One might think that a bank that owns a foreclosure would like to sell it quickly to take it off the books. Our experience so far has been the opposite, after two of our offers, both for just a little more than the asking price of $75,000, were canceled for no good reason.
When Michael, our Realtor, got word of the second cancellation, both Cathy and I were out of town on work trips – and both were incommunicado. This is where a good Realtor is priceless. Michael knew what we wanted and immediately resubmitted the offer again on our behalf. Thank you Michael!
And this is where it got unreal: While preparing the offer for re-submittal, Michael found out that the asking price had dropped by another whopping $15,000, down to $60,000 – because the bank was unable to unload property! Never mind that we offered twice to buy it for $75,000. But who are we to complain. We started joking that if we kept re-submitting often enough, the seller may give us money if we take the property.
That said, we were unsure what to make of this price drop. Suspicion crept in. Like my dad said when we told him the story: “That can’t be right! Since when is a bank giving away money – and as much as $15,000?” Is this another instance of too good to be true?
We went back into research mode. There was no further damage to the property – thank God. We found out which bank actually owns the foreclosure, and got a better understanding of the convoluted paper pushing process. It turns out that the seller’s agent never really talks to a person on the bank’s side. They just input data into an online system, which is received at the bank and “processed”. This could happen in any office of that bank, of which there are numerous nationwide. It appears there is no one person assigned to a case.
You hear a lot about the banks not being ready for this growing wave of foreclosures. We got the impression that the left hand did not know what the right hand was doing – or that there even was a right hand. Understanding this, we felt more at ease with the price drop and that it actually was for real.
Yeah, the same thing just happened to us- put in an offer on a foreclosure, bank called back a few days later asking for highest and best, upped the offer to slightly over their asking price… and wait. and wait. and wait. Yesterday the bank relisted the property, again, for less than their original list price by several thousand dollars. What the heck? Crazy stuff… if there’s one thing this building hunt is teaching me, it’s patience! So frustrating… sigh.
I know how you feel. Hang in there! If everything goes right, patience may have bene a very good investment – saving you a few thousand dollars.