[MomMom]

Originally Posted by tugandregina

mommom,
thanks for the input. actually, i think phoenix would be a better fit for us. i would much rather have the sports of phoenix (and the BCS bowls) than the strip of vegas, but if his company says we have to move to vegas, then it will be vegas.
your reply brought up another question and you seem to be knowledgeable in the area so, how is it that you can make multiple offers on places? we have bought two homes before and they were 'regular' sales, not short sales, but i thought if you put in an offer on something and the buyer accepted you were then stuck with that offer. now i realize with short sales you are dealing with banks but if you put in 8 offers and all 8 accept (i know that won't happen but let's pretend it did) wouldn't you be on the hook for all 8 offers?

You'd be on the hook if all the sellers accepted your offers. You'd be buying 8 homes and you'd have (maybe) a hard time getting your earnest money deposit back.

By putting in several offers, I meant that you can find let's say 2 homes you like. Both are short sale owned by the bank. When you put in your offer on a house you really like, you give them a timeline "accept my offer by 5PM tomorrow or the deal is dead". Your r/e agent can put that stipulation in your written offer. If the seller agrees by the timeline to accept your offer, you are in contract and escrow is opened. You have now entered into a legal and binding agreement. If you rescinded your offer, you'd probably lose your deposit. 24 hour time line is reasonable to accept/reject an offer unless there are certain circumstances that you agree to (agent got sick, on vacation, etc.) , and if it don't happen, the next day go out and put in another offer on something else.


Most of the times I was finding the banks/listing agents didn't respond to our offer or we were told about the other offers already on the homes and decided not to go ahead with an additional offer from us.

Hope you have a good real estate agent working for you!

[tugandregina]

well, we dont currently have one since we arent sure if the company is moving us or not. if they are, there is some sort of package and we have to first go through their r/e agent (though we can opt out if we dont like them). we should find out in the next two weeks or so whether or not we will be moving, but i am just trying to get a jump on things.

i heard short sales took a long time for banks to get back to you so i thought the standard, '48 hours to reply' didnt really work with short sales. i can understand waiting out the 1-2 days, i couldnt understand waiting out the 1-2 months i heard it took for short sales.

we are also doing a VA loan so that might be the kiss of death for us.

again, thank ALL for taking the time to reply!

[owelles]

Originally Posted by tugandregina

i couldnt understand waiting out the 1-2 months i heard it took for short sales.

One to two months is if you're lucky. Very lucky. Some occasionally get wrapped up in a matter of weeks, but the majority take several months. This still surprises me, since I would think banks would be willing to get most properties off their books as quickly as possible. But they often drag their heels and sometimes see potential buyers pull out because of the delays.

[WestieJeff]

That would be the case with a conventional sale (although there is still usually an inspection contingency which you can use to get out of that type of sale as well), but in a short sale, even with an accepted contract between you and the seller, it is still contingent on bank approval. The GLVAR short sale addendum should be included with any short sale offer, this addendum adds the ability for the buyer to walk if the lender doesn't approve within a certain time (usually 30, 60, or 90 days).

Again, regardless of that 30, 60, or 90 day commitment, you should still have a home inspection/due diligence contingency that you can use to get out of a home purchase fairly easily. I've heard you can say you don't like the schools or there are too many sex offenders in the area as part of your due diligence time period.

On a short sale you will generally get acceptance from the seller back quickly (a couple days), but it will generally take months to get approval from the banks, which is what you need before you really have a deal.

Additionally, if the lenders do approve the short sale, the seller can still cancel if they don't like the terms of the lenders approval (if the lender asks for a deficiency judgment, etc.)

Originally Posted by MomMom

You'd be on the hook if all the sellers accepted your offers. You'd be buying 8 homes and you'd have (maybe) a hard time getting your earnest money deposit back.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by tugandregina

I know home prices have come down A LOT, but can someone explain to me why they are still at or above 200k, especially with unemployment so high? We were looking at the Phoenix area and there you can get a new house with all the upgrades for the high 100s in a nice area. In Vegas, we haven't been able to find that (granted this is all online searching).
My husband's company is talking of relocating us to Vegas so they would pay all moving costs (we are in WA now). If we move to Phoenix (same job) we would have to pay to move ourselves. We are trying to decide which is the better option for us (we have 5 kids, 10 years and younger).
I know AZ has income tax so that is something to consider, but I don't understand why housing is higher in Vegas than Phoenix when unemployment is higher.
Any one have any thoughts on this?
Thanks!!
r

I think homes in Vegas are really cheap. It's true you can find some cheaper deals around Phoenix or Detroit, but that doesn't mean Vegas real estate is expensive. I think people believe Vegas will return EVENTUALLY. It has a positive reputation around the world. The unemployment rate is extremely high, but there are still millions of visitors and billions of dollars in the local economy. I think most people would prefer buying a vacation home in Vegas compared to Phoenix. I also think disgruntled Californians would choose to move to Vegas or Phoenix as well. Phoenix is just a normal city in the desert. It's not a bad city, but it's nothing special. It doesn't have the reputation. I think that's a reason why real estate in Vegas isn't cheaper than in Phoenix. There are a few members that know a lot about Vegas real estate, so maybe they'll give you their opinion or maybe they already have...I haven't read the previous posts yet.

[airics]

remember that those 200k homes were probably once 500k.. so they ARE dirt cheap...

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by MomMom

You'd be on the hook if all the sellers accepted your offers. You'd be buying 8 homes and you'd have (maybe) a hard time getting your earnest money deposit back.

By putting in several offers, I meant that you can find let's say 2 homes you like. Both are short sale owned by the bank. When you put in your offer on a house you really like, you give them a timeline "accept my offer by 5PM tomorrow or the deal is dead". Your r/e agent can put that stipulation in your written offer. If the seller agrees by the timeline to accept your offer, you are in contract and escrow is opened. You have now entered into a legal and binding agreement. If you rescinded your offer, you'd probably lose your deposit. 24 hour time line is reasonable to accept/reject an offer unless there are certain circumstances that you agree to (agent got sick, on vacation, etc.) , and if it don't happen, the next day go out and put in another offer on something else.


Most of the times I was finding the banks/listing agents didn't respond to our offer or we were told about the other offers already on the homes and decided not to go ahead with an additional offer from us.

Hope you have a good real estate agent working for you!

I often get 6 or 7 offers going when working shorts Mom2. That is how you work it. There are a set of techniques you use to stay covered...but, to keep it simple, virtually all contracts have a due dilligence period during which you can calll it off. So if all else fails you use that. Even if simply insecure you always call it off. You can always remake the offer.

There are ways.

[tugandregina]

I agree, home prices aren't that bad, though i don't consider 200k to be cheap. It is certainly less expensive than where we currently are (WA) but i guess hearing about the super high unemployment rate as well as the extremely high number of foreclosures, i was expecting prices to be lower. i certainly didnt think i could find better deals in phoenix (yes, i know it has a high foreclosure/unemployment rate, but it isnt as high as lv)

thanks again olecapt for your help. . . if we do end up moving to vegas and dont have to use the r/e agent recommended by the company, i will be giving you a call.

[MomMom]

Originally Posted by olecapt

I often get 6 or 7 offers going when working shorts Mom2. That is how you work it. There are a set of techniques you use to stay covered...but, to keep it simple, virtually all contracts have a due dilligence period during which you can calll it off. So if all else fails you use that. Even if simply insecure you always call it off. You can always remake the offer.

There are ways.

Yes, I know that, I've learned much the past few weeks and I am quite surprised how quickly some homes sell.

Saw one in the Gardens in Summerlin that interested me, nice little number about 1400 sq ft, decent shape, all desert landscaping, builder grade fixtures, good carpeting, clean-the perfect rental place, just on the market for two days when we saw it but it already had two offers on it. They go that quick sometimes.

[volfanga]

If you do move to Vegas you should look into foreclosure auctions
some great deals to be had there. That's how I bought my condo
this year and got a great deal.