I currently have a bid in on a short sale for 150,000 with the seller to pay 5,000 to closing costs. It has been a few weeks now and still no answer. I was thinking of raising my offer to 158,000 with the seller paying 2,000 to closing costs. The house is listed at 174,000. The realtor says I should try going up by 5,000 but I really like the house. Do you think they take this offer?
Most people think they're getting a "deal" when purchasing a short sale. That's not necessarily the case. See, the price offered is not necessarily the price the bank will take. The listed price is just some number that the Seller and Realtor came up with to get the offers coming in. So when you submit an offer, the bank starts to crunch their numbers to see what their bottom line is. They're going to go with the highest and best offer. The reason the bank takes so long to get back in touch is because they're taking in as many offers as possible. They'll probably come back and ask all Buyers for their highest/best offer before they make their final decision. Most of the time they will not pay closing costs, so you may already be at a disadvantage compared to the other offers. I would ask the Realtor if he/she has an idea of where the numbers need to be for the bank to consider the offer. Good luck!
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Something's missing here. Why would an offer sit on the table for "a few weeks" with no answer from the seller. You have a realtor. Why aren't they getting you a definitive answer to your first offer?
I wouldn't do anything until I found out what the seller said to the first offer. Maybe there's a counteroffer. I would really question your realtor's competence or ethics.
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Most people think they're getting a "deal" when purchasing a short sale. That's not necessarily the case. See, the price offered is not necessarily the price the bank will take. The listed price is just some number that the Seller and Realtor came up with to get the offers coming in. So when you submit an offer, the bank starts to crunch their numbers to see what their bottom line is. They're going to go with the highest and best offer. The reason the bank takes so long to get back in touch is because they're taking in as many offers as possible. They'll probably come back and ask all Buyers for their highest/best offer before they make their final decision. Most of the time they will not pay closing costs, so you may already be at a disadvantage compared to the other offers. I would ask the Realtor if he/she has an idea of where the numbers need to be for the bank to consider the offer. Good luck!
References :
http://www.sunshinestatesales.com
No one can answer this, it is up to the lender. Something that might happen, the lender could kick back the offers and tell you to bring your best offer.
References :
Oregon Realtor
Short sales sometimes take months to get done. The banks aren't set up to handle everything thats been thrown at them and are way behind. You should sit tight with your offer they'll tell you if there's a counter offer. There's nothing your realtor is doing wrong besides telling you to up your offer. Just be patient.
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