Lost Bid on Foreclosure

[Peggy Guice]

Hi.  My question relates to how the listing agent on a foreclosure handles the deal.

We recently lost out on a foreclosure.  Here is the scenario.

Our agent called one afternoon around 2 and said the bank had asked for our "highest and best" offer.  The deadline to answer back was 4 p.m.  We did raise our offer.

That same afternoon around 4:30, we got another call from our agent.  I missed the call because I was in a meeting.  She said we were being given another chance to raise our offer, because a second offer was now in the mix.  

Next morning, I called our agent back and again we raised our offer slightly.  She said she hoped she could get it submitted in time.

Later that afternoon we were told we lost the house.  The listing agent told our agent that the bid he submitted was the winning bid, our bid was a little lower, and a third bid was lower still. 

I asked our agent for something in writing from the bank, stating that our bid had been rejected.  When I pressed her for information, she forwarded to me an email that was signed by the listing agent.  It just said that our offer had been rejected.  She also said that everything is done online now and this is all she could find. 

This was a Homepath listing.

If everything is done online, with the bank, how did the listing agent know how much our bid was for?  I'm wondering if our bid was even submitted.  

Any insight will be appreciated.  

[Randy E.]

Another lesson was learned.  You initially delayed the offer so you could "

research on a different loan product."  If not for that, you might have gotten your offer in before the others.  Timeliness matters.

I've bid and lost out on four houses in the last few weeks.  I've also bid and been rejected on two or three others.  In this business, it happens.  Years ago, my first bid went a lot like yours.  Like you, I was skeptical regarding the circumstances and listing agent.  Now, I just keep it moving to the next potential deal.

Good luck next time around.