All Forum Posts by: Steve B.

@Russell Brazil  I will look into it.   Thanks again.

Thanks guys.   @Russell Brazil So it appears that the seller's agent only has a verbal offer on it.  Could I offer him a bonus if my offer was accepted?

Last week I found a good property on the MLS, quickly worked the numbers and gave my agent the OK to present the offer. Within an hour, the seller's agent replied that there was a contract on it already.

My agent points out that the MLS status still shows as active, to which the seller's agent replies that he will change the status after inspection. Two days pass and we press the seller's agent again. He responses that he has a verbal offer on it and won't go any further.

Am I correct that the seller's agent is breaking the rules here?

Is there any way I can file a complaint or protest?

Is it legal for me to sweeten the deal for the seller's agent? I.e. could I offer him a bonus of some sort?

Any bank will issue a few different types of loans on a house up to a certain percentage of the value of the home.  The bank will send an appraiser to determine the value.  Let's say the appraiser puts a value on the house at a nice round $100k.  Then the bank will multiply the value by their percentage limit, each bank sets their own limit and it could be 70%, 80%, maybe as high has 90%.   Let's assume it is 70%, so $100k x 70% = $70k total that the bank would loan out.  

Here is the tricky part:  if there is already a loan in place the the total amount owed from both loans is limited to the same $70k.  So to answer your question, if she gave you seller financing then the bank would subtract the amount that you owe her from the $70k.  

Here are two betterr ways for you to get this property and for her to get the cash:  

1. Buy it from her directly with bank financing. This will require a down payment, but you might have a few options here. A 20% down payment is conventional. You could also try for FHA loan which has a lower down payment - I think it is 3-4%. You might also qualify for VA or USDA loans. Then as part of the closing, your bank signs you up for repayment and gives her the cash.

2. She could seller finance to you.  Then you close and owe her the balance.  At some point in the future you go to a bank to refinance the whole property.  As part of that deal the bank will require you to pat off the existing financing.  The ultimate result is the same: you get the property and she gets the cash.  This might take a little longer depending on the banks policies.

It sounds like you are going in the right direction.   And by the way, nice job hooking into a 12-pack right out of the gate.   If you decide that you are going to proceed, the next step would be to get it all under contract.  Some possible alternatives:

1. Just buy the properties that you want and let the seller deal with the other properties separately.

2. Buy it all and resell the properties you don't want.   If it is a package deal then this might your only option.    

If she provided the financing for you, and you then have title to the property, you could get a HELOC or some other bank financing secured by the house. That could all be done over say a month or two. During that time, you could let her stay in the house while she finds her new place. End result: win (mom) - win (you) - win (house) -win (bank).

Reaching out to say hello.  Chicago is my hometown and my favorite city in the whole world.   And the rest of Illinois ain't bad either.

@Wayne Brooks

For sure, it was on the MLS before the auction. The property history shows that it was removed before the auction then the listing was activated again a few days after my winning bid.

The terms of the contract are very much in their favor.   They can pretty much do what they want without incurring any damages.

@Jassem A.

Thanks. I guess it would make more sense to me if there was a significant spread between the bid they accepted from me and the MLS price - it is less than 10% on a property that cost even less than yours.