USAA Approves Crestview Florida Short Sale
This home in Antioch Estates, Crestview Florida, was just approved for short sale. There were two liens, Bank of America and USAA. Don’t moan and groan, Bank of America was the easy part of the approval!
The market value of the Antioch Estates home was under $120,000, but the senior lien, Bank of America had a mortgage balance of about $150,000. Through negotiations, we were able to get a waiver of deficiency for the remaining note, and Bank of America agreed to pay USAA $6000 out of the net proceeds.
The junior lien, USAA Federal Savings Bank was more difficult. That mortgage balance was around $80,000, and the $6000 offer from Bank of America was not acceptable to USAA to settle the account.
Negotiations with USAA were lengthy, taking four days to respond to each request from the seller. The USAA choices were: pay 75% of the loan balance to settle the account in full, or pay 25% of the balance at closing (almost $20,000), and continue to pay on a promissory note for the remaining note. When I relayed USAA’s request to Bank of America, they almost closed the file due to the extraordinary junior lien demand.
With each increased offer to “settle” for cash from the Crestview short sale seller, USAA increased its minimum requirement to simply release its lien. (Originally, USAA stated they would release the lien for 25% of the outstanding balance.) During negotiations, the “25%” grew to whatever the seller offered to settle (less than 75%). I questioned this, and was told USAA was trying to “minimize promissory note payments post-closing for the seller’s benefit”, if that was the seller’s end decision. Of course, that doesn’t make sense. USAA was, in my opinion, just requiring as much as it thought was obtainable. USAA is not the easiest short sale lender to work with, but with persistence, you can succeed.
If you are a Crestview Florida homeowner considering short sale to avoid foreclosure, consult an attorney and an experienced Crestview FL short sale agent.
It’s Wendy!
Wendy Rulnick, Broker, Rulnick Realty, Inc.
Call toll-free 1-877-ITS-WNDY (1-877-487-9639) or local 850-650-7883 ext 204
Email Wendy: [email protected]
