Cash Back at Closing -Short Sale

[Vivienne Pina]

Hello, quick question to all the EXPERTS out there...I was approached, on my own residential property, by a Realtor, who was showing a client a short sale across the street. When the Realtor got to speaking to my husband, he realized that we were also in a Foreclosure situation, and that we're going through a loan mod. Well, next thing I know, this guy sends us an offer, for about $25k less than the neighbors short sale price ($425k), with $25k BACK ....TO US????!!!! Is such an offer even ethical? Can it be done? We were going to hold the property as a rental, but wouldn't mind getting a lump sum in cash in return (to invest elsewhere) if we could.

Thanks for anyone's expert opinion in this.

BTW, I just spoke to an investor this weekend, someone from American Investors Network (Jim Shead's group) who said it could possibly be done, if done right.