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Bank Owned Offers ... Ughhh!

OK, what's a gal gotta do around here to get a final purchase agreement signed??? I'm a pretty patient person, but all these bank owned properties are exhausting.

I have a pending offer in on a bank owned property and we're all very excited. It was a long process to get the banks to accept our offer. Now, we've got a meeting of the minds and the bank is taking forever to return a final, SIGNED purchase agreement. I call relentlessly almost every day to get an update ... nothing.

Anyone have some magic trick to get the ball rolling???

Posted by Lisa Bender - Livingston County Realtor (Brighton, Howell, Hartland) on 11/04/2007 08:20 PM

Comments (44)

foreclosures, bank owned

44 Comments on Bank Owned Offers ... Ughhh!

NOV

2007

Lisa, it depends on the bank. One thing that worked for me once was to show up at the bank at the beginning of a work day and to tell the receptionist I wanted to speak with someone from the Asset department in person. She responded by telling me that the person I wanted to see wasn't in yet. I replied, "Oh, that's okay, I'll wait" and I took a chair in the reception area.

Funny, but she got on the phone and started calling various extensions in the bank building to say "there is a real estate broker here who wants to speak with an Asset manager". In about twenty minutes, I was in the office of a person who was eventually able to get an authorized signature on an Offer for me.

Perseverance pays off sometimes.

Lisa, Good luck ! Despite all the hype about the lenders wanting to cut their losses it seems that to get a final contract can be exasperating . Good luck !

I have not had that many difficulties, the most I have waited was 7 business days but they took the home off the market for the 7 days. Good Luck

Patience and follow up is the recipe for success!

I'm getting a little nervous because they haven't changed the status to Pending or anything. I guess I better start squawking a little louder this week!

Depends on the bank. Last Wednesday I received an offer on one of my bank owned properties at 1pm, they counteered by 4:15pm and the buyer accepted, signed and had the addendum returned to me by 7:15pm and I put it pending in the MLS. 6 hours and 15 minutes and the offer was on its way to closing. I've had others take up to 4 days but never as much trouble as you are having. If you list bank properties always get lots of phone numbers ahead of time and ask about their approval process so you can have the numbers on hand ahead of time. If you ask for them after you have an offer in its much harder to get an answer on who to call. Also- email is a miracle and usually asset managers will email quicker than return a phone call.

We work with one bank that's as efficient as the one Jason describes. The others...not so much. Hope they're paying a you decent commission for having to put up with their inefficiency.

This is an offer for my buyers and not a listing I have. So, I'm getting a little jumpy about it. It's been almost a week and a half since we gave them our copies signed along with the $1000 EMD!

NOV

2007

I wish I could help you there with a magic pill...banks are overloaded with REO inventory and the Asset personnel have way too much on their plates. Be persistent. I represented a buyer on a bank-owned property and they too lagged on getting a fully executed purchase agreement to us as well.

Lisa, I've only done 3 bank owned transactions for buyers, but in each case the way that I knew the offers had been accepted was when we had a signed PA back from the bank. Otherwise, they can keep jerking you around reviewing other offers.

I would ask the listing agent (if you can actually get him/her on the phone!) what they are seeing for this particular bank/owner. They have a good idea what the norm is.

Good advice ... thanks for all the responses everyone!

I hate that feeling like you're at their mercy. I've only spoken to the actual listing agent once throughout this whole thing. It's a little frustrating, but well worth it on this deal. It's ridiculous what this couple got this house for. I'm so happy for them, I just hope they aren't really jerking us around and just overloaded.

We shall see ... keep your fingers crossed for us! :-)

Lisa, If you know that the Bank "has accepted" your offer, then I wouldn't worry too much. Although the Listing Agent should have a better idea about how that Bank ususally operates. Some banks are excruciatingly slow. However, as a Listing Agent, I have sometimes found that I have to keep "reminding" the Asset Managers. They are extremely busy in this market and are usually dealing with many homes.

I once waited for a P&S to come back, trying to be polite, but finally started emailing and calling, only to find out that the Asset Manager I was working with had left the company! So it doesn't hurt to be on top of things.

Yeah, they verbally called me and said it was accepted. So, I got my clients to sign it and cough up the EMD they required. So, we'll see ... I'm good at being a squeaky wheel! :-)

Hang in there. The banks are different than individual sellers. Most banks aren't like this.

NOV

2007

Unfortunately, the banks run on their own timeline, and dont move as quickly as individual homeowners who are trying to sell their home. They only care about the bottomline, and don't mind dragging the process out. Putting in an offer with a 2-3 response deadline is usually pointless; seems like they dont respond for a week to 10 days.

I recommend 8% listings so you don't mind the time & stuff that goes with it and I pretend it's the 1st day of a 9 month pregnancy. It if goes faster I feel blessed and lucky! Banks can be so uncooperative. I've had so many offers turned down just to have the property sit for a year and sell for $100,000 less than the first offer.
Maya Thomas

Lisa,

Good luck! The last bank owned property we handled, we didn't get a signed PA until after the closing!

NOV

2007

WOW! Underwriting did balk at no signed PA?????

Lisa

Once you have a meeting of the minds and are waiting for a final signature if you need one ( we usually go ahead and get it at closing) go directly to the bank and get it. I don't care where they are located, if you have to jump on a plane for the day do it, it will be worth the trip.

I list REO properties, and have had banks get me the signed contract and addenda within 2 hours, others take 10 days and tons of phone calls, and I lost onedeal and listing because the asset manager never responded to an offer until after it was withdrawn and they were notified (about a week after, actually). I would let the listing agent know that your buyers NEED that executed contract to give their lender (if they are borrowing) and you don't mean to be rude, but you will call back and check everyday. If the agent passes that on to their AM, it might get it done quicker.

good luck and congratulations!

Thanks for the advice everybody! I'm learning something new everyday working with REO's! It's great! :-)

NOV

2007

Well, everybody ... it will be 3 weeks since I turned over the EMD and sign paperwork and still no bottom lined PA!!!! I'm at a loss and I'm clients are frustrated beyond belief. I'm starting to really wonder what the real issue is here???

Lisa, This seems to me an inordinately long time. Do you have anything in writing from the bank? Also, what is the Listing Agent saying? When was the anticpated closing?

NOV

2007

Lisa: I've never heard of it taking this long. I wonder if there is a title issue that the bank is trying to get cleared up before sending you a firm commitment? Has the listing agent returned your calls?

Working with the Listing agent to find out what is going on is the key, Banks do move at their own speed and by their own rules.

patience is the key although most counters that you sign say it is not in effect until you get the signed counter in hand so you don't have a contract until everything is signed.

the banks i work with get everything signed within 24-48 hours.

"One thing that worked for me once was to show up at the bank at the beginning of a work day

this is from a earlier comment, in my area the homes are not listed by the bank but through real estate companies, there is a agency relationship in place and i would respectfully suggest not going around the agency relationship, remember that in talking with the Asset manager directly you are talking to the seller without going through the agent which in my area is grounds for a conversation with the Department of real Estate.

I always talk the buyers agent through the process, let them know what to expect, how the banks work. My goal is to get the property sold.

NOV

2007

Well, the bank is Country Wide and their REO Dept is in California, so a trip from MI to their doorstep is kind of out. If they were in MI I would have already been there! Good suggestion.

I do have something from the bank that came with the addendums that states our offer was accepted. I have only spoken to the actual listing agent once throughout the entire process which is now going on over 2 months+ taking into consideration when we first made our offer.

I'm only getting assistants and it's extremely annoying becasue there seems to be no real sense of urgency or understanding on their part that this deal could very well fall apart if they don't start hounding the bank or do whatever it takes to get what's needed. Today is the day I will no longer speak with assistants ...

It's been kind of a weird deal. First, the listing has a address that no longer exists and they didn't take the time to put any properrty ID on it except for "1111111111". It was a real treat trying to find the correct house let me tell ya! Before I made the offer I went to the township and got as much info as possible to make sure I make the offer on the right place. Put the offer in with the CORRECT address and even made reference to it on the addendum. So, I suppose this could be the issue.

Does anyone know what the banks do once they accept the offer and need to sign the addendums?I'm thinking they just need quickly review it since they've seen it once already and sign it? Am I Wrong?

THis is my first bank owned deal so I'm learning as I go ... thanks for the help!

I had a listing agent tell me that he had a contract approved for one his listings and that the approval took him 3 months to get!!! I know none of my clients would want to wait 3 months for a yes or no answer!

Good luck. Real Estate is an emotional thing for many. This helps the "motivation" and thus the reaction and response time. When you replace "emotional human sellers" with a guy at a bank that has dozens of files on his desk - there is little motivation.

I always warn my buyers about bank owned (after a couple deals that drove me nuts!). GOOD LUCK !

DEC

2007

I would have to disagree on the motivation of the banks to sell, I currently deal with over 10 different banks here in Phoenix metro area and my response to a offer is usually within the same day and almost always within 1 business day.

Many times that a offer takes a long time to be responded to is that the offer is too low, that the buyer is trying to steal it or the buyers agents don't take the time to ask the listing agent about the process.

As a example.

I currently have a home listed that is listed at $335000, an agent submitted a offer at $299000 and asked for over $10000 in seller concessions, now she is on the phone to me, sending me emails about why her offer is sooooooooooooo reasonable and that the bank needs to give it to her clients, by the way this home is 30K below comps at list price, is not falling down, is all but move in ready and has been on the market for a week. why should the seller rush to respond to this.

The problem Andrew is that my offer has been accepted. I've been waiting for the banks or their attorneys or whoever the hold is with right now for over 4+weeks. I have no executed documents. The only answer I get from agents office is that the bank is too overwhelmed or simply they don't have it yet.

I asked for bank info and all they gave me was the website. So, tomorrow morning I'll be hunting around trying to find the person responsible for the file and see what I can get out of them. It's complete insanity that it's taking this long to get something as silly as a sign-off on the final docs.

I've been pulling my hair out.

DEC

2007

I know how you feel from the other side, there are a lot of intermediary companies popping up and all seem to be learning as they go. catching everybody in their wake....

DEC

2007

Lisa,

A few ideas- Does the listing agent have anything other than a verbal that the offer was accepted, like an email or fax? We just had one close last week that we did not receive the signed repc until the day of the closing. The banks are all getting further and further behind and the listing agent should be able to give you a good feel for what this particular lender normally does. Also, in regards to earnest money, in Oregon we are able to check a box on the repc that states that until we have a written acceptance by the sellers, that the earnest money will be held by the buyers agent. If that is not available in your state, I would recommend making that part of the written offer to the bank to put your buyers more at ease. Hope that helps.

In AZ you don't have a contract until it is accepted by all parties, we can move forward as if its there but no signed contract no deal.

DEC

2007

Well, after 5+ weeks of hounding the listing office they gave the # to the bank to call myself. I was relieved on one hand to have SOMETHING, but annoyed that I was the one calling. So, get this, when I call her she was all confused because the executed documents had already been sent over to listing agent via email. She kindly forwarded me the email and sure enough they were sent over in 11/16 this was last week when I talked to her.

Again, I was SO annoyed but glad to finally have something to move forward. My clients are happy and we have a tenantive close date of 12/21!!! Yah! :-)

This can be frustrating, the listing agent really has to stay on top of the bank. I agree with the comment that they should have an email of the acceptance. If it's any consolation once I have an accepted offer I have never had any issues.

I waited for weeks before moving on. I do like the showing up at the bank bit. Hard to blow people off when you're at their doorstep. Merry Christmas.

Magic pill? Valium with a Southern Comfort chaser... just kidding. I think even worse than the waiting is waiting 2 weeks to get a counter of "highest and best."

DEC

2007

Good grief, so all this waiting was because of the listing Agent? I suppose all is well that ends well. Have a Great Holiday with your Holiday closing:)

Yep, it was the listing agent. Worst still was when I forwarded the email I received which was a forwarded email to him, he still denied ever seeing paperwork until that day. I must have "STUPID" written all across my forehead or something.

I certainly look forward to this deal being finalized especially for my clients, but have this weird feeling of what will happen next.

Happy Holidays everyone! :-)

MAR

2008

Just a quick update ... this deal just closed Friday 2/29/08. Oh boy, was this one something else. I'm so glad it's closed, so glad my clients are happy and so glad it worked out! Whew!

JUL

2008

This is a funny trick I heard from a real estate investor who was actually dealing with a short sale, but he needed some ACTION from the bank. He started sending a fax to the bank over and over and over, every minute, for over an hour. FINALLY, the bank called him and said "stop sending us faxes!" He apologized and said that his fax machine must have broken and sent them a fax over and over...but while they were on the phone, would they be able to give him an update on his short sale? :)

MAR

Great job Lisa. Persistence can pay.

Funny story Tiffany. I hope I never have to resort to the broken fax tactic.

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