All Forum Posts by: Brad G.

I have finally reached the point where I am making offers on multiple properties. I have made two offers on short sales in the past 2 months. While I might have difficulty financing both properties if the offers were accepted at the same time, I figured I could back out with the inspection or financing offer contingencies if needed.

However, a real estate agent I was speaking to informed me that I should be careful about making more offers than I can finance in case they are all accepted. He said that this would not be much of an issue for short sales but could be an issue for other types of properties. That surprised me because I thought the whole purpose of the contingencies is to enable one to back out.

Is there any issue with making more offers than you can finance at once if you have contingencies to back out? Maybe it is just something that would frustrate agents.

If this is really an issue, how do you know when you are formally released from an offer? Without a written rejection or some set term for seller's acceptance, it seems one could be obligated to an offer until a property sold. On one of the short sale offers, I received a verbal rejection but it seems the offer could still be considered valid if there is not a written rejection. I know the short sale offer has an addendum for a secured party (e.g., bank) release that has to be supplied by 90 days - so perhaps the buyer can use that to back out. There was a seller acceptance time frame that I left blank on the main part of the short sale contract per attorney's advice . However, it seems setting a term for acceptance for non-short sales would help avoid the situation of having too many offers accepted at once.

@Phil Z.

Phil, you hit it right on the button. My attorney said to make everything after short sale approval. The mortgage broker also said he would not do much until the bank approved the offer.

I re-wrote the contract for everything to be after short sale approval.

Your are correct that our buyer's agent did not seem to understand short sales from the buyer perspective very well. I will be working directly with listing agent next time.

@Kyle Samuel

Good to see another investor that is close to me. I am looking primarily in Hamden and New Haven. Are you working other areas besides North Haven?

Hope to see you at a CT REIA meeting.

Wayne, thanks. I guess the inspection timing differs depending on whether you are looking at it from a buyer or seller perspective.

I am the process of making an offer on a short sale, and I am running into some issues. First of all, our real esate buyers agent is recommending that I put in a hard date of 3/5/14 for inspections and 5/1/14 for mortgage committment even though we have no clue when and if the bank will accept the offer (could be June or later). When I asked if we could make those dates a certain number of days after acceptance, he said putting in specific dates is standard. He also recommended not putting a date when the offer would expire. In addition, he initially had us sign a binder and now the bank is requiring a Purchase to Sale Agreement.

I sent the draft Purchase Agreement to my attorney. He is still reviewing but his initial reaction is that he did not it made sense to spend money on a home inspector without the bank accepting the offer. Both my attorney and mortgage broker recommended having the inspection and mortgage committment a fixed number of days AFTER the bank accepts.

I am starting to wonder if our buyers agent knows what he is doing since he does not seem to be putting me in a good position.

This is discouraging for a relatively new investor (this will be the first home I will buy that I do not live in).

What does the Bigger Pockets community recommend for listing inspection and mortgage committment dates? Should everything be after offer acceptance?

First of all, you can probably negotiate the price if it has been on the market. I am assuming the $2,500 includes mortage, taxes, and insurance. Other expenses would be upfront repairs, maintenance, and vacancy.

@Phil G. Thanks for the information. It sounds more straightforward than I thought.

@Account Closed good article!

I am investor looking to buy the first rental property that I do not live in, and I have been contemplating getting a real estate license. I am wondering what the advantages and disadvantages of getting the license would be. I think the obvious advantages would be access to the MLS and being able to see properties without having to wait on someone else. As for disadvantages, I have heard that a licensed real estate agent would be required to disclose the actual value of a house when making an offer. However, I do not know if that is true. For example, if an agent were buying a house for $60K that is worth $100K, then the agent would have to close the actual worth of $100K.

Thanks everyone for all the welcoming remarks!

@Michael Wentzel I have not met with a lender other than some informal discussions discussions at REIA meetings. I think having a down payment of 20% or more is one barrier I will have to overcome. Thanks for the tip. I will try the smaller banks.

I am also a member of CT REIA, and I'm thinking of attending Andy Heller's seminar...unless I have some deals to look at that day. The meetings are very good for networking. As for the weekend seminars, some speakers will provide a lot of information while others make a very high-level presentation (and you have to buy their program for details).