Talk to me about buying a short sale property

mmttc

We put an offer in yesterday for a house that is in an sale. Just heard that the. Snk didn't like our offer and is going to counter offer. We offered $24k below asking (asking is $499). They have had 2 other offers at asking price, but both of those buyers backed out because the bank was taking too long. I don't really want to offer anymore. Is there anything I can do to convince them this is a good price? Would giving a list of repairs make a difference even though it's an as-is sale?

Dr.Loretta

From what I hear, you just have to wait and sit tight. If you have a REA who's knowledgeable in short sales they can help you navigate things better. But ultimately it's the bank's call, and they tend to take their time.

mikeandangie

We bought a short sale, and we just had to wait for the bank to approve it. We did not offer anything special. It did take a couple of months to hear back though.

Kristin&Frank

The bank doesn't care.  They either approve, or counter, and will take forever.  We made a short sale offer in October.  Still haven't heard.  As long as the seller is still making their mortgage payments, they have no reason to speed it up.  Argh.

chickaboo1974

We bought a short sale- we placed an offer on Saturday, had a counter on Monday, and we countered on Tuesday- they accepted on Friday.  The big difference was that it was that we were only dealing with one local bank who had a guy assigned to take care of their short sales/foreclosures.  We offered in March and closed in July ( this was due to some title issues and the owner's bankruptcy hearings otherwise we could have closed in 60 days).

emmyloustu

Wow, the bank said no to your offer in just 2 days?! That is practically unheard of. Are you sure that's not just the realtor/seller? Why would they say no to your offer in 2 days, but have dragged their feet on 2.different full price offers? Strange!

Anyway, the bank's counter is the number. Pretty much take it or leave it. The bank has already sent out an appraiser to the property as soon as they knew it was a short sale, that number stays confidential, but sending a list of repairs isn't really going to make a difference. 

Good luck!