The Tale of Two Short Sales

Sometimes it takes selling a home twice to close a Short Sale with keeping the best interest of your Seller's as top priority. That was the case with the Richardson's. They found themselves in a position that they had to sell their dream home in Shamrock Estates, Gilbert, Arizona. After I had worked for 3 months with Bank of America to get bank approval of their Short Sale, the joyous day came when the Final Approval Letter arrived. However, it came with conditions. Bank of America refused to give the Richardson's a clean release from any future liability for the difference being forgiven. They required that the Richardson's come up with a Cash Contribution of 5% of the loss at closing along with signing a Promissory Note for an additional $12,000 to be paid interest free over 60 months to purchase the release. This was absolutely unacceptable for a family with the demands of 3 growing boys. After going back to the manager of the closing department, Bank of America refused to budge. Unfortunately for the Buyers, the Richardson's had to withdraw from the Short Sale. I did some research into the government sponsored HAFA program which allowed homeowners to Short Sale their homes by meeting specific qualifications that guaranteed a full release of any future liability. Bank of America was just starting to implement the program. I presented the program to the Richardson's and they were in favor of the HAFA alternative. I temporarily took their home off the market for 90 days while we submitted another full round of documentation and was issued a bank approved list price. I reactivated the listing under the terms of the HAFA Short Sale listing agreement. We had an acceptable offer within a week! Under HAFA guidelines, Bank of America was to respond to the offer in 15 days. After several rounds of haggling over the HUD and 30 days later, AMS Servicing, the outsourced company Bank of America is using for their HAFA Short Sales, agreed to release the Final Approval letter.

This was only a temporary breather from the stress. Bank of America insisted that we close on the exact close of escrow date as specified in the approval letter, not a day earlier. The Buyer's agent & loan officer did a terrific job of pushing his buyer's financing through and was prepared a week ahead of schedule to close, but to no avail. Bank of America would not review the final HUD until the day before closing to sign off and approve the closing. Right on schedule, the fireworks went off as Janice Kerwin at Old Republic Title and I celebrated another successful Short Sale closing on March 31st! In behalf of the Richardson's, I thank all parties involved because it takes everyone doing their respective job in an utmost professional manner to make the reality of a successful Short Sale for both the buyer's and seller's families.

For the rest of the story. . . real estate and the transaction of real estate is really about the people, their families, and respect for their family home. A Short Sale transaction involves so much negotiation with an institution and the stress related to a financially distressed situation that it can become numbing to the personal effect on the people involved. This Short Sale was no different and took it's emotional toll on the Richardson's and the buyers. The length of time that it took to finalize the closing was a blessing for the Richardson's. It allowed them the time they needed to emotionally cope with a change they weren't expecting. After applying for several rentals, the perfect home became available 30 days before closing. The landlord chose their application over 9 others and allowed them to paint to suit their personal tastes. The rental home has a pool, which was a bonus for the boys and kept them in the same school district. All the pieces of the puzzle came together perfectly for the Richardson's.

Normally, I don't know much about the Buyer's but in this case I learned of their situation through their agent. Mr. Mahnke has recently gone through 3 brain surgeries and was left physically and mentally impaired by his health ordeal. He needed a specific kind of home to meet his needs and the needs of his family. I have included a picture of the downstairs guest suite that includes a private bedroom with it's own full bathroom that he could use as a convalescent room to live and still allow for the privacy of the family members. The original floor plan for this Taylor Woodrow model left this room open as a bonus room with the option of turning it into a 5th bedroom. With the added expense of this option, not many floor plans included the extra bedroom. All remaining 4 bedrooms are upstairs. The Richardson's opted to build out the 5th bedroom and include the optional 4th bathroom. That was a blessing for Mr. Mahnke! The timing of finding and purchasing the home was perfect, too. Mr. Mahnke had the time he needed to recuperate from his surgeries just enough to get into the home and for the Richardson's to come to terms with selling. Thanks to Bank of America for dragging us through the mire because the very best happened for these two families!