This blog ended up being part II of a blog I wrote called Consumers....Watch Out- Would Your Realtor® Jeopardize Their Real Estate License with this deal? Part I  back on 10/13/07.

It was a true story regarding an unusual offer I received on one of my listings.

The reason I wrote about it was I was hoping for lots of feedback and I was uncomfortable when I looked at it and had to present it to my client. Also when I presented it to them I let them know that as their Realtor®...I felt there was something very fishy with this offer and they agreed.

Well today I received an even more unusual offer but seemed similar to the past one. I want to share this one as well so I'm hoping for as much feedback as I can get. Oh...did I forget to mention that I did present this to my client?  We both agreed that it would not be in his best interest to entertain it. Even though it had some of the same qualities as the other offer I felt at this point there were way too many unknowns and also I wasn't willing to jeopardize my license just to make a deal and my client didn't want to do anything that wasn't legal so both agreed that there was too much of a risk and that it might come back to bite both of us years later. But we weren't really sure.

So let me just tell you about this home first. This listing has been on the market for a long time. It was originally priced at $510,000 and at the time we listed it the market was much different.  It's 4BR 2.5 Bth home on a lakefront lot. When we first put the home on the market we received a few offers that my client turned down. Remember....this is not a short sale and he was fortunate enough to purchase it before the Real Estate boom. After the first of the year...we re-evaluated the market and decided to reposition his home in the market based on the lack of activity we were getting...the inventory and declining values. The property is now priced at $450,000. As the values continue to drop the home is now receiving some interest and the showings have gone up.

I received this call from a Realtor® who asked if the property was still available. After I told them yes..they informed me that they were going to fax me an offer in the form of a letter of intent.

In my neck of the woods....most agents would know that it's rare to get a letter of intent of a residential property. Normally we get a full contract but occaionally I might just get a verbal offer instead just to make sure we aren't wasting time. But hey......maybe I'm missing something.

Normally letters of intent are for commercial property. I personally never received any on a residential property so the light bulb went off. I then questioned it and asked the agent if he would mind telling me what the offer and terms were before I am surprised. He was not directly answering my question other than telling me that the offer was $380,000 net net.

My light bulb went off again  and this wasn't the first time I heard the words net net. He basically said that everything I needed to know would be in the letter of intent. I then asked him if the buyer actually saw the home because I didn't recognize the name of his firm ever calling to show it. He said no but that's why they were sending me this letter of intent and that if my seller agreed to work with this offer that then they would go see the home.

This was beginning to sound even more bizarre but I figured maybe it was a new way to sell property to buyers so I didn't want to make a big deal about it and just said to send it to me and I would present it to my client.

So put on your thinking caps and make sure you think about it.

 About 15 minutes go by and I receive this...

  List Price $450,000

         offer $450,000

Mortgage $415,000

   90% loan to value

        Deposit $4,000

Seller agrees to pay at closing $70,000 to buyer

Buyer will provide seller HUD 1,pre approval letter.

I walled the agent back to ask him where the 70K was going. He really didn't give me a legitimate answer that would have swayed us either way and the home's value is higher.

Now these figures are just samples but the story is true and I would like to hear any opinions you have.

For more information please contact Neal The Real Deal Bloom-Realtor® /Remax Premier Assoc.

2500 Weston Road ,Suite 103

Weston FL 33331

(954)608-5556 Direct
(954)212-0257 Fax

nealb63@myacc.net