I do a good bit with REO properties as well as relocations and as anyone who has ever worked these knows, they are always sold AS-IS. These are pretty much the first words out of my mouth when I show an REO to a client or even tell them about one. These seemingly normal people who appear to comprehend English both spoken & written will tell me repeatedly that they understand that it is AS-IS. But.............it seems almost inevitable that at some point in the process they will start asking for repairs, allowances and frankly stupid stuff. Here we have a lender that we have beaten up sufficiently to get a MAJOR discount from there asking price and what does the buyer do? Yep, ask for stupid stuff. My latest genius wanted the toilets & windows cleaned. I am as forceful as I can be without being downright rude in telling them that AS-Is means they won't fix anything. Code violations are a different matter as they won't be able to sell the property without a fix. But clean the toilets???Really??
Really.
My favorite is 'replace the roof', and for some reason I have gotten two of those in the last 2 months. Even if it were a 'normal' sale, the idea (at least in RI) is that the Buyers Inspection contingency is about undisclosed defects, and yet I have had two Buyer Agents come back after inspections requesting an allowance for a bad roof.
Of course, the clue here is they were asking for an allowance, as in 'lets re-negotiate the contract'. Funny story from the last time this happened, the Buyers Agent came back with the request for an allowance of $8,000. (and included an estimate from a roofing company). The bank asked me to get two other estimates and then we went back to the Buyers and said ' sure the roof is a problem we will replace it before closing'.
I was dissapointing the bank gave in, but enjoyed the fact that the estimates we got from local and reputable roofers was half of the Buyers estimate. They got the new roof but still seemed a little unhappy about it.
Clark, It is amazing. I just had one that complained about some loose shingles and made such a big deal that the underwriters freaked and they almost didn't get the home. So much for the 30k discount.
I haven't done any REO's recently but I used to do a lot of probate sales and ran in to the same thing. Some people just don't get it do they?
Chris, sometimes we have to sit down with clients and have a solid talk about what to expect. I suggest writing out the process for short sales and BPO so there are no surprises. By asking for silly things, they are jeopardizing their purchase.
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Regina P. Brown
I guess it's part of the buyer's market mentality. I enjoyed the post. REO listings do draw some ridiculous demands.
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