[quote=bearishgurl]How do you know it “sold” for $250K a week later?[/quote]
It’s been a while, but I believe I went to the county records office to lookup the sale information. Either that or I did google-fu to find out who bought it and who was selling it and who was the new listing agent. I am sure the listing agent was the same person who sold it both times though. On Zillow it shows it sold for $245k and the last sale was $320k and both were in the same month, and I remember seeing one listing go away and a new one pop up. In fact, our realtor told us it was back on the market for $300+ and asked if we wanted to make an offer, but that was just the last straw for us as for buying a house.
[quote=bearishgurl]If it DID recently sell, was the listing agent, his broker or a “straw buyer” on behalf of either one the “buyer?”[/quote]
I’m not sure I understand. The listing agent was the same agent when it sold for $245k as a short sale and then sold again for $300k+ as a traditional sale. The name of the buyer in the first sale was the same name as the person who owned/sold it in the second sale.
[quote=bearishgurl]Did the listing agent or his broker have a financial interest in the property when it was bought in 10/09 for $320K (within the period of time of the local market “trough”).[/quote]
I have no idea. From what I recall he was listed only as the listing agent. He was not listed as an owner of the property in any way in the first or second sale, as far as I can remember.
[quote=bearishgurl]Did you ever ask why it was listed at $250K when it was bought only three years prior during a period of low MIR’s and low prices? If so, what story did the LA give you?[/quote]
Basically, the story was the bank had already approved the short-sale at that price and if we bid on this house we would get it. Not only did my agent tell me that the listing agent told him this, but the listing agent also told me this directly when I was finally able to get him to call me. We actually wanted to bid a higher price to have a better chance of getting it, but our agent said he didn’t want us to pay more than we had to and that we risk the bank doing something different with the short sale if it gets a higher price than what its already approved.
[quote=bearishgurl]paulflorez, could YOUR agent actually have bought the property (under a spouse or relative’s name?) or gotten a straw buyer on his behalf before the short lender to purchase the property for $250K cash in order to effectively eliminate the higher debt on it. Could it be that he had his “bid” considered in lieu of yours in exchange for a another listing to the SS LA upon closing?[/quote]
This is as much as possibility as the listing agent working with someone else to get the house via short sale at a very low price and then at the higher price. Either way, the listing agent gets commission twice on the same house in one month. Additional kickbacks may have been involved, who knows. What bothers me the most is that the listing agent encouraged us to bid $245k and, even more upsetting, our agent discouraged us from being more competitive in our bidding. I don’t know if it would have made any difference though, if the intent was that they get it at the lower price and they are in control of who it is sold to, they would have found a way to disqualify our bid.
