I have a property that has been on the market for 477 days. We initially got a few offers in the 150's before the market turned sharply down last year and the bank turned them down because they felt it was too quick and the offers were likely lower than what they could get by holding out. 477 days later we are still trying to get the property sold. The latest update is about 4 1/2 months ago we lowered the price from the low 150's to 145K in order to get some sort of offer and pause the impending foreclosure. Ultimately the seller is our client and we don't want to see her with a foreclosure on her credit and financially ruined for years to come. The plan worked and we were graced with multiple offers that all came in with in 2K of each other. With 4 offers in hand all right at 140K or below and comps to support them we submitted them to the bank. After 3 months of looking at the offers and frustrated buyers that were holding on by a thread we were told that the bank wouldn't take less than 150K and the realtor commission had to be cut 33.33%. Well the property continues to deteriorate and the landscape is so bad there are HOA fines racking up not to mention past due property taxes that continue. Neighbors complain about the pest problems and send letters and call us to pay for repairs and lawn mowing which is more money for a listing that the bank is not helping us get sold at a realistic price. We lost all the buyers except 1 who is determined to hold his ground at 140K. So at an impasse we wait to see if former Countrywide and now Bank of America wants to rethink that 150K hard and fast counter offer if you could call it that. No doubt the realtor commissions will be sacrificed since the bank always expects us to take a loss right along with them even though we expend about 3 times the time and money on short sales to help them recover more money than a foreclosure would allow them. Why are we faced with this type of issue when common sense tells everyone the right thing to do is speed up the bank decision and accept offers that will net more than a foreclosure especially when they are within market value ranges. It's frustrating to see sellers that are trying to do the right thing but banks who receive TARP money blocking the very problem they created. What can be done to punish this behavior banks continue to practice? Help me answer this and I encourage everyone to write the NAR (National Associaation of Realtors) about this and ask them to lobby for our full commission and an expedited response from banks on short sales.
Thanks,
Eric Olson
Realtor
Sky Realty
512 300-0036 office
512 905-0506 cell
512 366-9993 fax
www.TexasPropertyInformation.com
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