Just put an offer on a short-sale... any w/experiences? (1 Viewer)

[captain_amazing]

Just put an offer on a townhouse that was being short-saled. Seller offered $85k (not approved by the bank), was previously assessed around $115k. Realtor suggested we offer a little more than that (so we can show the bank that we're trying to meet them more closley at the assessed value), so we put an offer in for $90k. Seller accepted (of course - they're getting nothing out of it), so we're now waiting on the bank.

Our realtor was lukewarm about the potential of it being accepted by the bank - any FBGs with experience with short-sales that could offer their advice/thoughts?

 

[Abraham]

No experience with this but good luck!

 

[Henry Ford]

Just put an offer on a townhouse that was being short-saled. Seller offered $85k (not approved by the bank), was previously assessed around $115k. Realtor suggested we offer a little more than that (so we can show the bank that we're trying to meet them more closley at the assessed value), so we put an offer in for $90k. Seller accepted (of course - they're getting nothing out of it), so we're now waiting on the bank.

Our realtor was lukewarm about the potential of it being accepted by the bank - any FBGs with experience with short-sales that could offer their advice/thoughts?

Prepare for a lot of waiting.

 

[captain_amazing]

No experience with this but good luck!

Thanks! It's the wife and my first buy, so we're really excited about it.

 

[captain_amazing]

Just put an offer on a townhouse that was being short-saled. Seller offered $85k (not approved by the bank), was previously assessed around $115k. Realtor suggested we offer a little more than that (so we can show the bank that we're trying to meet them more closley at the assessed value), so we put an offer in for $90k. Seller accepted (of course - they're getting nothing out of it), so we're now waiting on the bank.

Our realtor was lukewarm about the potential of it being accepted by the bank - any FBGs with experience with short-sales that could offer their advice/thoughts?

Prepare for a lot of waiting.

Haha... the first words out of our realtor's mouth as we sat down to fill out the paperwork was "I hope you don't mind being patient." So, we're definitely prepared for waiting... we put in a condition in the contract that if the bank hasn't approved the short-sale after 30 days, we can walk away or we can extend it, so that way if they are simply sitting on their hands, we can go look at something else, or extend it if they are making progress but just need some more time.

 

[Henry Ford]

Just put an offer on a townhouse that was being short-saled. Seller offered $85k (not approved by the bank), was previously assessed around $115k. Realtor suggested we offer a little more than that (so we can show the bank that we're trying to meet them more closley at the assessed value), so we put an offer in for $90k. Seller accepted (of course - they're getting nothing out of it), so we're now waiting on the bank.

Our realtor was lukewarm about the potential of it being accepted by the bank - any FBGs with experience with short-sales that could offer their advice/thoughts?

Prepare for a lot of waiting.

Haha... the first words out of our realtor's mouth as we sat down to fill out the paperwork was "I hope you don't mind being patient." So, we're definitely prepared for waiting... we put in a condition in the contract that if the bank hasn't approved the short-sale after 30 days, we can walk away or we can extend it, so that way if they are simply sitting on their hands, we can go look at something else, or extend it if they are making progress but just need some more time.

If I were you, I would keep looking. I assume you have an inspection period in your offer so that you can walk away for no reason at all within ten days or so of acceptance? If that's the case, you can always rescind if they accept and you've found a house you like more.Last short sale I watched "happen" was more than 60 days before the buyers just gave up and moved on. Haven't seen many happen within 30

 

[captain_amazing]

Just put an offer on a townhouse that was being short-saled. Seller offered $85k (not approved by the bank), was previously assessed around $115k. Realtor suggested we offer a little more than that (so we can show the bank that we're trying to meet them more closley at the assessed value), so we put an offer in for $90k. Seller accepted (of course - they're getting nothing out of it), so we're now waiting on the bank.

Our realtor was lukewarm about the potential of it being accepted by the bank - any FBGs with experience with short-sales that could offer their advice/thoughts?

Prepare for a lot of waiting.

Haha... the first words out of our realtor's mouth as we sat down to fill out the paperwork was "I hope you don't mind being patient." So, we're definitely prepared for waiting... we put in a condition in the contract that if the bank hasn't approved the short-sale after 30 days, we can walk away or we can extend it, so that way if they are simply sitting on their hands, we can go look at something else, or extend it if they are making progress but just need some more time.

If I were you, I would keep looking. I assume you have an inspection period in your offer so that you can walk away for no reason at all within ten days or so of acceptance? If that's the case, you can always rescind if they accept and you've found a house you like more.Last short sale I watched "happen" was more than 60 days before the buyers just gave up and moved on. Haven't seen many happen within 30

Yes, we do have that in the contact (I think for ten days too). That's great advice too - thanks!

 

[gianmarco]

They can go 6+ months. I'd definitely keep looking. Good luck.

 

[derek245583]

What if you keep looking, find one, make an offer and its accepted...then the bank comes back with a YES on the original house?

How does that work?

 

[Henry Ford]

What if you keep looking, find one, make an offer and its accepted...then the bank comes back with a YES on the original house?

How does that work?

Then he has 10 days to walk away from the deal with the bank for no reason at all during the inspection period.

 

[gianmarco]

What if you keep looking, find one, make an offer and its accepted...then the bank comes back with a YES on the original house?

How does that work?

You can always withdraw an offer before it's accepted. So, if he finds a home, makes an offer, and it gets accepted, he withdraws his other offer if he wants. It's not as if the bank is going to send their acceptance at the exact same moment the other seller does.

 

[Henry Ford]

What if you keep looking, find one, make an offer and its accepted...then the bank comes back with a YES on the original house?

How does that work?

I think we can more or less opt-out after the inspection. We could find anything that we dislike upon inspection and then terminate the contract. I'm not positive about that, though.

That's why I asked about your inspection clause. It should read that you can walk away without even a reason during that period.

 

[JoeSteeler]

put an offer on a short sale last year. after putting in the offer never heard a response and 6 months later house was taken off the market. now the house is in forclosure and again trying to buy it.

hope it goes better for you!

 

[fasteddie_21]

From the day we put in our offer on our short-sale house, to closing, 39 days. And they had 2 mortgages.

Who is their mortgage with?

 

[avoiding injuries]

The house I live in now was a short sale when we bought it 3 years ago. Took 6 months, but well worth it. I had a thread going during that time...I'll try to find it.

 

[Christo]

I made an offer, waited several months, and then killed it. That's all I know.

 

[ChiefD]

I've seen a lot of short sale offers on HGTV's House Hunters. They never get it.

Good luck!

 

[BassNBrew]

Timeframe totally depends on the bank servicing the mortgage. Keep looking and firing out offers.

 

[skol asylum]

Did one in 2010. Was also told they could take months. We wrapped it up in a couple months. There was a second mortgage lienholder involved who tried to muddy it up a bit and we ended up paying a tiny bit more to make them happy but that really basically came out of the commissions. We offered below the asking price but we found the same floor model in our neighborhood that had sold for what we offered and I think that helped.

 

[skol asylum]

Do know that if you find anything at all in the inspection no one will do anything to fix it. The AC system had some issues but we were stuck to deal with it if we wanted the house.

 

[captain_amazing]

Thanks for all of the advice! I think the mortgage holder is Bank of America, but I'll have to check with the realtor.

 

[gianmarco]

Thanks for all of the advice! I think the mortgage holder is Bank of America, but I'll have to check with the realtor.

That could take a year then. Expect a wait.

 

[Hang 10]

We had an accepted offer on a short sale and IIRC we pushed the closing out about 2 months so we could sell our house. Well, we sold our house and the short sale wasn't ready...we were then forced to move in with my parents. 3 months later we closed on a different house(one we actually liked better) but there was zero movement on the short sale after 5 months.

So yeah, I agree with Henry. Keep looking.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

If its Bank of America just move on now and save yourself the aggravation.

 

[The Ref]

Seller offered $85k (not approved by the bank),

If you dont want to wait months, if not years, you need to avoid these situations. If you want to get something done in 2014 you need to focus on visiting and making offers on houses that already have an approved package from the lender. The bank will only green light so many short sales in a quarter and if the house you are offering on isn't on the short list of properties that have been prescreened by the bank they wont bother to authorize the sale and it takes them some time to get a house on that internal list. On the MLS system your agent uses (not zillow or the like) they are able to tell if the house has a short sale package approved by the bank or not. Stick to pre approved houses and your wait time will be much less.

Good luck. I bought a short sale just over 2 years ago and it's worked out wonderfully.

 

[comfortably numb]

Keep looking.

I put an offer in for a client 40 days ago and still haven't heard anything.

We have moved on and he no longer wants the house. This house was not pre approved from the bank.

 

[Henry Ford]

Thanks for all of the advice! I think t:he mortgage holder is Bank of America, but I'll have to check with the realtor.

Oof. Worst case scenario.

 

[LarryAllen'sJockstrap]

Got our house on a short sale bout 11 years ago. Asking was 155. We offered 136, not knowing it was a SS. Took the bank 2 weeks, but they accepted our offer as is (we asked for the fridge and a few other things).

 

[Bucky86]

As you can tell by this thread, every experience will be different. The loan amount, location, condition, status of the loan, other available properties etc... Are all factors in what kind of priority the bank will have on that house.

 

[Kal El]

Short sales really aren't worth the trouble. The better half and I looked at some back in 2010, but we found a foreclosure going for $79k. We offered 71, and put 10k in escrow as part of the offer, closed on it in June of that year after wrangling with some loan issues on my end (my first time buying a house, so had some issue), and have been living here since. Granted, this is in Florida after the housing market went bust, 5 years prior, the house had sold for 175k, and is currently worth around 85-90k.

 

[fasteddie_21]

Thanks for all of the advice! I think the mortgage holder is Bank of America, but I'll have to check with the realtor.

That could take a year then. Expect a wait.

Um, no.

So much bad advice in here. This isn't 2012 anymore folks.

BofA is one of the quickest now. That's who the sellers was with. They have an 800 number you can call to get status updates on your offer and such. It's far, FAR better than it was 2.5 years ago.

 

[captain_amazing]

Yep. This is taking as long as advertised. Second lien-holder - the one who is essentially getting nothing out of the deal - is dragging their feet in the process. The first lien-holder, though, who was the seller's mortgage company, has approved of the short-sale (a few weeks ago). We've been advised to start moving ahead like both have approved it, so we have an inspection scheduled next Friday.

Looks like we're going to get the property - it's just a matter of time now. We have some kind of middleman - The Loan Workout Group - that's dealing with the mortgage companies, and were reassured that they've never had a deal fall through because of a second lien-holder, so their pretty optimistic that it'll get done.

Any rate - thanks for all of the feedback earlier!

 

[Henry Ford]

Good luck.