I am a negotiating "FOOL"

I am a negotiating "FOOL" here in Manchester Nh when it comes to bank owned homes. For me there is a good thing the word "fool" can be used in different ways. You see i got nearly 20 offers upon getting a new listing. It was a multy family home, needed alot of work and was advertised as "cash only" with "no" contingincies. Did buyers read? Did their agents read? maybe, but they certainly did not abide by the request. Becuase of the homes condition there may not be any mortgages available and becuase of the damage, it would not pass your average home inspection.

For a cash buyer looking to buy at a great price and fix it up, this was a dream.

Now in the dictionary they 2 definitions of fool are:

1. A person who lacks judgment or sense.

2. An ardent enthusiast who cannot resist an opportunity to indulge an enthusiasm (usually preceded by a present participle): He's just a dancing fool.

Now i definately do not meet definition 1 as i clearly printed the requirements of any offer and i definately eat, sleep and breathe real estate so definition 2 is me. So that leaves definition 1  to include the offers that did not meet the criteria for offers.

When a property like this is listed and i know there will be or are a lot of offers, i know the asset manager will ask me to go back and ask for at least 1 round of highest and best offers. This could eat up a couple of days. To avoid delays i tell each buyer and or their agent to place their highest and best offer on their initial offer that we are in a multiple offer situation. Each was told offers would be submitted at 9am. After reviewing the offers and picking out the ones with mortgae contingincies, the 1 with fha financing, the ones with home inspections including 1 that asked for a 20 day inspection, the one that asked the owner to finance and the one that asked for the seller to make complete repairs and get a certificate of complinace for less than the cash asking price. There were still some great cash offers. The factors were going to be simply price and closing date. It took longer to upload the offers than it took to get a an answer and get this property under contract.

The rest of the day i was left answering multiple questions for those whose offers were not accepted and if i hear "but why" one more time i am going to scream. Cash only means cash only, if the property was not the victim of having it's copper pipes removed, electrical wires removed and had operational heat and water, it would be priced double and be entertaining fha mortgages, but it was not.

If you are looking to buy a bank owned property, you need to carefully read the description. Good listing agents will have the property inspected prior to listing to know what if any mortgages can be use dto purchase which saves time from being declined 30-45 days from your offer.

Please see my blog for a complete list of tips and advice when buying a bank owned home.

http://www.trulia.com/blog/scott_godzyk/2008/08/so_you_want_to_buy_a_for



ONE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE'S LEADING IN DEPENDANT REAL ESTATE BROKERS