissa Zavala March 6, 2012

Did you hear the news? Warren Buffett says that now is a great time to buy. That’s true. With interest rates and prices also at all time lows, why not make purchasing a property a priority in 2012? But, is it a good time for investor buyers? Yes and no. For investor buyers who want [...]

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Short Sales

The 6 Most Common Short Sale Incentive Programs Available Today

by Melissa Zavala February 26, 2012

Short sale incentive programs have been big news these last few weeks. While the programs themselves are not new, the fact that they have been a featured topic on many news media sites has brought a renewed interest in these programs. So, I thought it would be a good idea to share some information on [...]

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Short Sales

Housing Recovery Plans or Happy Accidents?

by Melissa Zavala February 21, 2012

The hubbub in the news this past week is that Obama’s fiscal year budget for 2013 includes an extension of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 all the way through 2015. (Note that this has not been set in stone yet, it’s just a proposed budget.) The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of [...]

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Short Sales

The Latest Short Sale Trend – Liens and More Liens

by Melissa Zavala February 14, 2012

What is going on in the wacky world of short sales? I suppose it is inevitable. Even though the banks are getting slightly easier to deal with (offering programs and online platforms for short sale sellers and their agents), the transactions themselves are still pretty tough to close. With my closing rate at about 15 [...]

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