Asking price: $167,432 on a Bank Owned property in an oceanfront building where similar listings are still priced at over $200K. My investor client asked me to put in a bid for $125,000. The bank approved it. SOLD!
Asking price on a short sale: $190,000 in an Oceanfront building where similar condos are still listed for up to $300,000. My investor bid $154,000 for it. The bank finally accepted $168,000. We closed last week.
I just received a request to bid on a short sale home currently priced at $549,900, the least expensive home ever sold in that neighborhood. The lead came from Active Rain. The investor wants to bid $260,000. Will I write it up? You bet! Why? Because the bank might actually take it!
Here are some deals you could bid on: Luxury condo on Waterway. Asking price $299,900.
Waterway community custom home, 4BR/3BA. Originally priced at $799K. The bank now owns it and listed it with me for $489K.
Just check out our website for current REO deals at: http://www.myrtlebeachhomes.us/Homes or www.BankOwnedInMyrtleBeach.com
Go ahead: insult the Seller! I will be glad to do it for you!
I agree ... 1. Why should a buyer even care what the bank thinks? 2. The sooner we move through this inventory ... the better for us all.
Great Post!
That is amazing!! I have a question about the short sale, just because the bank accepts the offer doesn't necessarily mean the seller no longer has a a balance, correct?
-Karin :)
Mirela, it must be so exciting to get properties like those you described for your buyers and that those kind of prices. Good for you but I have to tell you I don't completely understand the whole concept of "Short Sales". We have only a handful of bank foreclosures in our market about 0.0035% of all properties currently listed. Take care and happy blogging!
Dear Mirela,
It is amazing how many agents discourage buyers from making offers! I have worked with many investors. Often I think their offers are crazy, but sometimes they are accepted!
Hope all is well with you.
Barbara
Karin: Say the owner owes $500K (which is close to the truth in one of the two examples of good deals). If the bank accepts $160K for it, the bank can either issue a deficiency judgment, or ask the seller to contribute some money.
If the bank settles for no deficiency judgment and no seller contribution (you can't get money out of stone...), then the deal closes and the seller owes nothing. It doesn't look as bad on the credit report as a foreclosure.
The only negative is the issuing of a 1099 and owing the IRS taxes on the difference between the $500K owed and the $160K sales price. If it's a primary residence, that won't happen either, only on investment properties or second homes.
Jason: See the explanation I gave to Karin.
Short sales and REO's are a HUGE part of my current business. Vacation homes and investment properties bought with 100LTV's are the very first ones to be let go by owners... At least a third of our market is comprised of "distressed properties". It depends how you interpret your figures. If you do a careful analysis it's as high as 50%...
I started my short sale and foreclosure training at the end of 2007 and it has served me very well. There are a lot of tricks of the trade I've learnt in the process and I have closed short sales in as little as two weeks after receiving the offer. Incredible, but true!
When I bring offerrs to other agents, I also tutor them in how to work it, so that we can close promptly. If they are cooperative, we go forward and close, if they are not, I move my clients to another property. I don't have 6 months to waste... The property won't be worth as much by then...
Ahh... I see.. thank you so much for clearing that up for me!!!
Karin :)
Barbara: I once told my Buyer that his proposed offer was way too low. The property ended up selling for precisely that figure. After my profuse apology to my client, I have stopped advising against "insulting" offers. Bring it on! I can have a complete contract typed and e-mailed to my clients within 10-15 minutes. It's now a system. I have written as many as 20+ offers during the course of a single week, only to get acceptance on a couple of them. The ones accepted were incredibly low, the lowest ever sold in those projects Two deals per week is not bad in this market... You never know unless you try...
Mirela..If it's Listed now, the seller should expect low offers, if they want to sell they should look at any offer as a starting point if the particular site has a high concentration of short sales or foreclosures..than offers should lead to acceptance. It really is that simple if sellers would realize they aren't in the drives seat, like they were a few years ago then some of the long days on the market stuff would start to move.
Mirela, This is a great time to be a buyer!!! Banks have NO emotional attachment to the property and you just never know how low they'll go. If a buyer catches them on the right day they can certainly get a great deal!!
Bryant, you are so right! It's hard even for us, listing agents to comprehend the breadth of their flexibility.
That scares me... sales like that bring values down.. .Makes appraisers jobs that much harder ... but I guess it is what we have to deal with
Robert: They scare all of us, but they are happening. We can't bury our heads in the sand and pretend it's not happening. I don't make the market; I just know how to work it! If I don't write those offers, someone else will...
I've insulted a few sellers myself this week. Low offers are the only offers nowadays.
Low than market value sale prices sure make the appraisal end of the business easier.
All they can do is say no. No harm no foul.