How much to Offer on a bank owned property?

[trying2moveup]

You need a good buyers agent who is not pushing you to buy anything just to get a commission and pulls good comps (and this means doing your own homework via Internet about comparables and things that have SOLD around your target property).

once you find the one- my advice is the same whether is an REO or a 'regular" sale - do you want the house enough to risk losing it by coming in with a lowball offer? The bank is under no obligation to counter offer you, just as a regular homeowner isn't either. And I think Benya is right - if the bank felt they could sell it at the lower price right off the bat, they would. They have broker price opinions (bpo's) done to determine what they believe is a fair price based on the current market and they readjust periodically if the house sits. But i have never seen where a bank will "dump' the price by 30,40,50K all at once. banks are STILL in the business to make money.

[TeamBenya]

I've seen banks dump prices by as much as 40% in a single reduction, but it's typically on properties that were overpriced to start. Prices will continue to drop this year, anyone that thinks otherwise is going to be sadly mistaken. Rates are low, and look like they will continue to remain low for the next few months. Of course without the crystal ball, nobody is certain what's going to happen

Trying, you're very right, never lose sight of the fact that the banks ARE trying to recoup as much $$$ as possible! If it doesn't cost you any money, why NOT have an agent repping you?

My duty as a realtor is to protect my CLIENTS interest, be that a bank or an individual. If you're looking at a property I've listed, I can assure you my legal and fiduciary duty is to the seller. If I'm not the listing agent, then I'm probably working for the buyer, and that means I'm going to find all the angles to get the price dropped.

As a side note, someone had asked about dealing directly with the bank rather than realtors. The banks are assuming thousands of new assets each week nationwide. They don't have the time or manpower to deal with direct inquiries. I actually had a buyer try that on a bank owned listing of mine. The buyer managed to contact the asset manager, who told them to call their agent, and promptly hung up on them.

[trying2moveup]

Originally Posted by TeamBenya

I've seen banks dump prices by as much as 40% in a single reduction, but it's typically on properties that were overpriced to start. .

Exactly. once it sits there forever and no one is jumping on it, also most likely because it's condition is crappy as well, then the banks somewhat get a hint of reality. But after looking at many during our house hunting process, it just blows my mind what these banks are thinking. or NOT thinking. You would think they would bring below the current market value to try to get this stuff off the books ASAP but they are as greedy as everyone else who thinks they should still be getting sky high prices.

Reality needs to set it that people are getting somewhere in between the lowball and the sky high price of yesteryear. And I think agents really need to drum that fact in that if you want to move you house in less than 100 days, you need to price 10% below the lowest sold comp in your neighborhood to generate interest.

We sold our TH in 66 days because we were realistic on the price. The house we bought was on for less than 70 days beacuse they priced reasonably as well. Both of us had sunk alot of $ into our houses beacuse we wanted to enjoy them while living there but we both knew that if we wanted to sell and have someone else buy, you have to quit trying to make 6 figures off the sale!