I was hoping to close at least 12 escrows in June but that didn't happen. It seems that 3 Sacramento short sales rolled into July. But it doesn't matter to me when they close as long as the sellers are happy. The most important thing to me as a Sacramento short sale agent is that my sellers are thrilled with my work.
The reasons for the delay on all three short sales lie with the buyer's lender and the buyer's loan. Not my sellers' fault. We're on target. I can't remember the last time I wasn't on target.
That's why I typically try to set the closing date earlier than I expect to close. To allow for screw-ups, mismanagement, oversights, last-minute funding conditions, what have you. It's not always possible to get a short sale extension.
In one short sale, the buyer's lender told the buyer's agent that the appraisal was completed last Monday. The home is vacant. The lockbox is Supra. Easy enough to check. Nope, no appraiser was over there on Monday. In fact, the appraiser did not show up until Friday. The buyer's agent was ticked off that her mortgage broker lied to her. I offered the possibility that perhaps the mortgage broker simply made a mistake. There could be a lot of reasons why he thought the appraisal had been completed when it had not.
In another short sale, the mortgage broker did not look at the appraisal beyond the fact it came in at value. Not until it was ready for underwriting. Now, the mortgage broker has to find an investor who will buy the loan subject to an odd exception in the appraisal. That's a delay. And we have two short sale lenders.
In the third, the buyer decided at the last minute to go with July docs instead of June. That means he will be prepay interest from the 7th or 8th of July to the end of the month, making his first payment due on September 1. Otherwise, he would have saved all of that interest and received a week's credit against closing, but his first payment would have been August 1. That's the trade off.
Lots of buyers don't really know when their first mortgage payment is due. But that first payment date can be manipulated a little bit if you close the first week of the month. Which is why end of-the-month short sale closings can always cause some anxiety.
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Certified HAFA Specialist
My Sacramento Real Estate Listings
Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.
The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available at Amazon.com.
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The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.
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