[quote=EmilyHicks]1. Do I need a realtor specialized in foreclosed home? My sister-in-law (our realtor with 2 yr experience) seems to discourage us from trying to buy foreclosed homes or short sale homes. Is she inexperienced, or the effort putting into buying a distressed home to cumbersome that it is not worth it?
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Yes, you need someone that is versed in the foreclosed and short sale processes. Not the generic process either, the real process used by each institution. Bank of America’s process is different than Wells which is different than the others. They are all pretty much the same, except all the stupid little gotchas and delays and turn-around times that will drive you absolutely bonkers.
In addition, you need your primary agent to have GREAT people skills. I mean really GREAT. They need to be able to hound the bank’s asset manager, the selling agent, the 2nd lien holders, the mortgage guy, etc in such a way that they get and keep things moving and keep you in the loop while simultaneousness managing your expectations and keeping things pleasant so all parties involved don’t decide to just do a big screw-you cause they’re fed up. For example, you will need your agent to be able to determine what’s gong on when the seller’s agent says they’re waiting on reply when in reality the bank is trying to squeeze another couple thousand dollars out of your sellers and the whole deal is on the verge of the toilet and the seller’s agent is feeding them the same line of baloney for three weeks… You need to be prepared for the banks’ asset manager going on vacation in the middle your deal and everything going on hold for two weeks. You need to be prepared for the bank to ignore it’s deadlines and then provide you less than a week to complete the process. You need to be prepared to close within 30 days on submitting your offer and then potentially have to sit on your thumbs for six months.
That is short sales. Your agent should tell you that. If they don’t they aren’t your short sale agent. Pre-approved short sales? They may be better, or they may not, BofA restarts the process, or at least used to.
So in reality, yes, you need someone well versed in buying a shortsale or foreclosure. Short sales are worse. Foreclosures are competitive. But, the real question is “Are you ready to buy a short sale?”
Really think about that one, because if you’re not, you’re really doing everybody a massive disservice.
