Received offer, but what to do...?

[Nemi W.]

Hi FH family,

I received an offer on a home I have under contract. Asking $16k, will take a minimum of $12k, which will give me a $2k fee. I have an investor who has offered $14k, if I would accept a $5k non-refundable deposit, and allow him to close on the property the first of the year.

My closing with the seller is set for 12/21 and my intent from the beginning was to assign, not buy.

I asked the buyer how much cash he has and told him I would prefer he close this week even if he offers less than $14k. He said he'd think about it and let me know tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'm showing the property to his wife/partner in the AM. I'm considering the first offer where he buys from me the first of the year, but I'm really not prepared to close on the 21st.

I am looking for recommendations from any of you as to which route I should take?

Thanks!

[Andy D.]

I mean no offense, but this is why we in the REO world require Proof of Funds before we will accept an offer. I could be mistaken, but this sounds like we have one buyer who has made an offer and is under contract, but doesn't really have the cash to close, and he's trying to sell the property without even owning it to another investor who doesn't have any money either. And we're talking about less than $15,000 here. This is just my opinion, but if you can't close on a $10k cash purchase, then you really shouldn't be out making offers on houses. Hopefully your seller is patient and willing to work with you. In my world, when the closing date comes on a contract and the buyer doesn't have the cash to close, we keep their earnest money and allow the contract to expire, and then sell to someone else.

If you lack cash, there are other ways to make money in the real estate world, such as collecting fees acting as a bird dog for an investor that actually has the money to make purchases.

Hopefully you will get this worked out and make some money. Good luck to you.