Each bank will process short sales differently. While Bank of America used to take care forever to process, they are becoming one of the quicker and easier banks to work with. If you have a seller that needs a short sale with Bank of America, familairize yourself with BofA short sale process.
First step is to register on the equator site.
Go to http://www.equator.com and register as an agent.
Once approved you may sign in at the top right hand corner.
If you have short sale properties, you may post a property for sale.
Bank of America does not give you a listing price. A good rule of thumb is that the banks will usually accept up to 30% of what the seller owes on the property. List your property slightly above this figure. Remember to ask the selling agent to collect the first 5 digits of each of the buyers social security number and date of birth. I usually have my sellers accept every offer with a short sale addendum notifying the buyer that there will be multiple offers and that the bank will make the final decision on which offer is acceptable.
I run across alot of 2nd mortgages and home equity loans from Bank of America. The process is completely different for BofA Junior liens. For more information see my article on BofA short sale of 2nd mortgages
The second you get an offer in, upload it on the equator site.
If you have an offer on a BofA short sale click initiate short sale. You will receive a series of emails after each of these steps and be placed with a generic negotiator.
Next upload your 3rd Party Authorization. Click here for a Sample
You will then be asked to put in the sellers contact information.
Next is uploading the Offer and all the supporting documents.
The supporting documents will be a property photo, prequalification letter, proof of funds, estimated hud1 worksheet, mls sheet and mls number
A negotiator at Bank of America will then be assigned to your case and a BPO will be ordered.
At this point you will instruct the homeowner on the steps they need to take. You can find information on what the homeowner needs to do to complete the short sale package here
The negotiator may send emails to you through the equator system. Be sure to check often for messages and new tasks. The negotiator will either accept the offer or counter the offer. Everything is done on a worksheet inside the equator system, you will either accept or counter on this worksheet. (Example of the worksheet).
Once an offer is accepted it will be marked as accepted and the final hud will be approved.
One thing that is not evident in the system is that you must wait for a closing agent to approve everything in the equator system before you close escrow. Other banks the negotiator delivers the final verdict but in Bank of America you must have a closing agent. If your close of escrow date changes, make sure you evidence that on the worksheet.
After the close of escrow you are not done! You will need to upload a few more documents such as A certified HUD, insurance, certified and signed approval for 2nds, etc. Be sure to look for these tasks or BofA may send back the wire transfer.
I hope this helps you to navigate through the Bank of America Short sale process.
