Miami Condo Short Sale Contract Tip #7

Short sales of Miami condos and homes are often a great way for a buyer to get an excellent deal on a property and a seller to get out from under an upside down mortgage with hopefully less damage to credit and his or her pocketbook.  This is the seventh of several blog entries, in no particular order, each with a tip for the buyer or seller or both, to help make sure the deal goes smoothly while giving protection to one or both parties.

Miami Condo Short Sale Tip #7:

Short Sale Trust or Trustee Deed Sales.  In any market there are resourceful individuals thinking up ways to profit from the current situation.  One method in todays short sale market is for the owner to transfer the distressed property to a “short sale resale company” via a deed into a trust.  The short sale resale company then will supposedly obtain a buyer for the property and between here and there make a profit from the transfer.  There are various ways this situation plays out, but the bottom line is once an owner transfers the property, it is then owned by the trust or  other entity, not the owner.  The mortgage still exists however, and cannot be removed without satisfaction from the lender.  Before signing on to such an agreement, the owner should be absolutely familiar with all the terms, and likely meet with his or her attorney and CPA before agreeing to such an arrangement.  Additionally, such arrangement can violate the foreclosure rescue laws now in place, if not be outright fraudulent.

If the property is valuable enough for the short sale resale company to purchase it, it should be valuable enough for a quality Realtor to sell it through a normal short sale.

http://www.southptc.com/short-sale-miami-florida-attorney.html

http://www.southptc.com/florida-title-company.html

Miami Condo Short Sale Contract Tip #5

Short sales of Miami condos and homes are often a great way for a buyer to get an excellent deal on a property and a seller to get out from under an upside down mortgage with hopefully less damage to credit and his or her pocketbook.  This is the fifth of several blog entries, in no particular order, each with a tip for the buyer or seller or both, to help make sure the deal goes smoothly while giving protection to one or both parties.

Miami Condo Short Sale Tip #5:

Short sale negotiation.  To complete a short sale, the seller, or an agent working on the seller’s behalf, must interact with the seller’s lender(s) and get them all the documentation they need to approve the sale.  This also includes somebody being available to allow the appraisers into the property when the lender sends them.  It is important that the buyer ask and understand who is taking on these duties, and it is also important that the closing agent be on the authorized list with the lender to inquire after the progress of the process.  Many times this is where a breakdown in the process can occur, because the lender fails to communicate to the seller that additional or updated documentation is needed, and if the seller, or agent is busy with other tasks and fails to respond, this lack of information can stall out the file for weeks or even months until it is provided.  Having the closing agent in the loop with directions to contact the seller’s lender at least once per week to inquire as to the status will help guarantee that the process moves along as fast as reasonably possible.  Seller’s who are unwilling to disclose who is negotiating or allow the closing agent access are likely going to cause the whole process to slow down and have little or no additional oversight, and a buyer should carefully consider if it is a deal in which is is worth investing their time.

http://www.southptc.com/short-sale-miami-florida-attorney.html

http://www.southptc.com/florida-title-company.html

Miami Condo Short Sale Contract Tip #4

Short sales of Miami condos and homes are often a great way for a buyer to get an excellent deal on a property and a seller to get out from under an upside down mortgage with hopefully less damage to credit and his or her pocketbook.  This is the fourth of several blog entries, in no particular order, each with a tip for the buyer or seller or both, to help make sure the deal goes smoothly while giving protection to one or both parties.

Miami Condo Short Sale Tip #4:

Closing Agent and Fees.  Miami condo real estate transaction local practices demonstrate that the buyer chooses the closing and title agent and also pays for the title insurance policy, while the seller pays for the title search and the tax stamps on the sale, and each pays a reasonable closing fee.  In a short sale, sellers and listing agents often work with a title company of their choosing early on in the process to get the initial closing paperwork ready to submit to the lender, or maybe a previous buyer backed out and some of this work was done.  In these cases where the seller is demanding to choose the title agent because some of this title work has already been done, the buyer should be open to accept this, but at the same time should require that the seller pay for the buyer’s owner title policy and basic closing costs, while the other standard closing fees remain the same–Sellers’ lenders do not have any problem with this, but they will not pay for unreasonable “negotiation” or other third party fees.  Often times there may be a third party short sale negotiator company wanting to get paid, and as a result the seller, to avoid paying the fees, will attempt to dictate that not only does the buyer have to pay for the title insurance, but also exorbitant closing fees and costs, while not being able to choose their own closing and title agent.  This can get quite expensive for the buyer, especially when they also hire a real estate attorney to advise them on the transaction.  Like any contract, the terms should be a trade off between the parties, not one party dictating the terms.  There is always another deal for the buyer if the seller is unreasonable.

http://www.southptc.com/short-sale-miami-florida-attorney.html

http://www.southptc.com/florida-title-company.html

Miami Condo Short Sale Contract Tip #3

Short sales of Miami condos and homes are often a great way for a buyer to get an excellent deal on a property and a seller to get out from under an upside down mortgage with hopefully less damage to credit and his or her pocketbook.  This is the third of several blog entries, in no particular order, each with a tip for the buyer or seller or both, to help make sure the deal goes smoothly while giving protection to one or both parties.

Miami Condo Short Sale Tip #3:

No extra cash from seller or buyer.  Miami condo short sale contracts should have in the additional terms section a simple clause that states that neither the buyer nor the seller will be obligated to bring any additional cash to closing or otherwise increase the purchase price.  If based on the title search, lien search, or seller’s lender requirements that additional cash or a higher purchase price is needed, this should be a term to negotiate after the lender has given approval.  Also, sellers should include a provision that they are not obligated or responsible to clear liens or other issues, or they may find that not only are they getting zero dollars at closing, but they have to bring money to the deal or otherwise pay to clear title issues.

http://www.southptc.com/short-sale-miami-florida-attorney.html

http://www.southptc.com/florida-title-company.html

Miami Condo Short Sale Contract Tip #1

 Short sales of Miami condos and homes are often a great way for a buyer to get an excellent deal on a property and a seller to get out from under an upside down mortgage with hopefully less damage to credit and his or her pocketbook.  This is the first of several blog entries, in no particular order, each with a tip for the buyer or seller or both, to help make sure the deal goes smoothly while giving protection to one or both parties.

Buyers’ contract time periods.  Make sure that there is a bona fide Short Sale Addendum to the contract, the most common being the FAR form.  In this Addendum, make sure you check the box or otherwise have in writing that the various time periods, such as for inspections and financing, do not start “running” until you have received written notice of the Seller’s lender’s approval of the short sale contract price.  This is important because no buyer should be obligated to spend money on inspections, loan applications, etc., if the contract has not even been approved by the seller’s lender.

http://www.southptc.com/short-sale-miami-florida-attorney.html

http://www.southptc.com/florida-title-company.html

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http://www.southptc.com/florida-home-refinance-mortgage.html

FUND ALERT: Short Sale Estoppel Letters

TO:       ALL FUND MEMBER AGENTS

FROM:  Underwriting Department

RE:       Short Sale Estoppel Letters

Fund Agents are reporting receiving lender estoppel letters with onerous conditions on them. These letters are most often issued in the context of short sales. The objectionable conditions read along these lines:

If the property was acquired by any means of fraud, the lender reserves the right to pursue any and all actions available to it to offset its losses. If it is determined that Sellers and/or Buyers participated in any way to the fraud, this short sale will be void and the Note and Security instrument will remain in full force and effect.

Fund Agents are NOT authorized to close any transaction in reliance on this or any similarly worded estoppel letters. The new purchaser and lender cannot be insured where a prior lien holder retains the right to “renege” on its release.

The objectionable language in these estoppel letters must be deleted before they can be relied on to insure the purchaser and lender in the current transaction.

http://www.southptc.com/florida-title-insurance-rate.html

http://www.southptc.com/short-sale-miami-florida-attorney.html