Despite rumors that Northern Virginia short sales are being approved and closed in 10 days it isn’t true. Since the introduction of a new government program Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program or HAFA on April 5, 2010 there has been a lot of misinterpretation of the guidelines by both buyers and sellers.
One of the first things you should do is call your lender. Not all lenders are participating in the new HAFA program. The next thing to do is read the OFFICIAL website for information on HAFA.
Making Home Affordable is the government site dedicated to providing you all of the information you need.
Be sure to check out the eligibility survey to see if you qualify for a loan modification under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP)
If you search the internet you will find dozens hundreds of websites with information and misinformation about the program. The document that introduced the HAFA program is 40 pages long and most people have not read the entire document. Protect yourself by going to the official sources for information first.
Finally be careful not to be lured into scam suggesting you hire a third party for money to help you negotiate with your lender. The government counselors do not charge to talk to you about your options. Your lender will not charge you for discussing your situation and a reputable Realtor® will not charge you an upfront fee for listing your home.
Arm yourself with as much information as you can before you call an outside source to assist you. It might save you thousands of dollars and months of worry.
I am a desperate short sale buyer. I currently have a ReMax Agent working with me who is contacting Bank of America every day. It was a year ago last week since I submitted my short sale offer on 14433 Macon Grove Lane Gainesville, VA. An identical property/short sale I looked at the same day with the same broker closed back in December 09. I see from your posts that you are quite good at short sales and would like your opinion on my situation. My agent took over for my previous agent who passed away suddenly. I don’t think my current agent has ever handled a short sale before. I would greatly appreciate your advice. Thank you! My cell is 443/480-1241.
Chris-Since you are already represented by an agent I can’t do much to assist you. I’m a bit confused though as you say your agent (buyer’s rep) is contacting BoA every day. Do they have specific written permission from the seller to be in contact with BoA regarding this transaction? Most buyers agents are not the one who is in contact with the lender. It is the listing agent who handles the calls on the transaction and should be asking for the file to be escalated to Sr. Mgmt at BoA.