New Hampshire Real Estate Blog

Finally! Statistics on how long it takes various mortgage servicers to approve and close short sales.

Everyone involved in the short sale process, sellers, buyers, agents, title companies, etc, want to know how long it takes to do a short sale.

Up to now, it was pretty hard to really answer someone when they asked, "how long does "lender" usualy take to approve a short sale?"

Now, thanks to a Deutsche Bank Short Sale Report, we all have something to reference to.

Here's a breakdown by loan type:

Prime (FNMA/FHLMC):
1. GMAC – 6 months, 53% of distressed sales were Short Sales. 2. Citigroup’s servicing arm CitiMortgage – about 7.5 months, 56% of distressed sales were Short Sales.
3. Wells Fargo – roughly 8 months, only 34% of distressed sales were Short Sales.

(Countrywide – now owned by Bank of America (BOA) – had the slowest short sales, averaging more than 13 months, 59% of distressed sales were Short Sales.)

Subprime:
1. Wells Fargo – more than 15 months, 14% of distressed sales were Short Sales.
2. HomEq Servicing – 16 months, 22% of distressed sales were Short Sales.
3. Morgan Stanley’s servicing arm Saxon Mortgage Services – at a little more than 17 months, 18% of distressed sales were Short Sales.

(Equicredit and Ocwen both came in last with an average of more than 29 months on their short sales)

Option-ARM:
1. JPMorgan Chase’s EMC Mortgage – just over 8 months, 43% of distressed sales were Short Sales.
2. Aurora Loan Services – 10 months, 30% of distressed sales were Short Sales.
3. GMAC – just more than 10 months, 33% of distressed sales were Short Sales.

(Again, Countrywide/BOA brought up the rear with a short sale timeline at almost 14 months, 22% of distressed sales were Short Sales.)

Alt-A:
1. First Horizon – just over 9 months, 35% of distressed sales were Short Sales.
2. Both Wells Fargo and Aurora – roughly 11 months, Wells 17% & Aurora 16% of distressed sales were Short Sales.

(That wonderful company Countrywide/BOA again brought up the rear with a short sale timeline at almost 13 months, 24% of distressed sales were Short Sales.)

What Does the Data Mean?
Aren't those great statistics?

Everyone now has all the answers.

Not so fast. Why are mortgage servicers taking so long on short sales?

The short sale process is very similar to getting approved for a mortgage to buy a home. Income, asset and applications must be turned in. One of several methods to validate the property value must be done. But, again, that's all stuff that's done in 30-45 days on a regular mortgage application.

The heads of these servicers are pretty mum on answering questions like this. That's usually a sign they don't have good answers.

Bank of America, which owns Countrywide, was against short sales until just last spring. Any surprise they rank near the bottom?

Ocwen has been slapped with several million dollar fines in the past for abusive practices in dealing with borrowers. No surprise they're at the bottom either with that track record.

Many hope that the federal government's new HAFA program will spur more short sales. If the results of HAMP are used to gauge the effectiveness of the government's attempts to mitigate the housing crisis, don't count on it.

Michigan, Mortgage, Expert, Birmingham, Bloomfield, Detroit, Rochester, Royal Oak, Troy

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Drew Sygit: CMPS, CMC, CRMS, CMLO, CALO, MBA, NAMB/MAMP Instructor & Speaker
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