Dear Anna,
#1 Remember that individual states have different regulations about how real estate sales are handled, and some things that are legal and acceptable in one state might not be in another.
If the bank owns the property, they can accept or refuse any offer that they receive! - just as you can when you have an item you want to sell. They are making business decisions based on what they feel is in their best interests. That being said, (in Pennsylvania) a verbal contract for the sale of real estate is legal- it just may not be enforceable. Some banks have a practice of taking the offers as they come in, and only look at one at a time, playing it out to the end before they even look at the next offer. Other institutions look at everything that comes in by a certain cut-off date, considering them all at the same time. Banks are not generally in the business of holding and paying utilities on vacant properties, and want to sell them quickly. But they also want to NOT lose money!.
Ask the agent you are working with what the rules are.
Now you need to decide if you are willing to agree to the counter offer-verbal or otherwise. Does the counter offer they are making still make financial sense to you.
Hope you make a good profitable decision!

Thu Mar 13 2008, 22:19

Thanks for the advise. I'll get one tomorrow. This is my neighbor's place and didn't know it was foreclosed on until the real estate had a company clean it out. It has a couple acres and it would be a great investment. I know the golden rule is don't get attached to real estate but I had asked the previous owners to sell it to me years ago and they never wanted to sell it. I never thought they would lose it. Hard to stay impartial on this one.

Thu Mar 13 2008, 22:00

DO NOT USE THE BANK'S REALTOR! You could really get into a mess with that situation. If you still want to use their realtor, you need to hire a real estate attorney. You need someone that is looking out for your best interest, not primarily the banks. The documents that the bank uses are full of clauses that make you pay extra fees if you do not fulfill the schedule that they impose on you, regarldess if the bank is the one that doesn't perform.
The deal I recently did had a penalty of $1300 per day that I don't close on the date the bank insisted on. Then the bank took over a week to get me the documents I needed, and waited until the final day to get me the title document which should have been the first contingency. Luckily my attorney was looking out for those sneaky things and alerted me. Even though we closed late, my attorney let the bank know that it was their fault and that I wouldn't pay. Not only that but because they were in default I could have walked away from the deal free and clear.
Please, please get someone that will fight for you if you plan to do this kind of a deal.

Thu Mar 13 2008, 21:48

Sorry, It is bank owned but $100,000 under the owed price of the previous mortgage.

Thu Mar 13 2008, 21:42

When a bank owns a property, they do not do a short sale. A short sale is when the homeowner is in default and owes more than the house is worth. The bank will end up loosing money on the deal. Short sales rarely end in an actual sale. Both the homeowner and the bank/lender must approve the deal.
A bank owned property (AKA REO) is when the bank has taken ownership of the property. The bank will try to sell the property immediately. They usually don't care about market value as long as they get their money back from the deal. However, often market value (these days) is less than what it takes to make their money back. Even so, they do not call it a short sale.

Thu Mar 13 2008, 21:40

Deutchbank is the bank. I am dealing with the banks realtor in hopes of eliminating the middleman realtor and getting things done more quickly. Hope this don't come back and haunt me.

Thu Mar 13 2008, 21:38

My Realtor told me (while I was trying to do a similar deal), that if you offer less than the bank's asking price, the bank has no responsibility to respond to you in writing. They can reject your offer with no explanation.
However, if your offer was AT LEAST what they were asking, they need to respond to your written offer, with a written counter or an approval. However, bank's time and the time in the real world are not the same. It's always important to let them know that your offer has an expiration date. Your Realtor should also be in constant contact with their Realtor. And be prepared that they may take a week before they respond.
BTW, what bank is it?

Thu Mar 13 2008, 21:35

bank owned short sale. Couple lookers but I wanted it and had my eye on it before the broker was able to list it by the bank.

Thu Mar 13 2008, 21:30