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So client X thought it would be helpful to share the hardship letter he sent in to his lender along with his short sale package. It’s kinda scary to say that this letter hasn’t been changed in any way, nor has it been embellished- this is all true stuff:
“Dear Loss Mitigation Manager,
I have been paying the debt on loans xxx and xxx to the best of my abilities at the address; xxx. The amount of these two loans totals approximately $174,000.00 and the property value as I have seen through comps of the area is roughly $55,000.00. Despite the difference in these numbers I continued to make my payments in hopes that the economy would rebound and bring my property value back up.
Unfortunately, the best intentions can still have unpleasant outcomes and I am currently unable to continue to pay for my house. My wife lost her job for a few months a year ago and things have been a struggle ever since then. She was able to get another job later but with a reduced income. To the best of my knowledge she is still employed but I was laid off from my job about four months ago and haven’t been able to find anything that will provide the same income that allows me to take care of my mortgage. Since then, my wife also left me and I’m currently going through a divorce. Needless to say, between being unemployed and not having my wife’s income my money for bills has been reduced to almost nothing.
I tried to reduce my costs in hopes of maintaining ownership of the house by disconnecting my cable, disconnecting my internet service and not using my air conditioner or heater unless necessary. I even sold all of my furniture to use the money for bills. In addition I have been applying for jobs in and out of my field of expertise and have not had any leads come to fruition. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you what the unemployment numbers are like in the country and especially Arizona but it has been extremely hard to even find places that are hiring.
Due to this, I honestly feel that the best solution is to attempt a short sale of my house in an effort to repay as much debt to the mortgage company as possible. Although I understand that a short sale of my property isn’t ideal, I do not wish to foreclose on the house or file bankruptcy if I can avoid it. I feel that a short sale would be the best alternative to these options and hope that a compromise can be reached.
Thank you for your time in reading this letter and considering the information above. If you have any questions or would like details on anything I would urge you to contact my attorney at xxx.”
Filed under: Uncategorized
Filed under: Uncategorized
You know that feeling you get when you know that you know your stuff? You can be in any situation, field any question and come out feeling like you are truly an authority in your field… that feeling. My entire professional life, I have taken pride in that feeling. I work my ass off to get that feeling and it’s great!
Today, I got to feel that for someone else- My wife Jenn. I sat in on one of her classes this morning and was totally blown away at how damn good she is. It was such a cool feeling and it totally occurred to me… this IS the feeling of being proud. Not the “thank god she turned that wallet in, I am proud of her” thing, but the “that’s right, my wife kicks ass!” thing.
Absolutely Awesome!
Why is it that people are so short sighted? I am amazed at how many people consistently try to squeeze out a bit more money from a job, a client, a friend. Does no one realize that they will get that money, but they WILL completely screw themselves out of the opportunity for more business from that contact in the future?
I am convinced that this is one of the final stages of the economy crapponizing and must indicate that things will turn up.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Now this isn’t a Real Estate related post, but I just had to write about this experience. A couple of years ago, I bought a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses. Pretty sure I spent about $150 on them (I love my glasses). Anyway, they broke after about a year and a half. No biggie, I figured I got my lifespan out of them so I stopped by my local Sunglass Hut and picked out a new pair- spent about $180 (please don’t hate me). So another year and a half goes by and what do you know, these glasses break. I don’t mean the arm falls off, I mean the rim breaks and they are FUBAR. So now I’m thinking o.k. this is not right. I am beginning to feel the effect of the “cell phone factor”- everything is designed to crap out on you just after a year or so. So I bring them down to Sunglass Hut and give my nice guy pitch to the 12w bulb behind the counter. “Hey, I bought these about a year and a half ago and they broke. I know the warranty is a year, but I have spent over $300 on glasses here over the years so how about a little nice guy assistance?” (just read it and assume no sarcasm). “You’ll have to call Ray Ban” says the robot behind the counter. So just to recap to this point- customer service is feeling pretty dead. I mean what does Sunglass Hut care, just swap out the damn glasses and make me want to come back right?
Phase 2- I call Ray Ban and go through the automated process of collecting the info to send my glasses in. Long story short, I am told to send the glasses, a check for $12.50 and a note explaining the situation. I do it and I Put it all in a box and settle in to wait my 6-8 weeks.
(Now I really have been on a customer service kick lately. I am of the belief that when the economy is bad and money is tight, people, companies, everyone should be doing as much as they can to keep customers happy and most of all, LOYAL! The only problem is that I have NOT been feeling this at all lately. I mean, there are a few that live it, but the masses are still trying hard to HELP natural selection take them out of the game.)
So, the “Yay!” twist you ask? My doorbell rings yesterday and I open it to see UPS driving off and a little brown box sitting by my door. I open it up and what do I see? A brand new pair of glasses, in fact, the exact same model I sent in- not a fixed pair of glasses, not even a crappy refurbished pair, but a brand new, in the package pair of glasses. Sweet! THIS is why I am o.k. with spending $180 on a pair of glasses. THIS is why people buy Lexus instead of Toyota, Infiniti instead of Nissan- The customer service!
So the moral of the story- Here I am with my new glasses, happy as can be and feeling completely taken care of. I have gone from being on the fence about this company to jumping fully into their yard. So I can honestly say that when the time does come for me to buy a new pair (because with a 2 year old, any pair of glasses ultimately has a limited life span) I will happily buy another pair of Ray Ban glasses. Nice job Ray Ban. If I had a “Customer Service Is NOT Dead” award, you would win it!
