All the hassles and pains of doing a short sale . . . well, they still exist, unless you choose to use a professional. But at least as far as the lender is concerned, particularly Bank of America, things might be getting a little easier. They’ve implemented some new policies, and have even begun offering cash to cover some expenses. So let’s take a second and look at what’s changing, and then we’ll see how it actually plays out.

Here are the major points to keep in mind:

– response time to a short sale offer should be 20 days or less

– sellers need a pre-approved sale price before submitting an offer

– agents must submit all 5 documents to initiate the process (Buyer’s Acknowledgment and Disclosure HUD-1; IRS Form 4506-T; Bank of America Short Sale Addendum, which includes the Agent Certification form; and Bank of America Third-Party Authorization Form.)

But the kicker is this: they’re offering cash to cover “relocation” costs. This can range from $2,500 to $30,000 and varies based on each case. But this kind of money can sometimes make the difference in convincing a homeowner to take the short sale route, as if there wasn’t enough reason before.

But I want you to play both sides of the coin for now. We don’t know how reliable BofA is going to be here (and we DO know how unreliable BofA can be). So you need to be a servant and make sure your clients are aware of the possible benefits but also the costs.

Short sales have proven to be the mainstay of the real estate recovery (BofA has done 230,000 so far in the recession) so you won’t have problems convincing people to look into them. This latest news from the first of what should be many lenders is just icing on the cake.

Leave a comment if you’ve dealt with these regulations first hand and what you’ve seen.