Here are some more FAQ's.  I'm almost at the end.....for now.

Is the Seller Negotiable?

This really depends on the bank that is selling the home. In the past year, we are finding that most banks do not have to negotiate or accept an offer lower than their asking price because there are buyers ready to give them their asking price. There are situations where a home may not be receiving market attention (i.e. it is on market more than 60 days and not sold) and then the Seller is likely to be negotiable.

In the end, it is really no different than buying John and Jane Doe's house. If you want to make an offer the day they put their home on the market they are not likely to be negotiable. If you find their home after it has been on market a few months you are likely to find them negotiable.

Will the Seller pay closing costs? Can I ask for repairs to the property?

Corporate sellers are generally bottom line oriented. In other words, they are looking at the net sale to the company. For example, if you are offering $100,000 on a property and requesting $3000 in closing costs, then to the Seller it is a $97,000 offer.

Most Bank Sellers only like to perform those repairs necessary for your loan to be approved. An amount must be negotiated into the contract at the time of offer. If no repair provisions are negotiated at the time of offer, and your lender requires repairs to the property, then the sale price will have to be increased to cover the cost of those repairs. You will not be allowed to go into the home to do repairs prior to closing. Only the Seller's licensed contractors will be allowed to perform repairs to the property.

How do I make an offer ?

Once you determine you wish to make an offer you contact your SunRaye associate or your Realtor. At the time of offer you must provide a Mortgage pre-qualification letter or pre-approval letter, it must be on the correct contract. Once we have received the correct documents, your offer is submitted to the Seller in a format the Seller has instructed us to use.

To the corporate Seller, there is not any personality to the offer. Quite frankly, they are just looking at the numbers.

Can I submit a Letter of Intent?

No. Letter's of Intent are not given any consideration what so ever. When we receive a Letter of Intent, the Seller is notified of the Letter as we are lawfully required to "Submit all Offers." However, that is as far as it goes, as currently all of the corporate Seller's we represent instruct us not to present any offers that are not properly written as detailed here.

How are negotiations handled?

Once you have determined you wish to make an offer on a bank owned home, you instruct the SunRaye Realty agent (or your own agent) to write the offer. The offer is then presented to the Bank Seller. The Bank Seller will give us a verbal acceptance, counter offer or rejection.

In the case of an acceptance or counter offer, this is verbal from the Bank to SunRaye Realty and is transmitted verbally to you. All negotiations are conducted verbally until a final agreement is reached between you and the Bank seller. Once that agreement is reached either the original contract offer is amended or a new contract is prepared containing the agreed upon terms. You the Buyer will sign or initial the contract and then the copy with your original signature is sent via overnight mail to the Seller.

It will take the Seller anywhere from three (3) to seven (7) days to sign and return the fully executed contract to us.

One more to come, most likely tomorrow......maybe tonight if I get some time.