Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We submitted an offer on a short sale (Tampa, FL.) The listing agent told our agent that the policy of her RE office is to submit the offer directly to the bank prior to the sellers accepting, countering and/or signing the offer/contract.
This is the second offer we've made on this home. First time around, the listing agent failed to give us a copy of the contract signed by the seller. Meanwhile, a second offer came in higher than ours, so we withdrew the offer.
Now, the second offer suddenly disappears because the interested party found another home; the list price drops slightly and we go back in with our increased 2nd offer. There's also suddenly another interested party submitting an offer as well.
Listing agent also claims she has spoken to the bank and they will make a decision on the offers within one month but they will not accept anything less than our new, higher offer. I think it's highly unusual (for a short sale from everything I've read) for the bank to come back within a month with an answer...but, maybe this is an exception?
I put in an offer on a short sale a couple of weeks ago. It went directly to the seller's lender. Makes more sense to me to do it that way. If the lender rejects the offer it makes no difference if the sellers accept or not. I was also told they were not going to drag their feet for 90 days, we shall see.
Put a three day limit for seller sign. And insist it be presented. I am no expert on FL RE law but here it is required that all offers be presented and in a timely fashion. Generally brokerage policy does not trump law or ethics code. So get your agent to insist.
Note that this may simply get you a timely NO. That is the problem. You can force a procedure but not an outcome.
Listing agent also claims she has spoken to the bank and they will make a decision on the offers within one month but they will not accept anything less than our new, higher offer. I think it's highly unusual (for a short sale from everything I've read) for the bank to come back within a month with an answer...but, maybe this is an exception?
It's not terribly unusual. Once I had a bank accept a short sale offer within 1 week. With a short sale, it's not so much that you're guaranteed an agonizingly long wait, it's that you just don't know. 2 weeks or 2 months are just as possible. The listing agent should be able to give you a rough estimate based on their dealings so far with the bank.
I always ask buyer's agents to submit offers with at least a 30 day time for acceptance, and submit offers to the bank without the sellers signature. This allows the sellers to keep marketing the home as for sale and helps prove to the lender that the seller is trying to get the best possible $ for the home.
That being said, some of the more experienced buyer's agents will help bring buyers in that are willing to offer what will most likely be accepted by a bank, and require the seller to sign the offer and take the home off the market while we wait for bank approval. The buyers pretty much tie up the property so they won't get out-bid if it is a really good deal, and they have first dibs at re-negotiating with the bank should they not approve the first offer. Of course sellers must make the decision to accept such an offer or not. If the offer is low ball even for a short sale, it will only hurt their chances of getting a short sale approved before foreclosure happens.
Well I find it totally bizarre that the seller does not sign the offer and that any lender is okay with that. The offer is not mutually accepted, hence not executed. There is NO DEAL...
So...if another buyer came along, say a friend of theirs, they could execute a contract with them and submit it. You HAVE NOTHING at this point. The seller still owns the property and has to agree to sell the home to you, regardless of what the bank says.
I don't understand people that don't get their contract executed. This does not protect you as the buyer.
I would have your agent look up the real estate law. I don't think that a brokerage can delay the presentation of an offer because it is their office policy. I think the real estate board might have a problem with that policy. BUT I am in Oregon and not in Florida.
I always ask buyer's agents to submit offers with at least a 30 day time for acceptance, and submit offers to the bank without the sellers signature. This allows the sellers to keep marketing the home as for sale and helps prove to the lender that the seller is trying to get the best possible $ for the home.
That being said, some of the more experienced buyer's agents will help bring buyers in that are willing to offer what will most likely be accepted by a bank, and require the seller to sign the offer and take the home off the market while we wait for bank approval. The buyers pretty much tie up the property so they won't get out-bid if it is a really good deal, and they have first dibs at re-negotiating with the bank should they not approve the first offer. Of course sellers must make the decision to accept such an offer or not. If the offer is low ball even for a short sale, it will only hurt their chances of getting a short sale approved before foreclosure happens.
It all sounds good but nothing really works. It is pretty much a violation in NV to not respond to an offer in a timely manner. Thus if you don't want to violate the statues you need to take the offer to the seller and get a signature accepting or rejecting the offer. Of course about half the agents don't. but if you call them on it the seller signs a rejection.
If they do accept it they do so contingent on bank approval. So the bank approves. Along comes a better offer and the bank disapproves offer one. Does the contingency go back into effect? Why not? If a bank approves funding and then withdraws the approval does not the funding contingency still work?
The right answer is the RE community should refuse to deal with shorts under the existing conditions. Don't hold your breath. .
Time lines on responses from banks vary greatly. It depends on the bank, how many loans are against the property, what stage of the process it's in, who at the bank is handling it, the loss to the bank and a host of other factors including how the mitigator is feeling that day and if they 'like' the agent handling the file. THERE ARE NO SET RULES OR PROCEDURE for a short sale. There is NO timeline for responses guiding a short sale...there ARE NO RULES. The only timeline that comes into play are timelines set in the contract which protect both the buyer and the seller. And if it isn't submitted to and signed by the owner of the property there is NO CONTRACT.
If the seller has not signed the offer, there is no contract. The property owner, not the bank is the one that can execute the contract. The bank has no standing in the selling of the property, they have a standing in the settling of the mortgage. They can give their approval on a settling of the mortgage but can not force the property owner to sell it to anyone, at all.
If the listing agent has not submitted the offer to the seller, then they are in violation of NAR ethics rules. Unless of course the seller has, in writing, authorized the listing agency not to show any offers (and that's all they are, they are NOT contracts) unless their bank has approved such an offer for settling of the mortgage and then they would look at them and execute them. I don't see how that benefits a buyer if they want that property. And, I don't see why a seller would not just execute the contract with an addendum stating 'subject to bank review' within such and such time line. Otherwise the seller has no contract and the buyer can walk... what is the benefit of that?
If the seller is not signing the offer to make it a contract, you aren't giving an escrow deposit are you? If yes, why? You're being told upfront you aren't going into contract, so why give an escrow deposit?
If the seller is not signing the offer to make it a contract, you aren't giving an escrow deposit are you? If yes, why? You're being told upfront you aren't going into contract, so why give an escrow deposit?
I did not give any deposit or earnest money. The paperwork specified the amount to be given not more than 48 hours after the offer is accepted (if it should be accepted).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The whole thing is absurd...
