Owner rejected short sale offer

[Heather Taft]

I recently made an offer on a short sale. This home was hard for me to find listed because, according to their realtor, the seller was embarrassed to be selling the home as a short sale. It was not listed as for sale on zillow and there was no for sale sign in front. It's not like anyone would know it was a short sale unless they called the selling agent or had access to the mls. The house was listed for $225,000, having just been dropped from $245,000 a couple days before our offer. We offered $215,000 because the house needs new flooring, paint, and has some chipping on the kitchen counter. We also asked for them to pay closing costs. It took 6 days for us to hear anything back. The selling agent was not returning my agent's phone calls. Apparently, the seller was offended by our offer. Our realtor told the other agent that we were willing to negotiate, but they said no. They flat out rejected our offer and we were told they would be taking the house off the market. I am beyond confused as to why this offer was so offensive. It was only $10,000 below asking. I also don't understand why they wouldn't even try to submit the offer to the bank. They aren't going to see any money from the deal anyway right? My realtor told me the selling agent was being really shady, and it took a lot for her to get any information from him (6 days after submitting the offer!). It looks like a bad combination of a shady selling agent and a crazy owner who cares more about perceptions with neighbors than getting out of their mortgage. The day after the offer was rejected I contacted the selling agent asking if the house was available and gave him a different name (I was just so annoyed and confused about what was going on). He said he had a contract on that house, but would love to help me find a house if I needed an agent. Yeah, no thank you. As of today (a week after the rejection) the house is still listed for sale on the mls.

This whole thing really frustrates me. Any thoughts, advice or similar experiences? I love to hear about it!

[Joel Owens]

"We also asked for them to pay closing costs."

WHO is they??

If it's the bank shorting the loan forget it. If it's the seller most sellers will not contribute a CENT to anything or anyone.

Some sellers on short sales have no intention of selling they are just trying to get a few months free or buy time to renegotiate a perm loan mod.

The sellers depending on the loan in default can get up to 3,000 from HAFA as a relocation incentive or sometimes the banks themselves in some instances are offering up to 25,000 to the homeowner to do the short sale. It depends on a ton of factors. The listing agent could also be double ending the deal with a buyer they have to get both sides of the commission.

Impossible to know for sure. One thing is clear is that if the seller doesn't want to sell you can't do anything about it.

No legal advice.