Performance Marketing specializes in short sales

Las Vegas resident Mauri Collins, 66, is short selling her condo. She refinanced in 2007 and now owes $172,000 on a property that is worth about $40,000. In October of 2009, she enlisted a Realtor to short sale her home after losing her job at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Within days, an offer on her house was received. Paperwork and the offer were submitted. Then the waiting began. The buyer is still interested, but with the closing date of March -- 31 days away, the short sale hasn't been approved by her lender. Meanwhile, her property entered foreclosure and is slated for trustee sale in May. Prepared for the worst, she is resigned to losing her home and moving in with her son.

"My agent and I have called the bank almost daily. We keep getting a different answer, depending on who we talk to. My agent has worked so hard on this, but it seems like it's not going to happen now. So I'm packing up to move," Collins said.

New federal guidelines called HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives) went into effect April 5, which could help Collins and other troubled homeowners in one of the nation's worst-hit real estate markets. This program is designed to streamline and speed up the short sale process.

"Since Ms. Collins is not our client, I don't have the specifics of the case, but her story is typical of many in the valley. On the surface her transaction should be straightforward because she has no second and a clear hardship case, but many Realtors report that long delays are a fact of life in these sales. It seems like she is caught in the waiting game with the rest of the city," said Realtor Ron Filipovic, president of Las Vegas' Performance Marketing America.

"In the months since the crash, our entire industry has seen a massive shift in how we do business. The short sale process has always been around, but the volume of defaulting properties in the last three years has overwhelmed everyone. At PMA, we are embracing it and actively recruiting Realtors that have previous short sale experience plus providing additional training on these complex transactions. But more than that, we live here, too. We're tired of seeing delay and frustration with the short sale process turn into empty homes. PMA has been successful in shortening the wait times for short sales by ensuring that our Realtors are well prepared to handle these transactions, but any Realtor can only do so much when every lender has different policies, different document requirements and different timelines. The HAFA program framework could be just the wedge that is needed to clear the backlog.

"The biggest challenge in completing short sales has been communication and getting a go-ahead for the short sale. There was no guidance from the banks as to what they would accept as fair market value," Filipovic said. "Under the new guidelines, the borrower and lender are held to timetables to respond in each stage of the process and an acceptable sale price is set early on."

To qualify for HAFA, the property must be the principal residence and the mortgage has to have originated before 2009 (in addition to other requirements).

Once an offer is received on the property, the lender has 10 business days to accept or reject the offer. There are financial incentives to help speed things along, such as small payments to the borrower, lender and subordinate lien holders as well as the requirement that transactions must release the seller from personal financial obligation on their mortgage and subordinate liens.

"We see the HAFA program as the long-awaited light at the end of the tunnel. Our Realtors are prepared to use HAFA's common framework and incentives to get these homes sold. 2010 will be the year of the short sale, thanks to HAFA," Filipovic said.

Performance Marketing America is a full-service real estate consultancy that began operations in 1973 providing services in all aspects of the home industry including new home sales, re-sales, construction, title services, Mortgage commercial, lending, marketing and advertising.

For more information on Performance Marketing America and the HAFA program requirements, visit pmalasvegas.com, call 586-1234 or follow on Twitter @pmalasvegas.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Krystal Hosmer works with Performance Marketing America and is Mauri Collin's daughter.