Glendale Short Sale Update

My buyer had inquired about a home in Glendale Chevy Chase area in June 2011 that was listed for $550,000. I ended up submitting an offer on this short sale for $420,000. The seller purchased the home in 2007 for $725,000 at the height of the market. The seller accepted another offer that was higher in price and they received short sale approval for $550,000. The home eventually ended up falling out of escrow in January 2012 because the 1st (Bank of America) wanted the buyer to come in with another $7,000 to close.

In May 2012, the listing agent reduced the listing price to $520,000 and another buyer came along and opened escrow. My buyer decided to submit a back up offer in June 2012, this time for full price at $520,000.  The buyer ended up getting fed up waiting for short sale approval and backed out in October 2012. The listing agent let us know that the property was falling out of escrow and called me to find out if my buyer was still interested in the home. My buyer decided to resubmit his offer at $520,000 and wait to see what would happen. The bank did not agree to pay for any termite work or a home warranty plan but the buyer decided to proceed. The listing agent and I have been working closely with a negotiator and we have been quick at getting any information requested from the bank back to the negotiator.

There was a moment of panic in December 2012 because we were nervous the extension for the Debt Relief Program would not get passed. If the extension did not happen, the sellers might not have been able to pursue with the short sale and would have opted for deed in lieu because they would have to pay a lot of taxes. We ended up receiving written short sale approval December 27, 2012 from Bank of America (1st). The negotiator now needed to get written short sale approval from Green Tree Financial (2nd) so we could open escrow.

Last month the negotiator informed us that in order to proceed the buyer would need to come in with $7,000 payoff for the 2nd in order to close escrow. The buyer decided to proceed and wait for the written short sale approval from the 2nd. The negotiator had to request an extension from Bank of America (1st) because we would not be able to close in time. Bank of America gave us an extension on February 11 to close escrow on March 5, 2013.  However, the extension stated that buyer must pay a per diem for each day after our close of escrow date. I told the negotiator the buyer was not going to pay a per diem since he already has to come in with an extra $7,000 in order to close. The negotiator now has to go back to Bank of America and renegotiate the per diem.

We finally ended up getting written short sale approval from the 2nd last Wednesday. We opened escrow last Wednesday and did our inspection on Sunday. The home has a flat roof so we know there are some problems with the roof. The buyer has decided to send out a roof specialist tomorrow to find out more. If the buyer decides to proceed then we just need to see what happens with the appraisal and wait for loan approval!