I’m up in the LA foothills and I’ve seen several sketchy deals.
–One house was listed as a probate, with court confirmation required. We wanted to offer less tham 90% on the house, but were told the probate court would only take offers down to 90% and above.
Two weeks later, the property was sold to the listing agent’s client for about 80% of the list–and suddenly no court confirmation was required.
–A Coworker tried to buy a soon-to-be foreclosed home out in the desert. The listing agent (they were trying to sell the house before foreclosure) did not accept the offer, the home was foreclosed, but the listing agent agreed to “help” with the auction. My coworker offered $150k, but the house was auctioned for $110k–strange. Two days later the realtor offers to sell my coworker the property for $130k. Turns our his business had the winning bid (which was lower), and offered to split the savings with my coworker!
–A current REO has been sitting on the market for 64 days. I’ve called the listing agent and her office several times over the past three weeks–no reply. My realtor–ditto. I am waiting to see if she picks the place up for a song–I would not be surprised.
I’m sure each of these could have a purely legitimate explanation, but I’ve learned not to have THAT much faith in humanity or realtors ;^p
