Help - looking to buy short sale in FL

[RALPH MOSS]

Short Sales.....I'm new at this so what better way to start than reading through this forum. I am very impressed with the knowledge in here and I really appreciate all of your help and sharing.

I am looking to buy a vacation /retirement home in Cape Coral Florida. I am working with a real estate agent who is a friend of a friend. This agent has been in the business for 20 years and claims to be an expert in the area and with short sales.

I, through my agent, recently put in an offer of $242,500 on a short sale that was listed with another agent. The seller had the property listed at $350k. The comps in the area came in between $240k - $270k. The seller never submitted my fair offer to the bank. He rejected my offer and countered at $300k. I would not budge.

So it appears that the seller has no obligation to submit the short sale offer to the bank............

Questions..........

Does the seller and his agent have the right not to submit a fair offer to the bank?

Why wouldn't the seller want to submit my offer to the bank?

My agent claims that the seller has to approve the offer before it can be submitted to the bank. Is this true?

Is there a way to go around the seller and his agent and approach the bank directly?

Do I need to find a different agent that specializes in short sale negotiations? If yes, how do I find one in SW Florida?

Are there any incentives that I can offer the seller or his agent to help push this deal through?

From reading this forum, I do not see any issues like mine with sellers unwilling to submit fair offers. Can this be something that occurs in Florida and not other states?

Thanks