This practice is utter nonsense, not to mention, writing multiple offers without the ability to close on each of those transactions could very well be against the law.
Some agents just don't know any better. I don't advise my buyers to adopt that practice. In fact, when I receive offers on my short sale listings, if a buyer won't put an earnest money deposit into escrow and promise not to write any more offers, I don't consider that buyer to be a buyer. Neither do my sellers. They consider that buyer to be a moron. And the buyer's agent who should know better is a doofus, too.
More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub:
- How to Hire a Short Sale Agent
- Learn About Short Sale Mortgage Fraud
- What is an Arm's Length Affidavit?
Technorati tag: bogus short sale offers
At the time of writing, Elizabeth Weintraub, DRE # 00697006, is a Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate in Sacramento, California.
Comments
Buyers are “leveling the playing field.” What is equally bad to a buyer not going through with the transaction after submitting an offer, is the seller and lender putting the buyer in a “hold” position of waiting for months to see if the offer was accepted. What does the seller/lender want the buyer to do? Wait for months for the results and refrain from looking for another property? Because of the way lenders operate, buyers should make offers on several properties.
What do sellers and banks want a buyer to do? Wait. If a buyer can’t / won’t — then don’t write a bogus short sale offer. Go buy a regular deal.
I agree with Flavvia…Why does the Bank take so long to close a deal. While your waiting, other prospects or homes you had your eye on are being sold…and the short sale might not even go thru… I think it should be against the law for Banks to be so indecisive.Why does a Short sale take so long. We have to wait only because the papers sit on some Fat Cat Bankers desk who wont decide on it until they’re ready. It makes NO sense…Best advice…Stay away from short sales… They’re nothing more than a serious buyers waste of time.
Two of my recent short sale deals that involved an experienced negotiator took nearly a year to close. While I’d like to keep a buyer on the line for their offer, can’t say I blame most of them for walking. I actually prefer them not to tie up their money in escrow until we can get an approval from the bank(s). Most of the time the sellers don’t want to sell and try to bide their time in the homes until they really need to leave, or there are tenants in the property that they are continuing to collect rent from. If the property is vacant, then it’s a different story and transactions can usually go a little quicker and the sellers seem more cooperative.
I recommend my buyers not to waste anyone’s time on placing offers on short sale properties they don’t really want if they cannot commit to at least three months of waiting. If they do find another property that’s a regular or REO sale that they want to write an offer on, I will notify the listing agent of that short sale to inform them of my buyers plans in case they want to follow up with on any back up offers.
Until the banks get their act together, agents, buyers and sellers are stuck in a difficult place. Buyers want to buy, especially while rates are so low, but it almost seems like a gamble when dealing with short sales.
Very well said!
Arizona’s Short Sale Addendum give the Buyer all the leverage in the transaction. The escrow isn’t even opened until the bank accepts the offer and the Buyer can walk any time until the Bank does accept.
I feel for the sellers but these banks are so slow in dealing with them and many sellers haven’t done their legwork before they try and offer the home as a Short Sale. There has to be a better way to handle these things though but no one has come up with one yet.
I think the Banks would simply rather foreclose then they can hire someone else to deal with the properties.