Question: I made an offer to short sale a home. Now after all the months of waiting, bank couter offered my offer. Can I counter offer or do i have to just accept the price the bank wants for the short sale home?
Answer: -Absolutely…a lot of being successful in this business is your ability to negotiate. Your ability to negotiate and negotiate well literally will make you thousands more or cost you thousands. If they countered with a higher price, this means they believe the house is worth more than what you proposed in your offer. You will need to explain to the lender why you believe it’s not worth that and you’ll have to back it up with comps, repair costs, market conditions, pictures, etc. You may need to even ask for another BPO (Brokers Price Opinion). Now…if it’s only a few thousand dollars and your end buyer is all lined up and as it is you stand to make a large profit from it, you might want to consider just doing the deal and moving on to the next one. You don’t want to wait another 2 months before they accept your offer because you might lose your buyer.
So I have been working with Chase on a short sale on my primary residence for 2 months now. I bought in 2005 then relocated for a new job across the country. After 7 months of not selling I got a low offer 50,000 below my mortgages and am trying to do a short sale. I offered Chase (the 2nd mortgage holder for $50,000) $10,000 and they have accepted. I haven’t gotten the contract yet (finalizing the closing date with the buyer) but they tell me that after the closing it will go to the recovery department at Chase for collection of the remaining balance. They indicate that I will owe the full balance and that the loss mitigation does not negotiate as far as a reduced payment or terms. I tried and tried but they say they can only accept the short sale then turn it over to the collections who is a separate dept and will not speak with me either since they don’t have my file yet.
So…Doesn’t this defeat the purpose of the short sale?
What do I need to do to talk to someone who will negotiate actual terms of repayment before closing?
If I end up owing the full 50K I may really need to look at other options though all are terrible.
Thanks!
Lenders do have the right to go after the borrower for the deficient amount. Although this rarely happens, it sounds like chase is telling you upfront what is going to happen. It’s good they tell you this because had you gone through foreclosure and no one bid on your home, they would have come after you anyway for the deficient amount. So you have a few options. You need to ask them if your payoff will “satisfy” the loan. Meaning it will be paid in full. They cannot come after you for the deficient amount. If they just “release” it, they can come after you. If they won’t satisfy, and they send you to collections, all you can really do then is file bk to get it off. You would need to speak to a legal professional if you take it that far. Try for the satisfaction and go from there. Many times you have to up your price in order for them to accept a loan satisfaction.