Almost all of the offers that I have been writing these days are for bank owned foreclosures (REO). I've noticed that one of the ways the listing agents are sifting out some of the multiple offers (that sentence alone indicates how hot the market is right now) is by making the potential buyers jump through a lot of hoops. I still remember the look on the face of one of my colleagues when I discussed the fact that there were 70 offers on a property and the highest bids were about $70,000 above the listing price. I had a buyer that was interested in making an offer but he backed away when he heard how many offers were on the table. My colleague (and the 68 other agents) on the other hand had to go back and tell their client that the listing agent was just wasting everyone's time by pricing the property so low.
Recently more and more of the REO listings are requiring buyers to get cross pre-qualified with a representative from the bank that owns the property. Is it really fair to the buyers to have to go through the pre-qualification again and again? I even had one bank tell me they will actually run my buyer's credit again even though I already provided them with the credit report and the 5 page loan application! I had another one recently tell me they will not provide loan qualification until we have an approved offer, but the listing agency wouldn't even submit the offer without a pre-qualification letter from that bank??? The listing agent and the bank are still trying to figure that one out. Meanwhile my client's offer is still sitting on the desk of their transaction coordinator and it still hasn't been submitted. Don't these banks want to sell the property? Sometimes I feel they just want an agent who is willing to put together the most complete package rather than the one with the highest offer. Luckily for my clients, they have an agent who has been through this process several times recently and I can attest to the fact that acting quickly and providing a complete package when submitting the offer seems to increase the chances of getting our offer accepted dramatically. And good luck getting a response. The agents are not available by phone for an update and I'm still waiting for any kind of response for more than a week sometimes. That's being said, I still have several clients enjoying their first home at prices they never thought they would see in North Orange County.
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