Fencesitter I would recommend you sit down with your realtor or broker to come up with a cohesive strategy of how to deal with this. You mentioned that the home is not yet REO, if that is true is it for sale as a short sale or not? If it is you may want to ask your realtor to call the listing agent so you can get information from the asset manager who the home has been assigned to in loss mitigation to get the skinny on the home. You may want to make an attempt to get an offer in prior to the trustee sale and you may be able to swoop in on it. Of course this would end up as a short sale and that means it will take a few weeks for the lender to consider your offer.
If it is not yet for sale then all of the above is moot.
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What I have seen is, if the home becomes an REO and it gets priced well then it will most likely go pretty fast. You can absolutely try to come in with a contingency of sale for your property, there is no harm in doing so, yet my belief is that again, your success will depend on the pricing/location/desireability of the home.
People can say all they want about the drug home in 4S Ranch but that sucker had several offers and went into escrow immediately. There is another REO in La Costa Valley that has been on the MLS 1 day and already has an offer on it and more will follow…
My point is (the one I keep harping about) is that desireable properties that are priced aggressively are indeed moving… much to the chagrin of posters…(don’t blame the messenger guys)
You do not have to explain yourself for purchasing the home. Sounds like you know what you are doing. Absolutely put in as a condition of purchase in the RPA (purchase agreement) that you will need utilities and water turned on so that you can perform your due diligence. Once the home becomes REO I am pretty sure the bank will turn them on. Even the drug house in 4S had utilities turned on. Yes I was there and visited the home and no I don’t think there were piles of powder or bundles of cash under the floorboards. However I absolutely understand and agree with the reasoning for the sellers to back out of the deal.
Anyways as always, don’t be afraid to write it up with the sales contingency in place but my read is that they will most likely hold out for awhile for a non contingent offer. Especially in this market. Hey you don’t know if you don’t try right? I say go for it.
