What do you offer on a foreclosed property?

A client asked: In a situation like this, (so many days on the market) does one bid lower?? at asking price?? higher??

ANSWER: There is no easy answer regarding what you offer. You just have to look at all the angles.

#1 – What is it worth to you to purchase it? Without looking at the price as a challenge to get the lowest price only for the sake of getting the lowest price, (and I don’t think you do this by the way), look at it to see what it is worth to you. What figure would you be happy with that you paid for the home and walked away with it.

#2 – Let’s look at the sales in the area – this is what the bank is going to do – and they are not going to negotiate much lower than the price in the MLS as they have already gone through all the process of putting this through foreclosure and back on the market. As long as it does not sell they will continue to reduce the price but at some point it will reach the investor’s interest and the “all cash” offers will come in and you won’t have an option to bid on it.

#3 – To offer too much will put you in jeopardy with your lender. If the FMV is not as high as you offer then you have to come up with the difference of your offer and their appraisal – which is the amount they will lend on the property. Not a good idea either.

Once you see this property then we will pull all the comps in the area to see what is a realistic offer for you and analyze that price per the above criteria.

Bittersweet Assistance ~ Another Short Sale Closes

Today we closed escrow on another short sale for some of my clients but they don't get any easier. The process does but the feeling for the clients do not. It is satisfying knowing that I have helped them through a rough process but at the same time it hurts knowing I could not do more to help them keep their home. The only satisfaction that I can make myself believe is that now the worst is over and they can move forward to rebuilding their future and perhaps even have it turn out better for them by starting over without this pressure hanging over their heads.

Short sale processes are getting a little bit better depending upon the mediation company you choose to work with and the lender(s) involved. IF you need to go through this, make sure you either get a referral from someone who has been through it or ask lots of questions to make sure your agent/mediator keeps in communication with you. Be prepared for long stretches of time without news but if you have a good team working together, it will be rather painless once the mountain of paperwork is submitted.

If you are currently going through your own personal short sale process or facing foreclosure, just know you are not alone out there. Sometimes you just need to let go and move on to the next adventure that life has in store for you and reduce your stress that you have no control over. Unfortunately we cannot always know the reason why things happen but we can choose how we react to them.