few questions about buying a home and realtor (short sales, foreclosure)

[LAURA911]

so, we have made an offer on a short sale home in marysville almost 3 weeks ago and the seller accepted and we are waiting on the lender. i know this is a long process and we need to be patient but..

1. is there a time limit that they have to respond?

2. our realtor said 2 weeks ago that the following week the appraiser would come to evaluate the home and then in another 2 weeks he would have the results. then 2 weeks later i emailed asking the update and he said they had to resend the offer because supposedly the lender lost the offer..... does that make sense?? or do you think they were trying to get a higher bid, etc?

3. we are unfamilar with the process of short sales but i did a little research online. the realtor is not trying to pressure us into buying the house and is saying we shoud find a REO since they close escropw within 30 days...... what i read online it said short sales close faster than REO's. does this make sense or does he not know what he is talking about?

4. has anyone ever dealt with AL DURBIN for a realtor?

5. if we have an offer on a house can we still change realtors?

please any help!!!!! thank you!!!

[Shope]

Typically there is no time limit unless you put a time limit into your offer, which most short sale offers do not have since it is a long process. I am in the midst of multiple short sale offers so I will share my knowledge with you.

The typical situation is that a homeowner is "underwater" on there house and wants to get rid of it before it goes into foreclosure. The seller will get a listing agent to collect offers on the house. The offer is then sent to the bank and the bank will get an appraisal(s) to determine there BPO (Bank Purchase Price) to decide if they want to take the offer. The bank does this because they are taking a hit on the house, but it is usually better and not as messy as going into foreclosure so banks will usually play ball on short sales. The bank will either accept the offer, counter offer, or reject the offer.

Here are some questions to ask to the listing agent to determine approximatley how long it is going to take. Is the bank aware of the short sale? Have offers been sent to the bank? Howw cooperative is the bank being? What was the last sale price of the home? If the bank is not aware of the short sale and has not gotten any offers yet then it could be a while. Sometime a previous offer was sent to the bank and rejected or counteroffered so the listing agent might know what the bank will let it go for. I suggest that you make multiple short sale offers and keep stacking them, thats what I am doing now and I almost have one. Once I get one I will pull all my other offers. If you have a good relator he will do this to help you get a house. REO and Short Sale closing times should be similiar, it's just a matter of getting the bank to accept your offer that's the long part. Your closing time should be written into your offer (usually about 30 days). Good luck and be patient! Short sales are frustrating but there are some great deals out there.

[LAURA911]

thank you, that was very helpful!

[Shope]

No problem.

[DMenscha]

Short sale results vary hugely based on the lender involved. We've done one that actually closed in 6 weeks and we've waited six weeks for a lender decision. (which was no BTW). Personally, I'd wait for the home to go back to the lender as one can generally get a better price than a short sale. (Now if that isn't counter-intuitive, I don't know what is).

IN answer to your specific questions;

1. There is no time limit in which they have to respond, they don't have to respond at all. If you gave them a period to respond and you haven't gotten one back, your offer expired without a response and is dead.

2. Entirely possible, asset managers and REO/Short Sale people get bounced around from property to property a lot. Very Plausible.

3. Your advice from your realtor reflects my experience. I've never seen a short sale close faster than a REO.

4. Never met him.

5. The agent that helped you with the offer on the short sale house is the "procuring cause" as far as that particular house goes. You could change realtors if you put an offer in on something else, but my sense of your post is your not fully happy with the way things are going and you have some doubts. Talk to your agent directly and be honest with him. If you don't feel comfortable with that, call the broker in charge and get some feedback.

Good luck!

[quickfingerz]

Three things you should look for in a short sale:
-The bank has already approved the short sale (and price)
-The owner is at least 60 days late
-There is only one lien holder

If your broker is good, he should have found out this information for you.