Short Sale Mania
Everybody wants a short sale. "Boy we can really get a steal with a short sale!" Well, let me tell you about my experiences with short sales and you can decide for yourself.
My best looking, sexiest client heard about a short sale and asked that I submit an offer on it for her. This was in October of 07. We made a very low offer to the "owner" and started the bidding process. As soon as we got close, the listing agent had his sister put in a little better offer than ours to push us out of the game. Both offers were submitted to the bank and for approval and the waiting began. By November, the lending institution threw out the other offer because they found out it was not an "arms length offer". Yippee. Justice was done. We were in first place, but we still had no contract because no one would sign.
The questions revolve around "Who owns the property?" If it has actually been foreclosed on, the bank owns it. If it is in the process of being foreclosed on, the owner still has the legal right to sell but cannot agree to a price lower than his debt without first arranging something with the lender. Otherwise, he has to come to closing with the difference, and people being foreclosed on generally cannot do that. So then you are at the mercy of bureaucrats who, by definition, refuse to make a decision least they be blamed for a lack of foresight.
So we wait. January and February passed without a word. Then we heard that the "investors" had agreed to our offer and all was well. We just needed to wait for approval by "management". That was 3 weeks ago. Management is still at lunch and we cannot get the lenders to give us a name of anyone in authority. Keep in mind that in all this time, my buyer has nothing. No one has signed the offer. Prior agreements about assessments with property management are no longer valid because the numbers have changed with each passing month. We still have no guarantee that we have a deal and no assurance that another buyer won't come along and offer $5 more. In fact, with some of the listing brokers around, that is a distinct possibility. Tax debt has increased along with arrears for electricity and various penalties.
Most frustrating of all is that, as a buyer's agent, I have NO vehicle to protect my customer's interest. She thinks I am a skillet since I have so much egg on my face. If I tell her once more, "they say it will be next week", she will fry me.
On the other hand, if we get the deal, it will still be at a good price. I have writted the president of the mortgage company begging for help. The only problem is that he is in "management".
My best looking, sexiest client heard about a short sale and asked that I submit an offer on it for her. This was in October of 07. We made a very low offer to the "owner" and started the bidding process. As soon as we got close, the listing agent had his sister put in a little better offer than ours to push us out of the game. Both offers were submitted to the bank and for approval and the waiting began. By November, the lending institution threw out the other offer because they found out it was not an "arms length offer". Yippee. Justice was done. We were in first place, but we still had no contract because no one would sign.
The questions revolve around "Who owns the property?" If it has actually been foreclosed on, the bank owns it. If it is in the process of being foreclosed on, the owner still has the legal right to sell but cannot agree to a price lower than his debt without first arranging something with the lender. Otherwise, he has to come to closing with the difference, and people being foreclosed on generally cannot do that. So then you are at the mercy of bureaucrats who, by definition, refuse to make a decision least they be blamed for a lack of foresight.
So we wait. January and February passed without a word. Then we heard that the "investors" had agreed to our offer and all was well. We just needed to wait for approval by "management". That was 3 weeks ago. Management is still at lunch and we cannot get the lenders to give us a name of anyone in authority. Keep in mind that in all this time, my buyer has nothing. No one has signed the offer. Prior agreements about assessments with property management are no longer valid because the numbers have changed with each passing month. We still have no guarantee that we have a deal and no assurance that another buyer won't come along and offer $5 more. In fact, with some of the listing brokers around, that is a distinct possibility. Tax debt has increased along with arrears for electricity and various penalties.
Most frustrating of all is that, as a buyer's agent, I have NO vehicle to protect my customer's interest. She thinks I am a skillet since I have so much egg on my face. If I tell her once more, "they say it will be next week", she will fry me.
On the other hand, if we get the deal, it will still be at a good price. I have writted the president of the mortgage company begging for help. The only problem is that he is in "management".
