I felt it was important to share one of my experiences I’ve had in stopping a homeowner’s auction, and just what it takes!

So, I receive a call from a woman referred to me from another agent.  It was Monday mid-morning and she’s letting me know she has an auction coming up on her home….THIS FRIDAY!   The first question I ask is, “Why did you wait until now to do anything about it?”  I find out she didn’t know until recently that she had any other option available to her other than letting it foreclose.  Fortunately, someone had told her she could do a “Short Sale”, a term she hadn’t even heard before, although, not too common anymore that I hear someone has never heard of a “Short Sale”. I pretty much stop everything I was doing, as I know every minute counts!  After about 30 minutes of discussion on what I need from her and why, I get started. 

 I look up her property using the NWMLS, using all the detailed information she provided over the phone, as well as collecting all the comps I can find in the past 3 to 6 months in her area.  I am able to discern for her, today’s Market Value.  I write up a Listing Contract and I send it over to her to sign along with our Exclusive Short Sale Packet. 

 The next morning, she faxes over EVERYTHING I requested in my Exclusive Short Sale Packet.  I was impressed that she got it all right!  Not one thing missing! Now the only thing I need to complete is an offer on the property.   Because I work with a network of Investors, we write an offer with an investor group I work with and get signatures.  It’s now Tuesday, 5:00pm and I’ve got the proposal completed and ready to submit to the bank, along with an APPEAL I’ve written to the bank!  At 5:30pm I fax the proposal to the Lien Holder.

It’s now the following morning at 9am.  I contact the Lien Holder and I find out they received my 45 page proposal.  They put me on hold while they review my proposal and come back on the phone minutes later announcing the good news that they found the proposal complete and are forwarding to escalation to have a negotiator assigned. I’m thanking them for that and requesting them to postpone the sale!  Of course, they tell me there are NO Guarantee’s they can postpone this close to the auction, but they will submit the request.  I’m satisfied for now, and log the entire discussion.  I later call the seller and let her know the banks received the required documents and are reviewing at this time. The seller is so thankful for all efforts and is appreciative of my follow up call.

It’s now Thursday evening. My built in timetable is reminding me of the East Coast time, and banks opening at 8am, and my need to be ready at 4am tomorrow to confirm with Lien Holder that they are postponing this sale.  I announce to my husband that I will be up early!  He knows the drill.

 Time now is 4:00am, Friday morning. Coffee first, then to my home office, file ready and I make the call.  I quickly learn that my file is assigned to an actual negotiator with name. However, I can’t have her email or her phone.  All the bank will inform me is that they will send her a request for postponement via email.  No guarantees.  I make a note to myself that I need to call again at 5am.  I call again, and get the same drill.  I request the rep to send a request to the negotiator for a 2^nd time to postpone the sale.  They ask me some questions about offer and I answer.  I beg them to do everything they can and I make a note to myself to call an hour later. 

 It’s 6am, and I’m now monitoring the website that shows the status of my seller’s auction, whether or not it’s been cancelled or postponed. At this point it’s still ACTIVE!  Again, I make another call into the Lien Holder and again, getting told the same thing!  I beg help and I plead that they do everything they can to get a hold of this negotiator!  I ask if she is even there this morning.  No one seems to have an answer.  I am frustrated.  I make a mental note to call again in an hour. 

 It’s now 7am, and I’m monitoring the website, still with no change. The property is still ACTIVE and is going to auction at 10am.  I call the Lien Holder again and this time get a person on line that sees all my calls this morning and pretty much tells me that there is nothing more they can do to help me other than just wait to see if the negotiator postpones.  I thank her for her time, and I decide calling the Northwest Trustee might be a good idea this morning!  However it’s too early to call at 8am.

Time now is a few minutes after 8am (Auction is 2 hours away).  I call the Northwest Trustee’s Office and I find out who is assigned to this property by giving them the Loan Number.  Knowing what to be ready for, they tell me where to fax authorization and I fax it immediately.  I call back 10 minutes later and dial the extension of the agent assigned to property. I beg her look for any kind of postponement coming from the bank.  She explains that so far, she’s received no request for postponement.  I ask her to keep checking and detail my efforts to her at the Lien Holder Level.  She tells me there is nothing she can do unless she receives the orders.

 I hang up and call the Lien Holder again, still nothing. At this point I’m getting nervous.

 It’s now 9am, and I’ve been checking the website for any changes, and NOTHING, still Active. At this point I felt that I needed to contact the homeowner and explain all my efforts.  She answers the phone immediately and is anxious for the news.  I’m assuring her that I’m doing all I can.  She is grateful and that fuels me to continue the fight! Still monitoring the site, and still no changes. 

 Now it’s 10am and bid time at the auction block! Still showing Active.  I put a frantic call into the Northwest Trustee Agent and ask her to confirm if she’s heard anything from the Lien Holder.  She never calls back!

30 minutes later, the Northwest Trustee’s site shows that the status is on standby.  What does that mean?  I’m perplexed.  I monitor that site for another 15 minutes with no changes.  I wait for the bad news that the property was purchased by private party or reverted to lender. 

 Minutes later I receive a call from the Seller.  She says someone came over this morning and said they were going to try to purchase the property at sale.  She determined they would be back over as soon as the auction was over.  She wonders what happened to them, as no one has arrived. 

 I return to the website to find out if there has been any last second status update.  To my complete disbelief I read that the auction has been postponed a month out!  I’m in total GLEE……YES!!! I contacted my seller, and she knows from the tone of my voice that I’ve succeeded, she cries, literally cries in COMPLETE happiness.  Admittedly I’m in shock, as this time, it wasn’t looking too good and I thought all efforts were lost.

 “Now what”? the seller asks.  I tell her that soon the bank will order a BPO, Broker’s Price Opinion, and will review the proposal I sent to them earlier to see how the offer I sent with the proposal matches up against the BPO value. The main thing is….she has HOPE! With intense persistence I bought her enough time to negotiate a successful “Short Sale”, so she doesn’t have to have a foreclosure on her record.

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