All Forum Posts by: Heather Taft

Thanks everyone!

By "them" I meant we asked the seller to pay closing costs. I assumed that would have just been passed on to the bank since it is a short sale, like Wayne mentioned. Unfortunately, we never got far enough to negotiate that with the bank.

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!

Thanks Robert! Any thoughts on the other properties that aren't mentioned as being HUDs? Is it possible to find a way to make an offer on those?

I am looking to buy an attached house in a specific neighborhood. One REO that I was about to make an offer on my agent found out was actually already under contract. There are no other houses for sale here except for new construction, and since I would like to live in the house for a year or 2 then make it a rental I don't want new construction. I've looked over all the houses in the area on zillow and there appear to be 4 REO houses that are not for sale currently (one is a HUD, I'm new to this and not sure how/if that is different). All the houses have been listed for sale and the listing was removed. I am thinking of contacting the previous listing company to see if they can tell me for sure if it is an REO, but if it is not listed as being for sale right now is it possible to make an offer? Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Mike that is very helpful. We are thinking of living in it for a year or 2 and then renting it out (my husband is military), so we are trying to figure out the way to make the most money on it once it is a rental. I hadn't thought about asking my realtor to call the listing agent. Will do. Thanks so much!

Thanks Joe. Unfortunately I can't do cash. I was going to put 20% down. Should I go higher than $170,000?

I am going to make an offer on an attached home that is a foreclosure. Asking price is $204,500. The assessors website says the property went back to the back for around $181,000. The property needs all new flooring (2100 sq ft), paint, some work around a door where it looks like someone broke into the house from the garage, and there is some cracking in one of the walls. This cracking may just be settling as the house is fairly new (2009) and the former owners obviously didn't care about fixing issues in the house. This is all we can see that needs work. I want to offer $170,000, but was thinking about $150,000. It has just been sitting on the market for about a month and a half now. What are the risks that the bank will just say no and not negotiate if we go too low? What are ideas from other people on a good offer as I am new at this?