Elizabeth Weintraub • Sacramento Short Sale Agent • Land Park

The one thing about a Bank of America short sale is it never lets any grass grow under its feet. It seems that Bank of America is constantly striving to improve the quality of its service and to streamline processes. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But at least this bank is trying to effect change and improve its internal performances, which is more than one can say about some other short sale banks.

I am still waiting for those HAFA in-house deals. I can't wait for those. But that's probably because I've been hung upside down by my toes and tarred and feathered too many times already by AMS, AMO, UTLS and all of those other third-party vendors Bank of America has hired in haste. I figure nobody else can be as bad, certainly not Bank of America itself. Anybody is bound to be better. Even a DMV clerk is a better bet for a negotiator than some of these hired hands.

Another big improvement at Bank of America is the processing time frame of its Cooperative Short Sales. In the old days, like last year, it could take 2 or 3 months for a Cooperative Short Sale to get approved. Now, those short sales are getting approval in 10 to 12 days. My last two cooperative short sales were approved in fewer than two weeks. Unbelievable. Pop the champagne cork!

This is such exciting news. In fact, I just listed another Bank of America Cooperative Short Sale a few days ago in Elk Grove. And I talked with another prospective candidate yesterday. I know what to look for to determine if a borrower is a good candidate. If you live in the Sacramento four-county area and are thinking about doing a Bank of America short sale, call me at 916 233 6759. You just might qualify for a Cooperative Short Sale.

The good part about a Cooperative Short Sale -- beyond the limited paperwork and shortened approval time -- is the cash at closing for a short sale. Yes, the bank pays you to do a short sale. I know that sounds weird, but it's true. Call this Sacramento short sale agent for more information about a Bank of America Cooperative Short Sale.

Sometimes, I make myself laugh, and I just can't help it. It's my personality. A woman I do not know from Australia wrote to me this morning to say her husband says it's too late for them to buy a home. He's 47 and she's 41. I told her how I bought my last house at age 50 and, in fact, recently sold a short sale in Sacramento to an 84-year-old single woman -- which is what you're gonna be if you continue to listen to your husband, I added.

Another seller wrote to me to ask, in much earnest, if I was accepting new clients. No, I think I prefer to sell houses to the same client over and over until he's bankrupt.

The sellers of this new short sale in Natomas called me a couple of days ago to say I had been highly recommended by a close friend of theirs as a good real estate agent. I had sold their friend's home a month or so ago which, believe it or not, was not a short sale. They had already received the approval letter for a Bank of America Cooperative Short Sale. They had already looked at my website and read a few of my blogs. In fact, they are probably reading this blog entry right now and laughing.

The point I'm getting to is they knew I did a bang-up job for their friend. Sold her home in one weekend in a declining market. They knew I am an excellent Sacramento short sale agent as well. Yet, they said they wanted to interview other agents and wanted to know how I felt about it. I told them I could not fathom why, but they should go knock themselves out and then call me back when they're finished with wasting their time.

Here is a fully approved Bank of America Cooperative Short Sale in Natomas. A Bank of America Cooperative Short Sale means the sellers and the property and the sales price are approved. If you submit an offer at list price, and you are qualified to buy this home, your offer will be accepted in 10 days. No waiting months and months for short sale approval. Shazam. 10 days. Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat.

This is a beautiful 2007 single-level Beazer home in the desirable Riverdale Homeowner's Association. This association has a gorgeous clubhouse with a gym and a resort-like pool. Your HOA fee is only $58 a month.

It has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, plus, if you don't want to use the formal living room as a living room -- and who does these days? You can use it as a home office, which is what these sellers do. If you are looking for an open floor plan, this home has exactly what you want. The kitchen features 18-inch diagonal ceramic tile, cherrywood cabinets, ceramic counters and stainless GE Profile appliances. The oven is conventional and convection. There is a gas cooktop.

The kitchen overlooks the family room and the dining area. There is a ceiling fan in the family room and a gas fireplace. Somebody had common sense when installing flooring in this home because the area right before the exit to the patio is ceramic tile, just like the front entrance. The back yard sports an enclosed uncovered patio, which is semi-private.

One of the unique features of this home that you are sure to love is the fact the two-car garage is located at the rear by the patio. It backs up to a cul-de-sac, with a very pretty view.

2712 San Juan Road, Sacramento, CA 95833, is offered exclusively by Lyon Real Estate as an approved Cooperative Short Sale at $144,200. For more information, call your Sacramento short sale agent, Elizabeth Weintraub, at 916 233 6759. For a private showing, call Barbara Dow at 916 761 7398. This delightful home will also be held open on Sunday, July 17, from 11 AM to 2 PM.

Click here to watch a virtual tour of 2712 San Juan Road.

Photos: Elizabeth Weintraub / Yancey

When I first heard that Bank of America was rolling out its "Cooperative Short Sale Program," I was under the impression that it was available to sellers without hardship. However, that is not really the case. The bank says sellers without a severe hardship will most likely be asked to make a seller contribution but it does want to see some change in the seller's situation between the time the loan was originated and today.

Bank of America is simply validating, in a way, what I've been saying all along, almost any bank will grant a short sale if a seller is willing to pay for the privilege.

I attended a special invitation webinar yesterday for Bank of America Cooperative Short Sales. I'll offer this service to my Sacramento short sale sellers. The main advantage that I see is we can save the buyer waiting time for approval, providing the sale is approved in advance of an offer, which is the purpose of the cooperative sale. It's to get Bank of America involved in the beginning of the short sale, to give the bank more control, prior to an offer. But it doesn't appear to really speed up anything. It's just like a HAFA short sale in that regard.

If an agent runs a seller through a Bank of America HAFA or the Cooperative Short Sale program, the bank collects the seller's paperwork, does a BPO, analyzes the situation and arrives at a list price, which may or may not be market. All of this takes time. The same amount of time, most likely, that a buyer would wait, except it's only the seller who is waiting when it's done in advance.

For a short sale buyer, it's great. It means a buyer will get a response in 2 weeks after submitting an offer on a Bank of America Cooperative Short Sale. For a seller, the drawbacks are the BPO might be too high, but a seller could run into that problem anyway, and #2, the wait is just as long. Oh, and in the event the short sale is denied, automatic deed-in-lieu. The benefits are a seller isn't sitting in the home on top of packed boxes wondering if the short sale will be approved, plus, the seller could receive a relocation allowance.

P.S. I have an answer for that nagging BPO problem, which seems to rear its ugly little head in almost every short sale. Why don't the banks get off their cheap-ass butts and order 2 BPOs, each from neighborhood specialists, instead of from any agent wandering around with a real estate license? I mean, what do you expect for fifty bucks? A full blown appraisal from a competent appraiser? You tend to get what you pay for, and most of it is crap.

Photo: Big Stock Photo