We are a 3rd Party.
The Loss Mitigation Center will manage all the tedious tasks required in a short sale.  We will inform the sellers about the foreclosure process, negotiate the offer with their lenders and work towards an approval that is acceptable to sellers, lenders, and to the buyers.  Once we receive the short sale approval letter it will be submitted to the title company so the closing can be scheduled and finalized.

Homeowners, buyers, selling, and listing brokers can turn to us for questions about the process and the status of the short sale.  We are always happy to provide answers, updates, and guide all parties involved through the process.

Why can’t I do this myself?
One of the first questions we ask realtors is "what is their experience with working a short sale?"  The most common answers received from realtors is that short sales are frustrating, difficult, take too long, take too much time, and takes valuable time from listing and selling homes! You certainly can do it yourself, however, many brokers avoid short sales due to the extra work they require, without any guarantee it will be approved. 

The Loss Mitigation Center is a company whose focus is on helping realtors with short sale transactions. Our short sale packages rise to the “top of the pile” and get the attention of the loss mitigation departments. We will manage the tasks associated with a short sale, freeing up your time to do what you do best. Sell houses!

Who pays for your services?
We are hired directly by the sellers for a 2% fee of the final purchase price. This fee is split between both buyer and seller and paid on the final settlement statement at closing. In some cases the foreclosing lender, or the actual investor on the back end will not agree to pay our fee. If this should occur, we split the seller's portion which is 1% of the final purchase price, with both the listing agent and buyer’s agent (1/2% each) to contribute to our fee.  At this time, we do not charge any administration or other up front costs to the seller and only get paid if we are successful in getting the short sale to closing.

Need more information? Send a email by completing the Online Assistance Request.

What about my commissions?
Many foreclosing lenders or the investor on the back end do not allow a full 6% commission to be paid on a short sale. The Loss Mitigation Center will make every effort to maintain the normal and established commission structure.

Typical realtor commissions short sale lenders agree to are:

• 5% for two independent real estate offices that are involved in the transaction – one listing office, another selling office.
• 4% for two separate agents from the same office, one listing agent, another selling agent.
• 3% when the listing agent finds and sells to his/her own buyer. 

The above commissions are “typical” and are subject to a case by case basis and we will work hard to maintain your commission as stated in the listing agreement. 

What is the process and the timeframe?
In order for the lender(s) to “open the file” there must be a signed purchase offer from a potential buyer. Once we receive all the necessary documents we assemble the short sale package and submit it to begin the process.   

Typical Lender Timelines (for each step in the short sale process)

Step 1: Submit the letter of authorization to lender

• Depending on who is the lender this may take a minimum of 24 hours to 15 working days.

Step 2: Assemble the short sale package

• This step depends on how long it will take to receive all the required documents.  Typical period is between 7-14 working days.

Step 3: Submit & confirm the short sale package is on file with lender

• Lenders are experiencing heavy short sale work loads  and may take up to 7 working days.

Step 4: The account is assigned to a negotiator

• Once the file is thru “imaging” it generally is assigned within 14 working days after it is submitted.

Step 5: BPO or Appraisal ordered by negotiator

• Depending on the type of loan a BPO or appraisal will be ordered.  It may take 7-10 working days to complete it.

Step 7: Schedule a time to meet the BPO/Appraisal agent

• We will be the point of contact for the BPO/Appraisal agent.  This step will take between 5-10 working days after it was ordered.

Step 8: Submission of completed BPO/Appraisal to negotiator

• Once it is complete the BPO/Appraisal agent has approximated 28 days to submit it to the lender.

Step 9: Negotiations & receive short sale approval letter

• This step may take up to 30 working days

The final approval can take approximately 90+ days for the short sale to be approval from the time a purchase offer is submitted to the lender.   Lenders expect the buyer to close within 30 days once they approve the short sale. If there is a pending foreclosure sale date the lender will most likely postpone that sale date and allow enough time to close as long as the purchase offer makes sense for them to postpone it.

Your sellers must be:

• be a minimum of 30 days late and not able to make any future payments,
• be able to show a financial hardship, where foreclosure is inevitable.
• Your sellers must have no plans to file bankruptcy immediately and are not actively in bankruptcy.
• Your sellers are willing to work with us to stop their foreclosure.
• A minimum of 30 days before the foreclosure sale (a timeframe shorter than 30 days will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis).

Any buyer planning to submit an offer must agree to:

• understand our involvement;
• and agree with paying our fee as part of the transaction.
• Purchase agreements cannot be contingent on another sale or have closing dates further out than 45 days from the short sale acceptance. 
• Assignable purchase agreements will not be accepted.
• Buyer must understand that buying a short sale requires flexibility and not have any time constraints (e.g., needing to move right away, ending of lease, etc.) If your buyer has any time constraints, purchasing a short sale may not be a good property to purchase.

What more do I need to know?

• The Loss Mitigation Center works hard to reduce the lenders short sale processing time by requiring that documents be submitted in a timely manner.  It is important for buyers to understand that patience is a crucial part of getting their offer accepted.
• Do your homework and research the encumbrances for your property.  We will work towards reducing any liens and judgments that are attached to the property.  A property encumbered by 3 or more mortgages or liens can cause logistical problems and will be evaluated by a case-by-case basis.
• We are contracted directly by the seller.  Throughout the entire process we will need to contact the seller to collect all their paperwork in a timely manner keep them informed .

The Loss Mitigation Center cannot guarantee the outcome of any short sale we are working on,  since we only get paid upon a successful closing we are very persistent in gaining their approval.