Thread: Short Sale - Under contract to someone else, anyway I can bid?

Write a back up offer for more than list price and have the listing agent send the offer to the loss mitigation department at the bank. It is possible the bank will reject the lower offer and take the higher offer.

No guarantees but it is worth the effort.

Thanks Greg!

Thats what I plan to do. I am going to go to city hall tomorrow and look up who the lein holders are and contact the loan loss department. I also talked to the seller's agent who confirmed its under contract and they cant market it to me..... but if it did fall though and i was willing to offer, what would I offer? I said i would be ok with the listing price.

At this point the agent became much more interested in talking to me We spent about 15 minutes going over the pros and cons of the property, and when I asked what i could do to get the sale to go my way he said he couldnt legally tell me what to do or not to do, but if i approached the lender directly it would likely impact his current sale.

So... i think I may approach the lender directly

Any other creative thoughts?

Originally Posted by robilium

So... i think I may approach the lender directly

Any other creative thoughts?

Keep in mind:

This property is still owned by the seller, and they are legally selling it. Which means they have to sign a contract for the sale.

Their bank is just approving a lower price than the amount owed on the mortgage. So going to the bank directly won't guarantee anything either.

Be careful you don't waste a ton of time on this, since there are ALWAYS other properties that will fit your needs. Also remember us Realtors and Negotiators do this for a living. There's a reason we get paid for it and do it everyday. It's not easy or fast. Some go through, some don't.

Originally Posted by robilium

I called this morning and the realtor told me it just went under contract yesterday. I would really like to purchase this house, do I have any options?

Well, one question I have is... did it go under contract, meaning that the lender HAS ACCEPTED the offer, and now the contract is BINDING? Or has an OFFER been submitted to the lender, for their approval? These are two VERY DIFFERENT things. If only an offer has been submitted, without an acceptance, then as was suggested, submit a offer, that has less contingencies (if it is a SS, then have NO contingencies, since that is what the lender will counter with anyway,) and have a higher price (as long as the price MAKES SENSE.) Remember, nothing is set in stone, until the closing has taken place.

One thing I will mention, as I have said it many times before, DON'T FALL IN LOVE WITH A BUILDING! There are many out there just like it, it is not a person! Make sure that your offers are made on emotionless terms. Once you get emotions involved with your offers, the more you will be willing to lose; and the more you will.

Just my $0.00000000002 worth!

Later!

Great clarification -

The offer was submitted to the seller who accepted and it was then sent to an Asset Management company hired by the bank (and not loss mitigation). It did not go under SSC. As I was deciding whether or not to call the asset management company directly the sellers agent called me and said the bank REFUSED the other person's offer.

I ended up finding a buyers agent skilled in short sales and she walked me through the steps. Within 24 hours i had a significant earnest money cashiers check and a full pre-approval for financing. We submitted the bid at 5k below the asking price of $425. Based on the buyer agent's experience the listing was already discounted "top down" from 750 (original list) to 425 and that was likely the asking price. She relayed that asset management companies drop the price all the way down in order to get a large viewing and multiple bids.

I am currently under contract with the seller. The Asset Management company has 4 business days to accept and then the bank (HSBC) has 20 business days to accept (but can be extended if we desire).

Does this make sense?

THANKS for the additional insight, it was GREAT!

Originally Posted by robilium

Great clarification -

The offer was submitted to the seller who accepted and it was then sent to an Asset Management company hired by the bank (and not loss mitigation). It did not go under SSC. As I was deciding whether or not to call the asset management company directly the sellers agent called me and said the bank REFUSED the other person's offer.

I ended up finding a buyers agent skilled in short sales and she walked me through the steps. Within 24 hours i had a significant earnest money cashiers check and a full pre-approval for financing. We submitted the bid at 5k below the asking price of $425. Based on the buyer agent's experience the listing was already discounted "top down" from 750 (original list) to 425 and that was likely the asking price. She relayed that asset management companies drop the price all the way down in order to get a large viewing and multiple bids.

I am currently under contract with the seller. The Asset Management company has 4 business days to accept and then the bank (HSBC) has 20 business days to accept (but can be extended if we desire).

Does this make sense?

THANKS for the additional insight, it was GREAT!

This makes GREAT sense! Local professionals who have experience in the locale market are the best source of information - especially on how transactions are processing right now.

All the best!