The Appraisal Bewilderment

[Jesus (Jesse) Gonzalez]

A recent unbelievable situation I was in has prompted me to write this blog. This is the account of that situation and should be enjoyed for it’s shear entertainment value. I am not bashing anyone, just telling a story. This story is true however, names have been changed to protect the innocent……if any exist. So, I am working this Short Sale as the Listing Agent and, as I normally do, 2 weeks out I check up with the Selling Agent and make sure everything is on track. As usually, I hear the, “Oh everything is fine” story however, due to my experience in these types of deals, I know better and follow up with my closing agent, Mrs. Super Closer. After speaking with Mrs. Super Closer, come to find out, thing are far from “fine”. The Closing Agent hasn’t received anything from the Buyer’s lender, aka The Package. In fact, she goes on to tell me that they have tried to reach them now for 3 days, ever since I faxed over to them the Release of Contingency, to no avail. Obviously, I call the Selling Agent back and explain, “Everything isn’t fine” because we are 2 weeks out and my closing agent hasn’t heard anything from the buyer’s lender. Well, he doesn’t seem to have a clue as to what is going on and says, he will call me back when he knows more. I update the notes in my database and schedule a 2nd call back to the Selling Agent in 1 week. 1 week later and I call the Selling Agent back to check the status of the deal. He says “Oh everything is fine”. Well, after reading my notes I promptly call my closing agent, Mrs. Super Closer and she tells me, “The bank is still waiting on the appraisal”. Confused and dismayed I call the Selling Agent back and alert him to the status of his clients loan. He is lost and says he will have to call me back. I give him only a couple hours and then I call him and ask for the status, he says, “Oh everything is fine”, almost a robotic response at this time. Knowing better I call Mrs. Super Closer and she proceeds to tell me that the buyer’s lender is requesting to extend the closing by a week because the holidays are upon us and they can’t get an appraiser out fast enough. I immediately call the Selling Agent to brief him on the status of his client’s loan and once again, puzzled and confused he says to me that he will call me back. At this point, I have no confidence in his abilities and I pull his buyer’s loan approval letter from my file. I call the loan officer and ask, what is going on. The loan officer confirms what Mrs. Super Closer told me and request we post pone closing for 1 week, maybe 2. I explain to the loan officer that this isn’t going to be a possibility and any delay must be approved by my client’s bank (keep in mind this is a short sale) and they aren’t going to budge….I know them well. I call my client’s bank and as predicted, not a chance under heaven are they extending the closing. Truth is, everyone has known the closing date for more than 30 days now and they felt any delays were just going to cost them more in the long run so, close on the agreed upon date or don’t close at all. I called the buyer’s lender back and explained the urgency of the situation. He explained that they were simply waiting on the appraisal and, they will not be able to send anyone out till after the holidays, past the closing date. Well, I had to call my client to brief her that her home may not sell and I felt awful to make this call. I knew her situation and a closed short sale was going to start her family on a more secure financial future for the New Year. After calling her, she explained that a man, identified as an Appraiser came by over a week ago for an hour. I asked her if she had his card and sure enough, she did. I got the appraisers information and called my appointment desk I verified the man’s identity and that he had a confirmed appointment to my clients house more than a week ago. Completely befuddled by this miraculous turn of event, I immediately call the buyer’s lender back and enlighten him to the fact, his appraiser was out there, more than a week ago and neither his bank, his client (the buyer) or the Selling Agent (the buyer’s agent) was aware that an appraisal has taken place. Granted, maybe I should have known but, truth of the matter is, as a busy Listing Agent, I don’t have the time to keep up with every visitor to each and every home I list. I especially don’t have the time to ensure Selling Agents are driving their workflows and follow up with their clients as well as their vendors to ensure jobs are getting done. So the banker calls the appraiser and calls me back directly, just as he said he would, 2 hours later. Come to find out, the appraiser did complete the appraisal, submitted it through his company and his processor didn’t hit the “submit” button in the computer to send it over to the bank. In other words, it all came down to someone not hitting the right button. The banker tells me that we can close on the originally agreed upon date and it shouldn’t be a problem at all. By the way, this all came to ahead on Friday afternoon, now it’s Saturday morning, I call Mrs. Super Closer and she tells me that, “Everything is fine” and from her, I know it is. Saturday afternoon early evening rolls around and I get a call from the Selling Agent. He is begging me to ask my clients bank to extend the closing. I asked him why and he proceeds to tell me his buyer’s bank needs the extra time to get an appraisal done. Knowing what I know, I tell the Selling Agent, no, the bank will not extend the closing and he best follow up with his client’s banker. Talk about clueless……lol So, what is the lesson here….too many to name. FYI: closing took place as originally agreed upon and the Selling Agent was none the wise to what actually took place.

[Susan Paige]

short sale closing due to take place just before XMAS. buyer's bank needs more information. bank gives a timeof day for day after xmas to close or no closing. close by 3 p.m. go to closing. name isn't spelled correctly on deed. oh oh. hud form comes to closing not before. do we close? yes with faxing and wiring money. whoo hoo. don't you love it.

[Barb Shewmake]

Don't ya love it! Many times we end up doing our job, the other agents job, the lenders job, the closing company's job, and whomever else's job we have to do to get it closed and get paid. But it is the 'ability' that 'we' have to do what it takes to get the deal closed that makes up the 'cream that rises to the top.' I am sure we all enjoyed reading this story, so as not to feel like the 'loan ranger' (punn intended). Happy New Year!

[Brenda Sutherland]

Jesus, unfortunely I totally believe this scenerio , I just closed a deal with Mrs Super Closer as well!