"When the Lord gets ready, you gotta move!" You might remember these lyrics from a song by Mississippi Fred McDowell. Or you might remember the way the Mick Jagger and company sang them. As memorable as that song is, if you're an Buyer looking at REOs, you might want to remember them as a reminder about what to do when good bank properties come onto the market.
I just had a call from an investor to whom I've been automatically sending listings for new bank properties. He got this new REO listing notification yesterday, and called me just now to go see it. Well, today is all of day number three on the market, and after getting in touch with the listing agent, I had to call and tell him it was effectively sold already. Ouch.
(I'm sure you can do this with your MLS. If you're not already sending listings to your contacts, or if you know you can but haven't taken the time to figure out how to do it already, then you should sit down right now and take care of it. This single capability has been a godsend to me. I've increased the number of Buyer contacts I'm "working with" exponentially with this tool. You can make it work for you as well.)
The moral of the story is that if you think a house may be a good deal, someone else probably will too, and you better make darn sure you get over there to take a look just as soon as you possibly can. And while you're at it, try to either
•· have an approval letter ready to go or be able to get one immediately from your lender if you'll be financing your purchase with a conventional loan, or
•· have a proof of funds letter from your bank ready to submit with your purchase agreement if you're paying cash.
Sometimes banks will entertain offers for a few days, and ask all interested parties to submit a "highest and best" offer by a certain date and time, but as my story today proves, you certainly can't count on it.
Good luck!
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