Short Sale Approval: Welcome to Big Top Banking
Want a Short Sale Approval? Join the Circus.
After much frustrated hair pulling and gnashing of teeth, I’ve finally concluded that getting a short sale approved is basically a trip to the circus. Only in this case, the big top is the bank. It’s as if Barnum and Bailey merged with B of A. And guess who’s jumping through all the flaming hoops. That’s right — the agents. Worse part is, there’s no applause at the end. If the Realtors are lucky, they emerge with their wits intact. 
So how does an agent get a short sale approved in the contemporary big top banking environment? The consensus among agents I talked with is that you’ve gotta do some major attention grabbing. OK, so how do you do that without painting your hair all the colors of the rainbow and cartwheeling through the bank lobby? Here’s what one agent did to secure an approval. Bear in mind, this is totally 100% serious, unadulterated fact.
- Called the bank prez.
- Saturated bank inbox with emails, sending one ever minute for 60 days.
- Made sure to call the negotiator first thing in the morning. The rationale here is that if you’re the first call of the day, you’ve got a far better chance of getting through.
- Tweeted messages to customer service.
- Asked for the supervisor. And the supervisor’s supervisor. And the supervisor’s supervisor’s supervisor.
Whew!
Just to put things in perspective, according to B of A, it takes a grand total of 88 days from entry into their equator system until close.
Luckily, some banks are offering ‘fast track’ programs. Case in point is Wachovia. Here, a short sale can attain approval status in as few as 10 days. Nice. Let’s all hope that EVERY noble lending institution will offer similar programs very soon. But until that that day dawns, we agents will just have to continue being fountains of creativity to get those short sales approved. Just think how much better it would be if we focused all this attention on our clients instead of the banks.
Have a short sale approval solution? Luv to hear what flaming hoops you (if you’re an agent) or your agent had to jump through to gain an approval. Just connect with me @AngieWeeks or @WeeksTeam. This is your chance to impress the world with your or your agent’s creative genius!
And if you have any questions, feel free to call 949.338.7408 or email: angie@askangie.com
Orange County Real Estate Success 
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