Chip and Becky Miller's Northern Virginia Real Estate Blog: May 2010

On Friday, we received full approval on a Chase short sale. We are especially happy with the approval because the property was investor owned and took less than 60 days.  The owner was fully current on the mortgage and the sale will have very little, if any impact on credit scores.  Chase is by far one of the best companies to work with when they are the only bank involved in the sale.  For more information, feel free to call or e-mail.

We just closed on another short sale. This time the first trust was with OneWest Bank, FSB (formally IndyMac), but the sale had to be approved by Freddie Mac. The second trust was with Citi Mortgage. Due to several reasons, this was one of the most difficult short sales I've ever been a part of. First off - because Freddic Mac was overseeing the first trust, the sale had to meet Freddic Mac guidelines. The second trust, Citi Mortgage, was unwilling to approve anything less than 10% of what was owed. Freddie Mac absolutely wouldn't approve anything more than $3,000 so the seller had to do a principal buy down. This was the first time I have ever had a seller do a principal buy down, but it actually worked out really well and once Citi Mortgage was in receipt of the money, we received full approval within 4 hours and closed later that day.

If you have a similar situation and are concerned because there are two different banks involved, feel free to give us a call. Typically these types of sales take longer, but they can be done. We are always looking for innovative ways to make the banks happy.

Although the first time home buyer credit expired on April 30, 2010, there is some good news in the housing market. Interest rates for 30 year fixed rate mortgages fell to 4.93% from 5.0% one week before. This should continue to act as an incentive for buyers.  Low interest rates are also helping fuel the refinance market as existing home owners try to take advantage of record low interest rates.

If you are in need of a referral to a good loan officer for a refinance or if we can be of service to you or someone you know with regards to buying, selling, or renting a home, please let us know. Our team would be honored to assist with your housing needs.