Anyone have any experience dealing with them? Asking at 409k

I put in an offer for 350k, waived inspection and 5% earnest money and they came back with "whats the highest you can go?"

I said the offer stays the same.

And they said no to my offer.

So should I just forget about it and move on or submit another offer a little higher?

What kind of game are they playing?

It's been vacant for over a year now and just recently went on the market. I am guessing it's been to auction too but no buyer yet.

 

How high should you go? ....As high as you want to, as high as your budget allows, as much as you feel the home is worth, as much as comparables have sold for on the street recently -- but mostly, as much as you are willing to spend on that home. Also, I'd never waive an inspection.

 

I waived inspection since it's practically a brand new home and its literally 300 feet from my current home so I can see pretty much all activities at the house.

I think I'll pass and wait to see when and if the bank can even sell it during this rough economy.

 

Perhaps you could go into the archive legal notices and look what the foreclosure notices published for a foreclosure amount. You could also go to the county and look up the les pendens that was filed and base your offer on how much they took it for.

 

Not a good reason to waive inspection. We've built two houses, and hired inspectors for both of them. Our last house (which we've been in almost 4 years now) we had 4 inspections... foundation, pre-sheetrock, pre-close, post close. And in each inspection numerous things were found.

So, just b/c it's a newer home does not mean you do not need an inspection. You'd be surprised to know what some of my neighbors found during inspections before closing. And just b/c you can see what goes on there means nothing. It's what you can't see that will cost you down the road...

Pay the $300 or whatever it is... and get any home you're looking into buying inspected

 

why not wait until the $15,000 tax credit is in motion and save $15k?

 

But won't that 15K have to be paid back over a series of years?

 

The current $7,500 tax credit is paid back over 15 years.. Interest free..


The proposed $15K tax credit will not have to be paid back.. Of course things can change..

 

I bought a bank owned house in November. It sold for 385k new in 2005 and is 99% like new, I picked it up for 239k.

 

If you are concerned at all about the market value then put in a little work. Find out what similar houses are currently selling for in the area. That is not asking price but what have houses sold for in the past ninety days. Check with area agents.

The value last year or two means nothing in the current market. Likewise, what they took it back for means nothing. My only concern would be what the market is doing right now and what direction it is heading. The bank does not want the house but don't want to give it away either.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys and gals. Since there has been a ton of layoffs and the overall economy is on the conservative end... I will cross my fingers and wait and hope that no other offers come in and they will lower their price, and still no bite for them then hopefully they will be crawling back to me.

Please bank please

 

hmm.. i wonder if i should get up in this. ive seen some homes near where i went to college at for under 100k.

 

I'm currently looking at foreclosed/short sale homes (because they're cheap). It's pretty tricky and frustrating at times. You have to have a lot of patience.

It's definitely something worth looking at as now is a great time for buyers (in terms of home values/price).

 

Buyer Beware!!!

 

I'd buy if I had the assets and financial stability.

 

Cause you'll be waiting a looooong time.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Stimul...-14325858.html

 

"waived inspection"

Does it still have fixtures and the copper pipe that goes to them?

 

Well that sucks..

 

My friend just bought a bank owned house, originally sold for 575K and he paid 370K almost brand spanking new.

 

Well duh...but they're not all dumps. I know what I'm doin'.

 

I've been taking a lot at some bank owned properties as well. It is an enticing time to purchase.

 

 

Still something! But we only get until Sept.

 

Where does one find information about bank owned homes? Must I contact a Realtor or are there other options available?

 

I found mine on CL.

 

reosearch.fanniemae.com

realtor.com

bofa.com

wellfargobank.com

etc. You get the idea, they are everywhere.

If you don't know current neighborhood values, find someone that does.

 

http://reosearch.fanniemae.com/reosearch/

Use this one for fannie mae, sorry

 

Can I buy a house directly from Fannie Mae without going through a real estate sales professional?

No. Fannie Mae depends on the expertise of local real estate sales professionals and accepts offers only through our real estate listing agents. You may work with any real estate sales professional to submit an offer to the real estate agent who has listed the property.

Most of the others will be the same.

 

Thanks for the info, I'm going to do some checking this morning.

 

So my boyfriend and I are in a similar situation and getting frustrated. Been looking for a house for a year now, and finally found ONE the other weekend that we both like. We found out when we met our agent at the house that it's a short sale. We really liked it, although it is bigger than we need/want. It needs a good inspection, as we noticed a leak coming probably from a bathroom above the kitchen. Anyway, my boyfriend put in an offer last Thursday for $325,000. List is currently $394,900. We know it sold to the current owner in 2003 for $445,000. On Friday, we got bad news that the agent for the bank rejected the offer and didn't even submit it to the bank, just sent it back.

Since my boyfriend is handling most of this stuff (he's buying the house and I'm just moving in), and I was away on business last week, I asked him to try to get as much info about the house as possible. I'd read online that the buyer should find out the current value of the house, how much is owed to the bank, how long the owner has been in default, etc. He said he asked, but the bank's agent won't release the info, saying it is private. So what's the deal? Are we allowed to know this stuff or are they playing a game?

We went into this knowing it could take months and months, but didn't expect the bank (agent, really) to reject an offer so quickly considering how many houses are in trouble right now. We're frustrated and my bf is ready to give up altogether. I don't understand why the bank doesn't want to deal at all. They are never going to get $449,000 for the house right now. Oh, I forgot they also rejected an offer of $365,000 but we don't know when that offer was put in.

Here's the house: http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...921_1105611349

 

^Well IMO it doesn't matter if the bank owns the house or not. You need to pay market value. If similar houses in the market are going for $395, then you need to pay $395. If they sold that house to you for $325 then that would set a precedent for the rest of the neighborhood and probably put more homeowners in distress. That would cause to bank to foreclose on more homes. So I can see why they don't want to sell it for $325.

I agree that the current loan info is private info and none of your business. You should be able to get current home value by seeing what similar homes have recently sold for.

 

If the houses were selling for market value, then there wouldn't be a problem in the first place. The issue is, so many houses aren't selling at all. If the house goes into foreclosure, which at this point it probably will, then they aren't going to get 'market value' anyway. I understand they want to get as much as they can for the house, but they need to be realistic at the same time. I would have thought that with all the homes in distress at the moment, that they'd want to unload what they can. It doesn't make sense to me that they wouldn't even counter offer. We were willing to go up to $370 for the house, which IMO isn't far from $395. They also rejected another offer for $365 at some point.


Then why do all the articles online say that you should get all of this information? It helps make a better informed offer. The longer the owner has been in default, the better your chances are of coming to an agreement with the bank. Why pay more than you have to?

------------------

There are so many homes out there in distress. Take a look at this huge auction that just took place in NYC. I don't understand why they are willing to unload some houses at 50-60% off, but not even budge on others.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/08/for...ale/index.html

 

So why would the bank want to give you any information that would hurt their position in the deal? If this was a normal sale, would you ask the seller how much he owed on his mortgage? Would the balance of the mortgage affect how much you were willing to pay? Any seller that is dumb enough to tell a buyer their personal situation always takes it in the rear.

 

Banks are sitting on all these houses, losing money each month the owner isn't making payments. I'd think they'd want to get rid of as many as they can even at a lower price, so they at least get back SOME of the money they are owed. If they aren't willing to work with any buyers, then why go after a short sale vs. a regular house? For all that hassle, you better get a lower price, otherwise what's the point? A foreclosure only pushes the price much lower and drags out the sale.

 

Sales and tax records are public info. Go here to search for your property:
http://www.co.orange.ny.us/orgMain.a...yTypeID=&sid=&

 

sounds like it wasn't the bank that's not willing to work, sounds like it was the agent, you said they didn't even present your offer to the bank, which is their job, even if it's way under that's their JOB.

 

Jax, zillow says the house is worth close to 400K...

ZESTIMATEŽ: $461,500

* Value Range: $392,275 - $503,035

Zillow's figures agree with the listing price...

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/29...60070284_zpid/

I would have bid 20% off list, like you guys did, and expected a counter offer somewhere in the 10% off range from the bank...

The distressed discount is probably already priced in... and the 395 is what the bank wants... it was listed at 460 on other sites...

http://www.realestateshows.com/flyer.php?id=306303

 

^ Thanks guys! I knew I saw that Zestimate thing somewhere. I'll do some more looking around. Thanks Moe, I'll check out that site, too.

You're right, Dougler, I think it's the agent that is not cooperating. I've thought this all along and am pretty irritated with her. It doesn't help that our agent has never done one of these before, so I don't have much confidence that she knows what she's doing. I suggested that my other half find someone who does know about short sales, but he doesn't want any part of it. She's a nice person and all, but we need someone with experience on our side.

 

The agent's responsibility is to pass ALL offers over to the bank (at least here in California), and the bank is supposed to be the decision making party. The listing agent is basically the middle man. They have little say in how the process goes, they're just the person in between the bank and the buyer's agent. Sounds like the agent was being screwy.

I've been shopping short sale/foreclosures for about 7 months now, and I've learned a lot.

The bank doesn't care about anything or anybody. The bank actually prefers a foreclosure over a short sale. This is because a foreclosure means the bank can file a claim with the personal mortgage insurance company and recoup more money than they would in a short sale (and a foreclosure also eliminates dealing with the owner because the bank becomes the owner).

The process is VERY long and very drawn out. Be prepared to be let down several times. My agent always tells us..."Don't fall in love with the home until you are in contract!" It's hard, but you've gotta try to hold your emotions back or else you'll be hurt multiple times.

Of course, if you've got the money to offer above and beyond what houses are listed at, you've got a much greater chance. It helps to be aware of what market value is. A lot of houses are listed low to make them attractive to bring in more offers. To basically create a bidding war so the bank can pick the highest number.

 

The listing agent follows the directions of the owner (Lender). If they say don't present offers less than $xxx,xxx, then they don't.

Certain information is public, depends on state, city, county exactly how much is available. As indicated above, go to the government site or office for accurate info.

Zillow and similar sites are only accurate sometimes. You want to look for similar size, age and neighborhood sales within the past three months. Your agent should be able to prepare a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) for and property that you are considering.

If you are attempting to buy a distressed property you must be patient. The lenders are trying to strike balance between getting rid of properties and making some profit. The employees feel and react just like you or I might if we are uncertain about our job security and feel overworked.

The more you learn about your individual market, the better able to recognize a deal.