There are a lot of Bank of America short sales out there right now, but how long do they take and what is the timeline? Bank of America’s loan servicing portfolio was big, and with the 2008 acquisition of Countrywide and Merrill Lynch, their loan servicing portfolio got even bigger. So the fact is Bank of America’s short sale department must be able to handle very large volumes and be process oriented. Turns out they are doing a pretty good job of handling this demand.
In our experience with most major lenders reviewing a short sale, Bank of America is generally one of the easier ones to work with. With their late 2009/early 2010 partnership with the Equator system, their processes went from being very manual (i.e., fax, email, snail mail documents), to automated and online. Prior to signing with the Equator system (formerly REOTrans), Bank of America short sales were very long and tedious. It was common to wait 3-6 months for a short sale response. These days, it is very common to get a response from Bank of America within 30-45 days, or less, from the time the completed short sale package has been submitted. This is a HUGE process improvement from where it used to be. I credit the use of the Equator system to this dramatic decrease in time. In a nutshell here is how it works so you will know what to expect with your Bank of America short sale.
The realtor (in this case, Us) gets a signed authorization to communicate with Bank of America on your behalf to initiate the short sale. The short sale is initiated online and there are different “tasks” that must be completed within a specific timeframe. For example we (as your real estate agent), upload the transaction documents into the Equator system which is then reviewed by the negotiator and other Bank of America parties. This system not only requires the agent to respond and complete tasks ontime, it also ensures that everyone within Bank of America’s short sale department does the same, thus a much more efficient process of completing the short sale approval. We have standards that must be met, so do they. Keep in mind that one thing technology will never replace completely in this process is the human element: the negotiator assigned to the file is paramount in the timing and successful closing of the short sale. Some are definately better than others!
If you live in the East Bay and have a loan through Bank of America and are considering a short sale, please contact us for a free consultation. We charge nothing for our services, they are paid by Bank of America at the successful close of escrow!
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