All Forum Posts by: Mitch Freed

When purchasing a short sale..pay close attention to the approval letter...if you wrote the offer in the name of the LLC then the approval letter may state that you must vest the deed in the LLC

Some approval letters don't specify and you can close in whatever name you want.

The lenders don't have the luxury of specifying who can purchase and who can't....LLC vs. Individual....if there is a cash offer then they could care less if a cow is buying the property...just as long as they get cashed out.

It sounds like they are trying to get a little more money to postpone the sale for like 7 days or perhaps shorter/longer

If you get an offer submitted then they may postpone regardless.

Have there been any postponements yet or is Jan 5th the original auction date?

Ok, I've read all your responses and I have to respectfully disagree with anybody who thinks that a short sale has to be listed. I have closed 4 in the last 2 months...none were listed when I found them...and i kept it that way.

The only person that will request a listing agreement is the call screener...and if you give them the wrong answer...you might as well hang up, call back and get another screener on the phone...and that goes for any question they ask you.

Nobody can force the seller to list the property...and furthermore why complicate the situation...bring in a realtor and you can't change your offer at will...you have to fill out new paperwork signed by the seller to re-negotiate...extensions have to be signed...nightmare.

You won't even get to a loss mitigator if you don't get past the call screener first...the negotiator won't be asking you questions like "is it listed?" because they don't care and they rely on the screeners to take care of that...if they have an offer in front of them...on any type of paperwork...then they get a BPO/Appraisal and give you an answer...accept, reject, or tell you to raise your offer.

Remember this...they will want to make you think they are in the drivers seat...and trust me, you have a lot of leverage over them....just get past the call screeners.

It sounds more like he has been tracking a pre-foreclosure property listed on the market. This property is probably a short sale and they have lowered the price so as to get an offer.

I would just write up the offer and submit proof of funds only when the bank asks for it. They may not even ask for it in the beginning.

Thats not a bad idea sending a letter...after calling corporate several times I was finally given a new phone number...apparently their construction loan dept has a separate loss mitigation process and even their loan numbers are different...I haven't had a chance to try out this new number...but i suppose I am one step closer to getting to the bottom of it.

Foreclosure...Seizure...Semantics.

If you don't pay your mortgage, the bank takes your house.

If you don't pay your taxes, the government takes your house.

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the response. We are talking about two different things though...you are correct in the case of a trustee sale that has a federal tax lien following the property...in that case you do take title but the tax lien needs to be either paid, negotiated, or the IRS redeems.

The auction I was referring to was a property that was seized by the IRS and was being sold by the IRS at a tax sale.

You state the IRS NEVER forecloses on their liens...they actually DO seize the propety after several years of non-payment and then will sell that lien at auction. Here is the actual website:

http://www.treas.gov/auctions/irs/wior_real_3166.htm

Hey guys thanks for the responses. I see a conflict of interest when the head of a local mortgage office attempts to make a decision on a short sale for a loan that his local office originated. The problem is that this particular loan has not gone through the normal channels of loss mitigation...a short sale is not simply approved or rejected because a local mortgage branch employee doesn't want his company to take a discount...it is a more complicated process than that....even more so I called the corporate headquarters and they explained that he does not have the authority to make that decision. Furthermore, this employee is not the note holder, he did not lend the money..his company did. When you call in to a lender like countrywide, Litton, Ocwen etc...they have a specific procedure...if it is an investor backed loan they ultimately have to present the case to the investor...but don't do so until all the facts are laid out...the short sale package, the intent of the borrower, the ability to repay, comparable sales, borrower info like tax returns, bank statements...none of this has happened here...this so called vice president of his mortgage office made the decision over the phone and then faxed me a handwritten note stating that he is unwilling to take a short payoff and will foreclose...i'm sorry, but this just isnt legit. I also find it very strange that corporate headquarters cannot find any evidence of this loan existing.

And I relate the condition of the stock market only because when stocks dive, potential buyers don't buy houses...they save their money...they invest in cash, not real estate. Especially in the higher dollar range like 450K. So when I get a 450K counter two weeks ago and it doesnt budge today...after all we've gone through on wall street the last two weeks...and my buyer is still on the table with cash.

Reverted auction results can be found through the trustee services...they should have records..good trustees have websites where you can search active, reverted, and 3rd party sale results.

I've got an interesting short sale going with M&T Bank. I'm wondering if anybody has had any experience with them?

The loan was a construction loan and the amt is 460K. The borrower hasnt made a payment since May. He has not yet received a Notice of Default.

I have called their corporate headquarters and had a long conversation with a loss mit rep who could not find any evidence of the loan number in their system. I have a copy of the promissory note which cleary states the loan number, borrower name and tax id number, account number, property address etc..and I faxed it to the rep. She verified the loan as legitimate but cannot locate it in their system.

She referred me to the Sr. Vice President of the Oregon Region who stated two weeks ago that he would take 450K inclusive of all fees and late payments. This particular home is an area that is overrun with overpriced homes that are all reverting at auction in the 350K price range and less...nobody is buying these things.

Today, he is still stuck at 450K and said he would rather foreclose than go lower than 450K. His office and employees are the ones who brokered the loan...I see a conflict of interest here if he is truly the decision maker on the short sale. I sense he does not want it to get out that he's got a loan in default...as it will look very bad to corporate. I don't see how he can still be at 450K when the stock market is at 8500 when he was at 450K when the market was at 14,000...it just doesn't seem like he is truly the decision maker on the file.

I have a cash offer at 315K, proof of funds, comparables, reverted auction results..the works...and i'm getting nowhere.

Any thoughts on this? Any experience with M&T?

Thanks in advance.

Jaime,

You could save a lot of time and money by connecting with your local REIA...they will have all the forms you need that other investors have used.

If you are really worried about the legality of the form, then you could always buy one for your first deal...I did a google search and clicked on the first item that came up:

http://www.uslegalforms.com/Georgia.htm

There are a number of different types of contracts that you can use to accomplish the same thing..option, earnest money, purchase and sales etc...all you need is an ownership interest, or as jon said to be a "principle" to the transaction. Overall, if you want to find an end buyer before you actually take title, you need to have the legal right to market the property as the seller and enter into a contract with said end buyer.