I just had a bank accept a cash offer and then.... (for sale, real estate) - Phoenix area - Arizona (AZ) - City-Data Forum

Project_Patt · 08-09-2009, 11:26 AM

Two days later tell my agent that the deal is off and if I want the property I will have to make another offer

is this legal?

shiphead · 08-09-2009, 11:42 AM

Any paperwork agreeing to the price or anything like that?

R_Cowgirl · 08-09-2009, 11:45 AM

There may be someone in the Real Estate Forum who can answer that. Quite a few AZ Realtors hang out there. Good luck. This whole AZ Real Estate situation is insane. The good news for homeowners is that the foreclosures are almost gone. So this would be a great time to buy.

On the other hand... when I lived in Hawaii, we put an offer down on a house and it fell through. We were really upset because we loved the house. So we went looking for another house and found one ten times better. THEN - (drum roll for the punch line...) 6 months AFTER we settled into our new home, we read in the paper that the house we had tried to buy had collapsed. The land was unstable. A heavy rain forced water under the house in a few unstable areas, and it collapsed the foundation right down the middle. So - sometimes the Universe/God/the Housing Spirits are trying to tell you something. If it's an uphill battle, you might be at the wrong hill. (There's your Sunday morning thought for the day...)

Project_Patt · 08-09-2009, 12:17 PM

Here's the game I had played on me by the bank and the banks seller agent...I put in a offer with proof of funds the bank responded with "there is another offer" and I was instructed to make my "best offer" well the bank notified my realitor shortly afterward that ther had accepted my best offer and the foreclosed home was mine....two days later they notified my realitor that they had just received another offer that was 4k higher than mine and if I still want the property I had to beat it

they pulled this on me on Friday afternoon and I have not been able to contact my lawyer .....

Rick Lee · 08-09-2009, 12:41 PM

If you don't have a signed seller/bank acceptance, the house was never yours. Save your time and money and move on. Hearing from a bank through your realtor over the phone or email is not exactly a binding contract.

roosevelt · 08-09-2009, 12:44 PM

Rejecting a cash offer after they accepted it is pretty odd but in these times, the bank owns the house and can pretty well do what they want to. Years ago if an offer was accepted the buyer could sue if the seller backed out. For the last some 20 years, bidding wars have been going on for houses and is an accepted practice.

Timetravelor · 08-09-2009, 04:04 PM

In short sales, the bank holds out to see what other offers they can get - so that could be one reason. Another could be a ploy, as in Nolo Press's How to buy a house in so. California. They had ten things that real estate people do to sell homes - when I bought mine - the people did 8 out of the ten (one reason was to say another offer was present to get the "buyer" to up their offer). If a foreclosure is selling low $100,000 (as an example) and the bank has a $130,000 mortgage on it - I could see how telling a person that is desperate for a house could say - "no wait, wait - I will pay more for it" when no other offer exists.

Patience..... Either the other offer could fall through with no one else bidding and then "mysteriously" they will call you back to get your original one. Or offer a lower offer then (I did back then and walla in California I got my house

and for less too).

I figure no house is worth bidding for beyond your first bid. There are many out there and eventually I will find one that's ten times better. Real estate people don't like dealing with people like myself, but then I don't like when people play games either with me - I stick by my guns and believe me - if it's the right house - someway you'll get it easier then expected. If you have to bid over yourself - you should REALLY think hard - the reason you are buying the house - was it a "good" deal for that price you offered in the first place (at a higher price it might not be) and other homes might be replacing it daily now in your price range again.

Many investors are buying with the luck that they can flip these houses again - but everyone is going for lower prices NOT higher ones - so there will be many houses on the market through probably 2015 after the investors run out of money holding houses that don't sell and leaving ones they can't buy. Supply and demand is a strange creature housing booms and bust happen in cycles.

If your offer is no longer - tell the realtor to give back your deposit - believe me - they hate to do this and will try very hard to get you to offer higher or shove something else your way. Take your time and let it go. Another one will pop up soon.

Greatday · 08-09-2009, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Project_Patt

Here's the game I had played on me by the bank and the banks seller agent...I put in a offer with proof of funds the bank responded with "there is another offer" and I was instructed to make my "best offer" well the bank notified my realitor shortly afterward that ther had accepted my best offer and the foreclosed home was mine....two days later they notified my realitor that they had just received another offer that was 4k higher than mine and if I still want the property I had to beat it

they pulled this on me on Friday afternoon and I have not been able to contact my lawyer .....

If there was not a signed acceptance delivered to your agent, then there was no contract. And, inasmuch as there was no contract, the Bank was perfectly within their rights to do what they did.

If you want the property, you are going to have to better their offer or start looking for another property.

Good luck to you.

Greatday · 08-09-2009, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timetravelor

In short sales, the bank holds out to see what other offers they can get -

This was not a short sale.

A short sale only occurs when an owner of property is trying to sell it for less than what is owed on the property.

The situation described by the OP indicates that it was an REO - Real Estate Owned - a Foreclosed property already owned by the Lender - the bank in this case. It is not a short sale when dealing directly with the lender / owner.

andrzejn · 08-10-2009, 10:26 AM

When a bank accepted your offer I'm assuming they sent you number of pages of addendum's. I'm sure one of the point stated that seller will still offer the property for sale until the contract is fully executed (signed by both parties). If they changed their mind before contract was executed that's perfectly legal and you agree to that by signing addendum. If you have contract with bank representatives signature you should take legal action because they cannot do that.