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Buying foreclosures in Poinciana Fl.

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC BK607690

Hi folks. How often have you had Buyers call you wanting to buy a foreclosure? Usually, when this happens to me it's first time homebuyers who are really just looking for a "deal". Of course many times they also have no money.

When this happens I spend time with them on the phone explaining how difficult it is to purchase a foreclosed property. Not only is it difficult but if it's a "good deal" you are going to need to have strong finances to even have a shot at getting it. Investors buy the "good deals" and they play with cash.

Foreclosures can be a good opportunity to purchase a property below market value but they really aren't for the inexperienced Buyer. If you have no money and need the Seller to pay all of your closing costs, then more than likely, you will NOT get a "good deal" in the foreclosure market. It can be done but you will certainly want to work with an experienced agent and you will want to make sure you have been approved for a mortgage before shopping.

You will also have to move fast. The property will be sold "As Is" with right to inspect. You will want to have it inspected and be prepared to walk away if you are not in a position to pay for repairs. You will not be reimbursed for inspection costs if you don‘t close on it.

Janet Guilbault wrote a post earlier this week about one of the pitfalls of purchasing a foreclosure, the dreaded per diem penalty!!! Unlike a normal purchase, if the closing is delayed the Buyer will be required to pay a penalty for every day the deal doesn't close beyond the contractual closing date. This is usually $100 to $200 per day! And if you can't close it at all......kiss your deposit good bye.

I wrote an offer on a foreclosure property this week for one of my Buyers. The nine page bank addendum, in addition to the per diem clause, also had this little gem in it:

SELLER'S UNCONDITIONAL RIGHT TO CANCEL THE CONTRACT AND/OR ADDENDUM:

AT ANY TIME AFTER THE EXECUTION OF THE CONTRACT AND/OR ADDENDUM, SELLER SHALL HAVE THE UNLIMITED RIGHT AND AT IT'S COMPLETE DISCRETION, TO ELECT TO DEEM THE CONTRACT AND/OR ADDENDUM BETWEEN THE BUYER AND SELLER NULL AND VOID AND NOT CLOSE THE TRANSACTION FOR ANY REASON AND THE PARTIES SHALL BE RESTORED TO THEIR ORIGINAL POSITION AS IF THE CONTRACT AND/OR ADDENDUM NEVER EXISTED.

SHOULD SELLER EXERCISE IT'S DECISION TO NULLIFY THE CONTRACT AND/OR ADDENDUM, THEN SELLER SHALL RETURN THE DEPOSIT AS DEFINED IN PARAGRAPH B(5) TO THE BUYER. HOWEVER, IT IS SELLER'S SOLE DISCRETION AS TO WHETHER OR NOT IT WILL REIMBURSE THE BUYER FOR ANY COSTS, AS OUTLINED IN PARAGRAPH 6(B), OR OTHERWISE.

THE BUYER AGREES THAT SHOULD THE SELLER CANCEL THE SALE FOR ANY REASON THAT THEY WAIVE THEIR RIGHT TO SUE FOR SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE AND/OR DAMAGES AND FULLY RELEASE THE SELLER AS FURTHER SET FORTH IN RELEASE CONTAINED WITHIN PARAGARPH W HEREIN.
***********************************************

This clause basically states that the Seller can back out of the contract at anytime prior to closing for any reason at all. They will give the deposit back but may or may not reimburse the Buyer for any costs they have paid i.e inspections, survey and appraisal.

The Buyer is obligated to perform under the contract the Seller isn't.

We removed this clause when we made the offer but the Bank refused to negotiate with us if we made any changes on their addendum. So we put it back in and agreed to it.

Fortunately, my Buyer is very experienced, is paying cash and is willing to take the risk to purchase a property 20% below market value. We can only hope that the Bank doesn't find a better deal before my Buyer has a chance to close. We want to close in 10 days to limit the risk. So we'll see how it turns out.

The point of this post is to be very careful when negotiating on Bank owned properties(REOs). Make sure to read every word of that Bank addendum and make sure your Buyer fully understands what rights they are giving up.

Buying foreclosures can be a good way to get a "deal". Just make sure you know what you are getting into. They are not for the inexperienced. In my market you do not have to buy a foreclosure to get a "good deal". There are better and safer ways to buy Real Estate. Find a good and experienced REALTOR® to help you out. Better yet......call Broker Bryant! Any thoughts?

Sell Poinciana Real Estate Poinciana Real Estate Poinciana Real Estate Poinciana Real Estate Agent

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Bryant Tutas
Broker/Owner
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker
http://www.brokerbryant.com/
***The content of this blog is solely my opinion***

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Comments (25)

Michael Eisenberg
eXp Realty - Bellingham, WA
Bellingham Real Estate Guy
I was also able to get two of these banks to give us extensions without charging the penalty twice recently, when the late closing was not the actual fault of the buyer.
Feb 17, 2008 07:03 AM
Lenn Harley
Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate - Leesburg, VA
Real Estate Broker - Virginia & Maryland

We've gotten all of our foreclosure offers through this year, although I think we've had only about 4 or 5  I'm advertising heavily to forelcosure buyers, but they usually end up buying something else.  I don't deal much with investors, so our buying pool is different.  One of our buyers also got a $2,000 reduction when the home inspection showed that the furnace thermostat didn't work.  We keep the home inspection addendum whereby the buyer can void the contract based on the home inspection. 

We also got a short sale ratified Friday. 

I believe that banks are beginning to move these things along although foreclosed properties have never been much of a problem around here. 

I suppose your market is unique because of the low prices.

Feb 17, 2008 07:11 AM
Karen Webster...Grand Rapids, MI Realtor
5 Star Real Estate, Grand Rapids MI - Grand Rapids, MI
I think the lawyer who wrote the seller's paperwork could have a brilliant career writing celebrity pre-nups.
Feb 17, 2008 07:27 AM
Katerina Gasset
The Gasset Group & Get It Done For Me Virtual Services - Provo, UT
Amplify Your Real Estate & Life Dreams!
Bryant- We always attempt to get those clauses out of the contracts, sometimes we get it deleted, sometimes we don't. But we try. We just had one of our short sales that is closing next week where the lender put in that type of clause in the 3rd party approval. They also added that the seller could cancel the contract with no penalty anytime up to closing! To top it all off, we had a HOA president have the nerve to tell us that we he did not like our commission that we were entitled to and that his HOA fees owing to him needed to be paid out of our fee! 
Feb 17, 2008 08:06 AM
Fran Gatti
RE/MAX Integrity - Medford, OR
Managing Principal Broker - RE/MAX Integrity
I agree with you. Our market has ample listings that are priced well with seller's who are willing to negotiate.  In many instances, these are going to be a much better deal than the headaches that can come with a foreclosure.
Feb 17, 2008 09:33 AM
Carole Cohen
Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office - Cleveland, OH
Realtor, ePRO
Waiting two to three days? Well here, it depends on the bank; I'm still waiting on one offer and it has been five weeks; I also have a listing asking to be a short sale and just got notice that after four weeks it will now be another three! It's the same lender in both cases. Luckily that is not always true. Is this going to be our life for the next year? Happy Prez Day weekend, Bryant!
Feb 17, 2008 11:13 AM
Nancy Brenner
Referral Associates of Georgia, Inc. - Roswell, GA
Roswell Georgia Real Estate Agent
I've got a first time home buyer closing on a foreclosure on the 22nd.  We had to extend the finance contingency twice and the closing date once.  Reason???  The first lender would not give her a loan because the carpet had a urine smell to it.  Go figure!
Feb 17, 2008 11:41 AM
Amanda Evans
DFW Living - Fort Worth, TX
Real Estate Broker - Fort Worth Texas

Last Spring, one of my agents did not realize that it isn't typical to negotiate repairs on foreclosures and she managed to save the buyer $7000 on a $90K deal. Never hurts to ask!

Those clauses that the seller can back out we haven't seen yet.

I'm all for the $100 per diem and we use it. Since I started using the per diem in the Fall of 2006, I've only had one delayed closing and the buy side was charged $300 out of escrow for it.  I got sick of explaining delayed closings because of buyers not getting docs to the lender or the lender not getting docs to the title company while my sellers are packed up and ready to move on with their lives.  I didn't think the $100 was enough to get people's attention but the attorney's said not to push it.  It's working!

Feb 17, 2008 11:51 AM
Alan 'AJ' Nisen California Contra Costa Mortgage Officer
A Large Bank in America - Lafayette, CA

BB, I have done a fair number of mortgages for borrowers purchasing foreclosed homes.  I have only come across a per-diem penalty one time (partly because often the lender who owns the property takes 3 to 10 days to respond to the purchase contract) nor has the bank owning the forclosure ever cancelled a contract. This may be in part because they trust BofA backing the purchase contract.  There is so much pressure from lenders to get rid of property now.  Just a couple of month ago, the real estate professionals that I work with had to really negotiate for a purchase price (Banks were playing hard ball).  Lately, there seems to be less negotiating.  Banks seem to be accepting any reasonable offer.  AJ

Feb 17, 2008 11:58 AM
Ken Cook
Content, coding, marketing, host. - Marietta, GA
Content Marketer/Creator
And PLEASE for Pete's sake don't try to get it closed in less than 30 days. Everytime I get a contract for an REO purchase loan I throw them all into a big conference call and explain exactly what I need, when I need it and if you miss it by one day I don't EVER want to hear how the lender held you up. The agents I work with all know to allow 45 days because if we need an addendum to the contract - very common - it takes about 7 to 10 days to get the fully executed copy back from the seller and we are NOT going to underwriting without a fully executed contract matching the loan docs. Normally they close in 2 or 3 weeks but there is that stray one that goes to 6 weeks. Like Bryant said - $100 per DAY minimum and Ken doesn't pay for it or discount the loan unless it's Ken's fault. So far it never has been Ken's fault but Ken has had some buyer's reps ask Ken to lower HIS commission to "help offset the cost to the client".
Feb 17, 2008 02:30 PM
Rebecca Levinson, Real Estate Marketing and Online Advertising Consultant
Real Skillz-Clear Marketing for Your Real Estate Vision - Lake Geneva, WI
I have had agents tell me that buyers think they can get the steal of the century, and like you say, sometimes it just isn't that way and there are other deals on the market.  Do you have any experience with REOs that go to auction.  Are the terms even more strict.  I did some research a few months ago on this topic and it seemed that you have to have a good chunk down and the terms are even harder, yet I have seen many articles that seem to play up auctions and there are online auction sites too.
Feb 17, 2008 04:32 PM
Neal Bloom
Brokered by eXp Realty LLC - Weston, FL
Realtor CRS-Weston FL Real Estate

BB, 

Most first time buyers are not fully educated on how a foreclosure is purchased..there are many steps to follow..first in order for the bank to have incentive...they want to see a strong buyers with adequate financing...why would they sell to a buyer with no money down?

 It will just pass on the problem to them...too risky...buyers think when they hear the word foreclosure that they will get a great deal which might be true...but the bank isn't going to take every deal unless they feel the risk isn't high and the buyers really can afford it. I recently closed on an REO and the buyer came in with 20% down bought the property under market and did get a deal..but they came in with enough down so to me it was a no brainer. The bank actually had more than 100K of a loss on the amount they had on their mortgage.

Feb 17, 2008 10:25 PM
Dan Forbes
Bradenton, FL
BB- Good advice...It's important to READ all the paperwork involved.  Funny how banks always get it their way, just because they have the money.
Feb 17, 2008 10:58 PM
Wayne Miller
San Diego, CA

Short Sales, Foreclosures and overpriced homes...oh my.  

Lately I feel like we are walking through a landmine. 

Feb 18, 2008 05:11 AM
Bryant Tutas
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC - Winter Garden, FL
Selling Florida one home at a time

Hey guys. I appreciate you stopping by.

I just listed a couple of REOs so wrote this post for the Google juice. ActiveRain is awesome for that!!!

I have the first position on Google for.

  1. Buying a foreclosure in Poinciana
  2. Selling a foreclosure in Poinciana
  3. REOs in Poinciana
  4. Foreclosures in Poinciana
  5. Poinciana foreclosures for sale
  6. List a foreclosure in Poinciana
  7. Find a foreclosure in Poinciana
  8. Sell a foreclosure in Poinciana

Not bad for one post and one day!!!! Maybe I'll get some bank business from it. 

Feb 18, 2008 05:52 AM
R. B. "Bob" Mitchell - Loan Officer Raleigh/Durham
Bank of England (NMLS#418481) - Raleigh, NC
Bob Mitchell (NMLS#1046286)

I've seen those contracts before and think that they need to be made illegal!  It's hard to swallow that they are SOOOOO one sided....That said, I have had some success in getting the banks to bend at least a little bit on one or two of them.  Not so much on some of the other one's that I've written....

 

Bob Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc. 

Feb 18, 2008 07:28 AM
Rob Arnold
Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. - Altamonte Springs, FL
Metro Orlando Full Service - Investor Friendly & F
I wonder if that clause they are using would hold up in court.  Seems like it turns the contract into more of a right of first refusal.  I bet if there was a problem, the bank would not be allowed to keep the buyer's deposit either.
Feb 18, 2008 10:57 AM
Randy L. Prothero
eXp Realty - Hollister, MO
Missouri REALTOR, (808) 384-5645
I get many first time buyers asking about foreclosures.  We do not have many in our market and I give them the same warnings as you give here.  That usually causes them to decide to look in other pastures.
Feb 18, 2008 11:27 AM
James Downing - Metro DC Houses Team REALTORS®, CRS, GRI, ABR,MRP, MilRes
Real Living | At Home - Washington, DC
When Looking to Buy or Sell - Make the Right Move
Deals are to be had - but I HATE those Bank Addendums.  They keep the Bank with every protection and the Buyer with.... well the *hopes* of getting a home.
Feb 21, 2008 12:00 AM
Anonymous
Anonymous

These per deim penalties are illegal - If you consult a real estate lawyer you can sue the seller, the seller's agent, and buyer's agent.  You may have to pay the penalties initially but the practice is completely unlawful - does not matter if you sign a contract - seller's agents are obviously being strongarmed by the lenders - problem is that you can wind up being sued for more than the per deim fees - including lawyers fees and punitive damages.  Different states may have different rules but for the most part (in most cases) the seller cannot prove they have $100 or $200 out of pocket expenses. 

Jan 27, 2009 11:23 AM
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