Just last week, I presented an offer of $152,000 on a short sale home that was listed at $150,000. The listing description indicated that there was a pending sale but that the listing office was requesting backup offers. The pending purchaser was needing financing - my buyer is an investor who would just write a check for the place. So I submitted the offer. After submission, I spoke with the listing agent who informed me that my offer was superior and that she would submit it and will probably have it back that afternoon (last Friday). Yesterday, Tuesday, no word so I called her:

Well, low and behold, in the meantime, an additional offer supposedly surfaced for "in excess of $5,000 of (my) offer." Then she informs me that if my buyer was still interested in the home that he would have to beat that offer.

OK, from a listing agent's perspective, that's really great for the seller and his or her underlying mortgage company. From the selling agent's perspective, who needs business associates like that? I simply informed the listing agent that my buyer doesn't chase houses and then ended the conversation.

Oddly enough, that particular listing happened to slip through the purchase criteria that I maintain for this particular buyer which was then viewed by him. Before we even looked at the place, I reminded him about all the problems with short sales and short sale offers but he thought that we'd just go ahead and run with whatever surfaces.

Needless to say, this was my third short sale transaction:  number one turned out to be an absolute clusterbundle. My second one (which I am currently working on due to an associate's one-time inability to service a particular purchaser) is still fumbling its way through the two underlying mortgages companies.

I do not believe there will be a fourth, much less a fifth.