Short Sales are anything but

Here's how the house buying is going...

The auction has been put off until March 29th.  This should give us/the bank time to get through phase 1.

Phase 1?  Yeah, we had to look it up too.  Bank of America (the lien holder) has 4 phases they go through on a short sale.  Phase 1 consists of getting all the paper work in order.  The seller has to submit a short sale packet which include stuff like tax returns and hardship letters.  Our sales contract is also submitted.  BofA then takes about 15 days to scan all the documents into their computer systems.  Then we have to wait up to 1 and a half months to get a phase 1 negotiator whose job is just to see if all the documents are in order.

Then we get to phase 2.  The phase 2 negotiator reviews the files.  They have 30 days to do so.  Other documents like BPOs and perhaps more documents from the seller and buyer will be requested.  Another 15 days is used to scan the new documents into the system.  From there the phase 2 negotiator reviews the file again.

Now I think phase 3 is when the files get sent to the investors for review.  This is probably where the bosses make some uninformed decision based on completely disconnected information since BofA is so large, their understaffed/overworked employees have no room to use their brains.  This is where they can approve/reject/counter.  They have 45 days to do so.

I'm going to guess phase 4 is when there is an agreement and then everything must close in 30 days.

Going by this, it seems the quickest we would be able to close would be 6 months.  Our realtor has mentioned 4 months.  The information I found was dated February of this year, however, it is a reposting of some other information, so I cannot be sure if it is current.  I did find a lot of BofA short sale message board postings indicating that 6-8 months before closing was common.  I also found a BofA policy document dated late 2009 that they were making efforts to streamline their system and reduce the times.

Given my luck, it will still be 6 months before we get anything.

The seller's realtor has also said there was another offer made on the Tardis house.  It was a little higher than our offer, but we're first in the queue.  Unlike some lenders that handle multiple offers and go with the one they can make the most money off of, BofA handles theirs in the order they got them.  So although the other offer was higher, they'll deal with our offer first.

Of course, banks can change their minds.  Our friends nearly lost their house purchase because the people handling their mortgage insurance changed their policies 1 day before the closing date.

Dear Nick

Dear Nick,

The year is 2032.  You had brain surgery.  It was a success.  They  found it.  Let me bring you up to speed.

Ada is now married.  Growing up she was a handful.  She used to drive Emily crazy with some wild antics, but somehow, she managed to get pretty decent grades.  In high school she discovered boys.  She dated a string of ne'er do wells until she met Steve in her first year of college.  At first we thought he was yet another kid who would amount to nothing, but it turned out he really cared for Ada and worked really hard at making her happy.  They got married after he graduated, and they bought a house nearby.  Steve is managing a construction firm (he always preferred working with his hands) and, despite my best efforts, Ada got into education.  She's finishing up her masters in early childhood education.

Gideon was a quiet kid at first.  He wasn't shy.  Just quiet.  You know the type.  He ate slow.  Drank weird tea-based drinks instead of soda.  Loved baked chips instead of fried.  He went through a vegan phase, but that ended quick when he missed eating tasty cow.  I think he started opening up in high school when he started taking art class.  After he graduated, he took a trip around the world, backpacking.  Now he's in college taking early European art philosophy or some other non-marketable degree.  But we love him, and no, he's not gay.

Conan was just here last summer visiting us.  He seems to be quite the athlete.  He's on the varsity football team.  He's on the special teams.  While he's not super good looking, he's a decent kid and he does have his share of girls.   May have something to do with the long snap or something.  It's OK if you don't remember him.  Emily had him while you were asleep.  Don't worry.  He's yours.  Just watch the World According to Garp and you'll figure it out.  For some strange reason though, he loves arts and crafts.  He's the one who knitted that hat you're wearing.  I blame Aunt Elspeth.

Oh, Elspeth.  Once Wendy and I got a house, she moved out here and thrived.  She married Donovan, a nice Filipino guy.  Keeping the McDowell tradition alive with the choice of men, eh?  So the bad news is that you're no longer the favorite son-in-law.

Welcome back.

It's Tax Time

I just spent the last 2 hours working on our Federal tax forms.  Then, I logged on the Hawaii Dept of Taxation website:



I guess they have the same opinion of the Gov that I do.

What's Your Sign?

Today, during recess, a couple of girls came over to my room to ask about their mid-quarter grades.  After I was done explaining their grades, they started looking at my wedding photos (in the cool 40 picture frame).  One of the girls looked at Wendy's picture and said she recognized her.

"She goes to my church," she exclaimed.

The astute girl tried to explain who Wendy was to the ignorant one (I'm kidding.  They're both top students.).  Then they asked me if she was the one who does the sign language thing in church.

"Sign language?  No.  The only sign language my wife shows me is this...," and I flipped them the bird.

Stop the Presses!

The bank has postponed the auction until the 24th.  They'll review our offer starting tomorrow.

But...

We don't know how long they will take.  In some cases, banks have taken 4 months to review offers on short sales.


(Emily, the silhouette avatar you're using really does look like the shape of your head.  That's what Wendy said.)

Here Goes Nothing

We made an offer on the Tardis House!

We're offering about 87% of the asking price.  Our realtor gave us a bunch of market info, and high 80% to low 90% of the asking price was the going rate for homes in the district.

However, Murphy's Law.

The seller's realtor did not tell us that the house is going into foreclosure and will be put on auction starting Monday.  Luckily, our realtor contacted the other realtor and a bank.  We managed to get a preapproval letter and an offer out to the seller, who will then pass it to the lender (it's a short sale), who will then hopefully stall the auction while we negotiate.

Awesome case scenario:  Lender accepts our offer and we go to escrow.

Good case scenario:  Lender counters and gives us time to negotiate.

Worse case scenario:  Lender goes ahead with the auction.  House becomes an REO.  We would have to wait a few months before it appears on the market again, but this time the house will be sold as-is.

We'll know tomorrow.

ps:  Aunty Lucy said Happy Birthday, Mom.

The Mighty House Hunters

To answer Emily's question:

We just looked at 3 more houses today.  The first was a 3 bedroom house in Kalaheo (nice mountain views) built in 1956, but remodeled/rebuilt quite recently.  Wendy liked it.  I hated the driveway.  Steep, potholes, just not good for my car and motorcycle.  And we're kind of concerned that although a lot of the house is new, a lot of it is also old and will need replacing.  Wendy found cracks in the floor.  (I liked it, but I wouldn't want to live there.  Wendy)

The second house was in Eleele.  That's the area above McDonald's.  Nice view, and you really get that 80s feel.  The kitchen was tiny.  The carpet was orange.  The rain gutters were a wreck.  Some floorboards were loose.  The roof may be leaking too since we found some damage on the ceiling.

Now for the third house...



It's a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath.  9300 sq. ft. lot.  1200 sq. ft. living area.  Located in Hanapepe, roughly between our current rental and my parents' house.



The living room, dining room, and kitchen, have a very open feel.  The vaulted ceiling has lots of sky lights.  The 2 car garage (with Wendy's driving, it'll fit only 1 car) has a big storage attic.  There's a covered lanai in the back.  The kitchen is on the smallish side, but there is a office/computer room right next to it.



The two bedrooms are both master suites.  The larger one has his and hers sinks and a walk-in closet bigger than Timmy's old room.  It also has a jacuzzi tub.

The other bedroom has a single sink but also has a full bathroom.  It has a very large normal type closet.



Large tub so that Elspeth can't fall.

So here's our dilemma:  The third house looked very, very good.  It has a lot of nice touches.  It's in a good location for us since Hanapepe is between our work places.  It's also near my parents, which means I can take care of the 90 pound idiot of a pitbull.  The big problem is that it is a 2 bedroom, and the layout/feel of the house is more adult and not so child friendly.  There is room to expand the house, but we wouldn't know when we would get the money for that.

Right now, it would be a great house for a married couple that spends a lot of time in the bedroom, and their sister who needs more sun.  In the future, it may not be so good for the married couple with a Wendy Jr, a Chuck, and a Conan.

There was one more house that was on our want list, but after looking at different houses, and rereading the description, it may not be what we want.  It's a 2-story with 4 bedrooms on the top floor sharing 1 bathroom.  The second bathroom is downstairs.

(I got Elspeth fixed)

Elspeth! We found a house for you!

This is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house located right on the main highway.  The price is in our range.



Big kitchen with a walk-in pantry.  (No, it's not a Tardis, and yes, it's bigger on the inside than it looks like from the outside. Wendy)



Open floor plan.  Very roomy.  11,000 sq. ft. lot.  Over 1400 sq. ft. living area.  The bus stop is about 100 yards away.  Across the street is a mini-mart and post office.  Down the block is a mortuary if you're feeling lonely.

Now here comes the good part.  Not included in the living area is a 1000+ sq. ft. garage with a storage room that is used as a 4th bedroom.  It's bigger than the master bedroom.  Right next to that room is the laundry room with a toilet and shower.



We'll even ask for the wheelbarrow in the sale contract.

It can all be yours.  Just send over the 10% down payment.  Cash, money order, or cashier's check accepted.  Sorry, no CODs.