Why this blog?

The reason I started this blog was to help provide a real story and a more realistic perception of the short sale process than what the realtors or the mortgage brokers will provide us as buyers. Here's a little of our story (thus far). I'll update this blog as we move along, and I would love (and welcome) your thoughts and experiences as well. For example, anyone know a good real estate lawyer who would be able to provide some insight?)

Here's our story:

My fiance and I decided to buy a home back in May/June 2010. We offered on a few homes and they fell through for one reason or another (cash only, sellers non-negotiable or unrealistic in this market, etc.). We found a house that suits all of our needs and satisfies a majority of our wants...the only thing "wrong" with it is that it's a short sale.

We decided to move forward and submit an offer because it was listed as "Short sale. Approved. Letter on Hand. Close in 30 days." This was supposed to mean that this house was short sale, but it was ahead of the game in some respects because the listing price was bank-approved. The story behind it was that there were two other offers by two other parties and both of those people walked away. One guy gave up and the other lost his job. But, the bank approved one of their offers, so this was supposed to be "easy" relative to other non-approved short sales. Oh boy, was that ever poor advice from our realtor.

The timeline looks like this so far:

Mid-JULY 2010: We submit our offer (full asking price plus a percentage of closing)

A couple days later: Sellers accept our offer, and it moves to the bank for review (SUNTRUST BANK, more specifically)

A week later: SUNTRUST Bank counters the closing costs, but agrees to the price of the home, and we're told the approval letter should be on the way within a week. (we thought we were all in agreement and the house was ours)

OCTOBER 2010: After 3 months of waiting on our approval letter and no word from the sellers or the bank, or the negotiator, we find out that the house is about to go into foreclosure. This means the right hand wasn't talking to the left at SUNTRUST. This probably would have also meant that we lose the house if it does go into foreclosure. The judge agreed to extend the foreclosure date because we had on offer on it. Again, we're told the approval letter should come within the week. Signed an addendum for a closing date of Nov 15, 2010.

Nov 16, 2010: Call from our agent. The sellers have declared bankruptcy. Lawyers now involved. They need 30 days for their paperwork. I spoke to the title agent, and she said the lawyers will need 30 days and then she will need 15 days, each to process their paperwork for our approval to go through. We signed ANOTHER ADDENDUM for a closing date of DEC 30, 2010, and (of course) should have the approval letter within a week.

DECEMBER 31, 2010: Still no approval letter. Happy New Year. Our nightmare continues.

JANUARY 2011: Our real eastate agent quits our case, and assigns us to the owner of the agency she works for who has more experience with short sales and the red tape involved. We also find out (by driving by the house) that it is now re-listed. The house was officially off the market back in July 2010 when sellers accepted our offer. (I suggest you insist that this verbiage be in your offer if you're looking to buy a short sale, btw. It takes the house off the market so you don't become involved in a bidding war. Especially helpful because you'll already be at war with whatever bank is involved on the sellers' side...you'll see what I mean. Keep reading.) We call the listing agent, and without revealing who we are or anything he tells us all the details on the house and that it was for sale. Not true. We have an offer on it that takes it off the market...as of JULY 2010! Six months previously!

A few days later: Our new agent tells us SUNTRUST has raised the asking price of the home, and we have X number of days to accept the new terms. At this point, we're wondering how this is possible because we thought we were all in agreement, and we were told the only thing we were missing was the approval letter which was hung up in red tape...because the banks have lots of these going on. Lessons here: The banks can do this, and don't listen when you're told "this is typical in these short sale situations" because NOTHING is "typical." The banks don't have it figured out, and they get away with WAY too much because there are no regulations...no checks and balances so they're not held to any rules except their own...and those are ever-changing.

A week later: Although we're pissed at the change of the rules mid-game after we came to an agreement, we accepted the new terms. We signed a new addendum with a closing date on or before Feb 28. We were told (again) that we should have the approval letter within a few days.

Jan. 30, 2010: Here we are three weeks after that promise and going on seven months since our original offer...that has since been raised in price by SUNTRUST, and still no approval letter.

Using this blog, I will update things as they progress. Like I said, I hope to provide a real story of a short sale that seemed like it was going to be "simpler" than others because of the approval letter on hand. I also think this blog will provide me an outlet for my frustrations, and maybe others can share in them because I know we're not the only ones going through this nightmare called "buying a short sale."

If you're asking "why don't you just walk away?" The answer is that I have looked all over the MLS since this process began and I have found nothing that suits our needs as well as this house. Read the next few posts for more insight there. This one is too long already. :)