So, you want to buy a home in S. Florida....... (Boynton Beach: bank owned, short sales)

[latergator2008]

......here is my story.

Yes, there are deals, but getting one, is like winning the lottery.

1. Put in an offer for the first home, CASH at $229,000 Bank repo, title in hand, close in 30 days. Listing agent had her own buyer, so she never submitted my offer to the bank! Bank went with her buyer, at $3000 financed for less then my CASH offer. My realtor is bringing her up on ethics violations, however the agent just chalked it up to an honest mistake.

2. Deal #2. Find a nice home, "SHORT SALE APPROVED FOR IMMEDIATE SALE FAST CLOSING" so I make an offer at $15,000 over asking, above appraisal, above all other offers! Agent said she only needs 2 weeks to get the home in agreement with the bank as they have already reviewed the file, as a previous buyer had just walked. Well, she is a liar! Two weeks come and she said she needs a few more days, a few more days. At 30 days of a "few more days", I finally walk. My realtor, again is bringing up the selling agent for ethics violations as there was not "pre-approval, fast closing" of the short sale as advertised. She just figured she would force the file through.

3. Another bank owned foreclosure. By now its been 10 weeks, HELLO, WE HAVE CASH!!!!!!!!!! still no home! So we offer. My agent tells my 99% of the time, banks will go 10% below higher offers when you have cash. This home is hot and gets 16 offers on it! The good deals are far less now then when we first started. We offer $268 CASH, the highest offer is $282. Bank takes the other offer. A week later, their finances fall through (as I predicted) and the selling agent, gleefully contacts us. Hey, its' yours, she says. We accept! We plop down $12,000 in earnest money and move forward. We have our inspection, our survey, start picking out furniture. Then, BAM. Banks finds out from our attorney, there is a second, third and yes forth loan on the home. Banks said they need 90 days to straighten it out. It takes 45 days to get our earnest money back and last I heard, they still have not fixed the issues. Had I not hired an attorney, we would have been royally screwed.

So, now out thousands of dollars in rental expenses, inspections and over 4 months of our time, we are leaving town. Anyone coming down this way, thinking they are going to pick up a home for a good deal, had best be prepared for one hell of a roller coaster ride. Sure there are some great buys, but only a select few people are getting them.

It's a mess down here. Big huge stinking mess. Buying a home here, is like nothing I've ever seen before. Liars, cheats, broken promises, the banks are taking federal money for all this and nothing gets done. Sure, you can get a good deal, but you had best plan on a very long bumpy ride to get it done. Unless you're one lucky SOB.

[Bobstar]

Sorry to hear about your ordeal. I don't think it is typical however. I bought a foreclosure directly from a bank a few months ago. Made the offer and had a signed contract in less than 1 week for less than the asking price and I got them to pay most of the closing costs on top of the already good deal. Only hassle was with the surveyor, who did not know what he was doing and I had had to go to the building dep't to fix his mess. Shortsales, however, are a big hassle but buyers should know that in advance when looking at these properties. I would not give up. Rather, find a better agent.

[TriMT7]

My home purchase was a short sale. It went from offer to close in about 45 days or so. I was told it was "record time"...

Some friends of mine also bought a short sale. Took them a bit longer, but no major problems.

I'm surprised you are having such problems with cash in hand. Apparently homes are selling though. A friend of mine lost out on two houses in Boynton Beach, and is currently competing for one in Wellington. Her price range is over 300k, and she was told that price range is competitive?! Who knows. I thought sub-200 was the competitive place!

[Kimmie-VA]

Originally Posted by Bobstar

Sorry to hear about your ordeal. I don't think it is typical however. I bought a foreclosure directly from a bank a few months ago. Made the offer and had a signed contract in less than 1 week for less than the asking price and I got them to pay most of the closing costs on top of the already good deal. Only hassle was with the surveyor, who did not know what he was doing and I had had to go to the building dep't to fix his mess. Shortsales, however, are a big hassle but buyers should know that in advance when looking at these properties. I would not give up. Rather, find a better agent.

You give me hope Bobstar!

[skylinet]

I have to say I find it kind of odd that you were emailing me saying you didn't have an agent and that I should send you properties and now you are mad at dishonest sellers, but we won't get into that...

Unless these homes have closed already how do you or your agent know what the other offers are at? Also what are you basing market value on, what PAPA is saying or is your agent pulling comps and getting his/her numbers from that?

Are you submitting proof of funds with your offers? Cash offers are usually the best offers if they are comparable to other offers. Why would you offer 10% less on a home that has 16 offers on it?

One thing a lot of people don't understand about an "approved short sale" is that it is usually approved for that buyer under those terms and usually has to close within in a certain amount of days or it goes back into negotiation. Short sale listing prices are all over the place right now, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is... Short sales are a pain under any circumstances.

I sold two foreclosures last month with no issues at all... Not saying I'm a super realtor or anything but I did my research before submitting the offer and advised my buyers to offer accordingly.

Everyone and their brother and sister is trying to scoop up a good deal right now so if it is a nice home you can expect to see competition.

[latergator2008]

Originally Posted by skylinet

I have to say I find it kind of odd that you were emailing me saying you didn't have an agent and that I should send you properties and now you are mad at dishonest sellers, but we won't get into that...

Unless these homes have closed already how do you or your agent know what the other offers are at? Also what are you basing market value on, what PAPA is saying or is your agent pulling comps and getting his/her numbers from that?

Are you submitting proof of funds with your offers? Cash offers are usually the best offers if they are comparable to other offers. Why would you offer 10% less on a home that has 16 offers on it?

One thing a lot of people don't understand about an "approved short sale" is that it is usually approved for that buyer under those terms and usually has to close within in a certain amount of days or it goes back into negotiation. Short sale listing prices are all over the place right now, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is... Short sales are a pain under any circumstances.

I sold two foreclosures last month with no issues at all... Not saying I'm a super realtor or anything but I did my research before submitting the offer and advised my buyers to offer accordingly.

Everyone and their brother and sister is trying to scoop up a good deal right now so if it is a nice home you can expect to see competition.

I was emailing you as after the last deal fell through, my then agent and I parted ways. I wanted to make one last ditch effort to find a home. But after giving it some thought, I have changed my mind. I have money and want a home, unless I pay more for a home then even the banks are willing to loan on one for, its not going to happen. Sure, I can get into another short or foreclosure, but been there, done that. And now there are 10-25 offers on all bank owned forerclosures! Some of the scenario in my earlier posts was altered a bit, as I did not want other agents who posted here, to know it was me.

I gave up and am heading out.

[TriMT7]

What about trying for a non-short sale or non-foreclosure?

[thomasthetrain2]

Did you really expect this to be easy? What were you thinking?

[skylinet]

Here's a great deal for you... RMLS RES Customer No VT Report This is a worst case scenario foreclosure. Sad to see people do this to such a nice home...
Seriously though the issues you ran into are unfortunate, but at the prices you can buy a foreclosure at it's usually worth the headache. People like Bobstar can attest to that. Short sales if you are patient and have a few months to burn can be worth it as well depending on the situation.

[skylinet]

I have to ask, are you Williamharman as well??? Seem very similar