Short Sale ?? (Clearwater: short sales, foreclosure, home)

[frisco1962]

I have just begun the process of looking into buying a retirement home in FL (starting in the Clearwater area). We could swing it with alot cash down and want to try to take advantage of the market instead of waiting another 10-15 years to buy.

I see many short sales and took the time to read up on how they work (or, in most cases, don't ).

I came upon a listing and am not sure what to make of it...it reads:

"This is a short sale and the list price has been approved by the bank. Bank is looking for a reasonable counter offer! This will be much faster than other short sales since it is already bank approved."

Based on what I have read, and thought I understood, wouldn't there have to have been an actual sale for the price to be "approved". And, if the price was approved, why the counter offer statement. I've read many realtors do not understand the process and cause more harm than good (mostly to the seller) and those are the properties/realtors to not waste your time with. I'm not sure if this is the case here in this listing or if there is something I am missing.

[SoFLGal]

What probably happened is that the list agent has already received a contract on this home. For whatever reason the contract didn't work out (usually because they take FOREVER to answer back on contracts).

So, they had a contract and the bank came back with what they would accept to pay off the mortgage. The list agent used that as the listing price instead of just guessing at what they might take. Therefore they can assume the bank will take this price because they have previously agreed to it. If you offer one penny less than list usually the months of waiting starts all over. I'm not too sure about the counter offer statement. If it's approved at that price then why would you be counter offering? HMM.....

This is just a guess but I'm pretty sure of it

You are correct, many Realtors aren't skilled in the process of handling short sales. It's often a headache even if you know what you are doing. If you list a short sale the banks are looking for specific things such as a hardship letter, CMA and several other "pieces of paper" not submitting these documents or lack or knowledge can cause even longer delays and could ultimately result in the home going into foreclosure as opposed to a possible short sale situation.

Now, a foreclosure is a whole different ball game. What you see as the list price is what the bank will take for the property, unless you get into a bidding war. They also usually answer back within a few days and sometimes sooner.

I know this was kind of long winded but I hope I answered your question

Originally Posted by frisco1962

I have just begun the process of looking into buying a retirement home in FL (starting in the Clearwater area). We could swing it with alot cash down and want to try to take advantage of the market instead of waiting another 10-15 years to buy.

I see many short sales and took the time to read up on how they work (or, in most cases, don't ).

I came upon a listing and am not sure what to make of it...it reads:

"This is a short sale and the list price has been approved by the bank. Bank is looking for a reasonable counter offer! This will be much faster than other short sales since it is already bank approved."

Based on what I have read, and thought I understood, wouldn't there have to have been an actual sale for the price to be "approved". And, if the price was approved, why the counter offer statement. I've read many realtors do not understand the process and cause more harm than good (mostly to the seller) and those are the properties/realtors to not waste your time with. I'm not sure if this is the case here in this listing or if there is something I am missing.

[frisco1962]

Originally Posted by SoFLGal

What probably happened is that the list agent has already received a contract on this home. For whatever reason the contract didn't work out (usually because they take FOREVER to answer back on contracts).

So, they had a contract and the bank came back with what they would accept to pay off the mortgage. The list agent used that as the listing price instead of just guessing at what they might take. Therefore they can assume the bank will take this price because they have previously agreed to it. If you offer one penny less than list usually the months of waiting starts all over. I'm not too sure about the counter offer statement. If it's approved at that price then why would you be counter offering? HMM.....

This is just a guess but I'm pretty sure of it

You are correct, many Realtors aren't skilled in the process of handling short sales. It's often a headache even if you know what you are doing. If you list a short sale the banks are looking for specific things such as a hardship letter, CMA and several other "pieces of paper" not submitting these documents or lack or knowledge can cause even longer delays and could ultimately result in the home going into foreclosure as opposed to a possible short sale situation.

Now, a foreclosure is a whole different ball game. What you see as the list price is what the bank will take for the property, unless you get into a bidding war. They also usually answer back within a few days and sometimes sooner.

I know this was kind of long winded but I hope I answered your question

Not long winded at all - Thanks!

I kind of wrote of short sale listings after reading about them since I live too far away to try and deal with all that, but this listing caught my eye - sounded great (great price, great property, quick closing), almost too good to be true. Then, the "counter offer" line........

Like I said, I just wanted to make sure there was not some angle I missing about this process in my research.

Thank you for your response

[mr&mrssunshine]

we are in the process of closing (at last (hopefully)) on a foreclosure.

we offered at $35000 below the listed price and the bank countered 3 hours later $10000 over our offer. We accepted 5 minutes later !!!!!!!!!!!!