sold "as is" homes, short sales? what do these mean? (property, inspection)

[sportsfangal]

Thank you, Mr. Keegan!

Originally Posted by Bill Keegan

In fairness, you never really know. As a rule, these are usually negotiated with the owner of the house, and then the lander either approves or disapproves the agreement. If they disapprove, they will often, but not always, come back with a counter offer, letting you know what they will accept. You, or your agent, should ask the listing agent to tell you everything they know about the conditions of the short sale, including whether they have spoken with the banks representative and gotten, at the very least, agreement that a short sale will be acceptable at all, even if they don't know a specific selling price.

[k374]

given that the property is already reduced due to damage, you should deduct an additional 10% off the list price when the unit is sold as is due to the cost of your time and the inconvenience to fix the problems.

[Bill Keegan]

Originally Posted by k374

given that the property is already reduced due to damage, you should deduct an additional 10% off the list price when the unit is sold as is due to the cost of your time and the inconvenience to fix the problems.

Assuming that a property is "reduced due to damage" just because it's lists "as is" would very often be a mistake. Some sellers list it this way becasue they feel they have taken great care of the house, and don't want to be bothered with what they see as silly demands. So they say take it as is or don't take it.

[Chickrae]

Originally Posted by Bill Keegan

A "SHORT SALE" is when the seller is going to sell the property and net LESS than he owes to the lender(s). So he will not be able to pay off his mortgage, and is hoping that the lender will accept that "short" amount. As a buyer, this usually means a lot of extra time & some extra paperwork are involved in the purchase, becasue the sale will need to be approved by the lender. These can be stressful, and are not always the bargain some people think a short will be.

Good luck.

Short sales take long just from my experience. We have made offers on 4 different homes that were short sales...we are on our 5th. Hopefully this one will go through. Our problems is most the homes in the area we are looking are either short sale, or forclosures. Glad we didn't lock in our interest rate, with the rates going down.

[sportsfangal]

I just want to ensure that if I end up with an AS IS home, there aren't any hidden dangers, I would hope anyway! but the clause is a good idea if the inspection turns up something awful.

Originally Posted by Bill Keegan

Assuming that a property is "reduced due to damage" just because it's lists "as is" would very often be a mistake. Some sellers list it this way becasue they feel they have taken great care of the house, and don't want to be bothered with what they see as silly demands. So they say take it as is or don't take it.

[Bill Keegan]

Originally Posted by sportsfangal

I just want to ensure that if I end up with an AS IS home, there aren't any hidden dangers, I would hope anyway! but the clause is a good idea if the inspection turns up something awful.

You're right to be cautious & careful. And as I said previously; even thought the seller says "as is" NEVER buy a house without doing yoru own inspection with a qualified inspector, and never think that the seller stating "as is" prevents you from asking for some repair. Becasue if the issue is significant, and you willnot buy the house if it's not dealt with, chances are most other buyers will feel the same way. Which means that the seller will have to deal with fixing it, most likely, or reducing the price to compansate for the issue. So, if you like a house, make an offer on the house, and find during the inspection that there are issues you didn't see previously, go ahead & ask the seller to deal with those issues, either by having them fixed or by giving you the money to fix it. The worst thing that happens is they say they aran't willing to do anything, and you walk, because you made sure your offer gave you that right.

[joancoco]

how long does it take for the bank to accept/reject/counter an offer made on a short sale...also, when home inspections cost 500 dollars a potential buyer can expend more money than necessary..is that true

[jdm2008]

The term "as is" really has no meaning in real estate. It means the seller doesn't want to pay for repairs, just like I'm sure you don't want to go the dentist for a root canal. You can still present an offer with an inspection contingency and still ask for repairs, and the seller will of course still be presented with the decision to make the repairs or start the process all over again with no offer in hand.

[rjrcm]

Originally Posted by joancoco

how long does it take for the bank to accept/reject/counter an offer made on a short sale...also, when home inspections cost 500 dollars a potential buyer can expend more money than necessary..is that true

There is no set time for a bank to respond to a short sale offer. If you do a search in this forum for "short sale", you'll see from other buyers that it can take several months to go through the process to get a final answer. Many give up and move on to another home.

I recommend writing the offer to only require inspections after you get bank approval. We use a short sale addendum that has this requirement.

[joancoco]

thank you for your response...i think i will pass on the short sale. i'm not convinced the banks don't want to take back real estate, otherwise they would be more willing to work with potential buyers....once again thanks for the help.