Real Estate in Barrington & The Northwest Suburbs: Barrington -Palatine Township- Short Sale Finally Closes After Persistent Realtors Triumph

Barrington -Palatine Township- Short Sale Finally Closes After Persistent Realtors Triumph

There is no getting away from the fact that short sales in Barrington and Palatine are complicated transactions and not for the uneducated or inexperienced Realtors. Yesterday I finally closed the short sale of 118 N Wedgewood Drive in Barrington - Palatine Township. This was one of those sales that I never thought would get through.

The property was in a super established location in Barrington just south of Lake Cook Road but had fallen on hard times. It is out dated in style and maintenance and upgrading had not not been happening. So the owner and I decided our best approach was to list it as a fixer upper to try and attract someone looking for a project home. The bones of the home are pretty good and it does not need to be gutted but every room needs up dating including the kitchen and bathroom's, there was an above ground swimming pool with trees growing inside and the landscaping was overgrown. Our list price was $299,000, not bad for a 1 plus acre lot and a house in Barrington and inside the Barrington school district.



Shortly after listing we received a cash offer for $150,000. In case the buyers agent or buyer does not know about short sales, we told them we were refusing the offer and why. Short sales must sell close to market value or the banks will not approve the sale.  They were wasting every-ones time.

Not long after we got another offer far closer to where we needed it to be, we accepted, presented to the two lenders and waited. The buyer was going to qualify for the $6500 tax credit. They waived the home inspection but chose to have a well and septic inspection. This revealed that the septic system had failed and in fact sewage was in the yard. They agreed to continue but reduced the offer price.

A response is received from the bank which was far too high. The BPO agent had done the BPO without calling me. He just accessed the house. That is really bad form and I had no hesitation in telling him so. So my next job was to write an appeal. This was a new one for me. So I set about taking hundreds of photos, wrote up my appeal with a full blown CMA and we got them down from $250,000 to $229,000 which the buyer accepted subject to being able to close in time to get the tax credit.

Time passes and no response. The buyers agent gets impatient so we place more and more calls to the bank and finally they tell us that because the seller has filed Chapter 7 Bankruptcy the file has been closed. At this point the attorney, myself, the buyers agent and buyer all fall on the floor. WHAT! We don't know anything about this, we are ready to close. Attorney calls the seller, she knows nothing about this either.



More calls and the bank has to pull recordings of the phone call. It turns out a loss mitigation administrator wrote a mortgage number down wrong when he took that infamous call and it happened to be ours. Dear Lord. The clock is ticking. Fortunately the tax credit closing date was extended to September 30th. Finally we get back on track, get written approval from the investor - Freddie Mac. Time has passed so we ask bank number two if they are still on board with their numbers.

Closing is scheduled hoping we get a yes response from bank number two because September 30th is knocking on our door and the buyers made it clear from day one they would not close if they lost the tax credit. They needed that help to pay for the new $15000 septic system. Our closing was Tuesday and on Monday we had the agreement from lender number two that they were standing by the agreement issued well over 3 months ago. We closed yesterday, 7 months after the contract was accepted by the seller and 10 days less than a year since we listed the house as a short sale.

This was the short sale I thought would not close and I am thankful we made it, the seller has had a year of stress dealing with this and is breathing a huge sigh of relief. She says:

 " Can't say its been an enjoyable experience!, but having your expertise definately made me more confident that we could get a resolution."

If you are facing foreclosure a short sale may be the better option for you. But as I say to my short sale buyers and sellers, it can be a nail biting experience and you need patience. You'll also benefit from having an experienced Realtor handle it. Call me for a confidential assessment of your situation. 847-363-3686

Contact:

Corinne Guest
Barrington, IL Realtor®/ Royal Advocate Realty
Info@CorinneGuest.com
(847) 363-3686

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