First time home buyer, some observations.

[paulflorez]

[quote=Tillers]SD Realtor, the reason I’m not dropping offers on every short sale I see is because I am required to leave an earnest money deposit. That’s $3K tied up (for each one) for the bank to play with while they play games with me on the waiting.[/quote]

You don’t have to leave a deposit. They do that because it’s so common for buyers to just walk away from short sales. If you make offers on 10 short sales and decide to go with 1 of them once you get approval, that’s 9 short sales that get walked away from and those people have to find new buyers who have to find new lenders who have to collect all new paperwork, etc.

Until they show you they have the short-selling bank’s approval, don’t put a single dime down. Once they show you that they have short-selling approval, it’s time to get working and you will need to put your EM in escrow.

A word of advice, if they tell you that they have bank approval, tell them to give you a COPY IN WRITING. They should send you a nice letter from the bank saying they approve and what the terms are. I learned the hard way when I was told by my real estate agent that the bank approved the sale at our offer price and that we need to get our EM in escrow and choose a lender NOW NOW NOW!!! Only to have our chosen lender call us back and tell us “there is a second lien on the house that has not approved.” OOPS! Silly RE agents, when you said “the bank approved” you meant the first lienholder approved. Both lienholders/loans were from the same bank BTW.

In fact, ask for everything in writing. You can even see the progress on the SS negotiations by asking for a copy of the short sale counter offer form. That shows all the back/forth between the short-selling bank and your real estate company.

[SD Realtor]

Let us try to make it clear. As sdr said he does alot of short sales and he does not ask for a deposit. However others do.

Again to clarify, the deposit is no different then ANY deposit, in these cases the deposit is made to open escrow. If your realtor has half a brain, when your offer was submitted it was accompanied by a short sale addendum that clarifies things with respect to the deposit, as to when the contingency period starts, etc… On this addendum the clarification that none of the timeframes start until a written approval is received from the short sale lender(s) is present.

People love to try to blow things out of proportion. Some realtors who have short sale listings will accept an offer and will demand to open escrow and ask the buyer for a good faith deposit. You as the buyer will get your deposit back if you change your mind while you are waiting for approval. Other realtors do not.

*******************

I would challenge ANYBODY here to show me a case where a deposit was made on a short sale and they did not get the deposit back from escrow if they changed their mind during the approval process.

[SD Realtor]

Let us try to make it clear. As sdr said he does alot of short sales and he does not ask for a deposit. However others do.

Again to clarify, the deposit is no different then ANY deposit, in these cases the deposit is made to open escrow. If your realtor has half a brain, when your offer was submitted it was accompanied by a short sale addendum that clarifies things with respect to the deposit, as to when the contingency period starts, etc… On this addendum the clarification that none of the timeframes start until a written approval is received from the short sale lender(s) is present.

People love to try to blow things out of proportion. Some realtors who have short sale listings will accept an offer and will demand to open escrow and ask the buyer for a good faith deposit. You as the buyer will get your deposit back if you change your mind while you are waiting for approval. Other realtors do not.

*******************

I would challenge ANYBODY here to show me a case where a deposit was made on a short sale and they did not get the deposit back from escrow if they changed their mind during the approval process.

[SD Realtor]

Let us try to make it clear. As sdr said he does alot of short sales and he does not ask for a deposit. However others do.

Again to clarify, the deposit is no different then ANY deposit, in these cases the deposit is made to open escrow. If your realtor has half a brain, when your offer was submitted it was accompanied by a short sale addendum that clarifies things with respect to the deposit, as to when the contingency period starts, etc… On this addendum the clarification that none of the timeframes start until a written approval is received from the short sale lender(s) is present.

People love to try to blow things out of proportion. Some realtors who have short sale listings will accept an offer and will demand to open escrow and ask the buyer for a good faith deposit. You as the buyer will get your deposit back if you change your mind while you are waiting for approval. Other realtors do not.

*******************

I would challenge ANYBODY here to show me a case where a deposit was made on a short sale and they did not get the deposit back from escrow if they changed their mind during the approval process.

[SD Realtor]

Let us try to make it clear. As sdr said he does alot of short sales and he does not ask for a deposit. However others do.

Again to clarify, the deposit is no different then ANY deposit, in these cases the deposit is made to open escrow. If your realtor has half a brain, when your offer was submitted it was accompanied by a short sale addendum that clarifies things with respect to the deposit, as to when the contingency period starts, etc… On this addendum the clarification that none of the timeframes start until a written approval is received from the short sale lender(s) is present.

People love to try to blow things out of proportion. Some realtors who have short sale listings will accept an offer and will demand to open escrow and ask the buyer for a good faith deposit. You as the buyer will get your deposit back if you change your mind while you are waiting for approval. Other realtors do not.

*******************

I would challenge ANYBODY here to show me a case where a deposit was made on a short sale and they did not get the deposit back from escrow if they changed their mind during the approval process.

[SD Realtor]

Let us try to make it clear. As sdr said he does alot of short sales and he does not ask for a deposit. However others do.

Again to clarify, the deposit is no different then ANY deposit, in these cases the deposit is made to open escrow. If your realtor has half a brain, when your offer was submitted it was accompanied by a short sale addendum that clarifies things with respect to the deposit, as to when the contingency period starts, etc… On this addendum the clarification that none of the timeframes start until a written approval is received from the short sale lender(s) is present.

People love to try to blow things out of proportion. Some realtors who have short sale listings will accept an offer and will demand to open escrow and ask the buyer for a good faith deposit. You as the buyer will get your deposit back if you change your mind while you are waiting for approval. Other realtors do not.

*******************

I would challenge ANYBODY here to show me a case where a deposit was made on a short sale and they did not get the deposit back from escrow if they changed their mind during the approval process.

[Aecetia]

Add to cute and cozy list, “fixer”. That could be something that should be torn down. Good luck with your search. I think prices in many places in SD County will continue to decline. They are still out of line in terms of income. The Coast, La Jolla and Coronado will remain relatively high, but there may be some minor declines when the owners get desperate enough to sell.

[Aecetia]

Add to cute and cozy list, “fixer”. That could be something that should be torn down. Good luck with your search. I think prices in many places in SD County will continue to decline. They are still out of line in terms of income. The Coast, La Jolla and Coronado will remain relatively high, but there may be some minor declines when the owners get desperate enough to sell.

[Aecetia]

Add to cute and cozy list, “fixer”. That could be something that should be torn down. Good luck with your search. I think prices in many places in SD County will continue to decline. They are still out of line in terms of income. The Coast, La Jolla and Coronado will remain relatively high, but there may be some minor declines when the owners get desperate enough to sell.

[Aecetia]

Add to cute and cozy list, “fixer”. That could be something that should be torn down. Good luck with your search. I think prices in many places in SD County will continue to decline. They are still out of line in terms of income. The Coast, La Jolla and Coronado will remain relatively high, but there may be some minor declines when the owners get desperate enough to sell.

[Aecetia]

Add to cute and cozy list, “fixer”. That could be something that should be torn down. Good luck with your search. I think prices in many places in SD County will continue to decline. They are still out of line in terms of income. The Coast, La Jolla and Coronado will remain relatively high, but there may be some minor declines when the owners get desperate enough to sell.

[jpinpb]

[quote=SD Realtor]I would challenge ANYBODY here to show me a case where a deposit was made on a short sale and they did not get the deposit back from escrow if they changed their mind during the approval process.[/quote]

I’ve made offers on short sales. Gotten deposits back and sometimes checks were never even cashed. Don’t be hesitant to make an offer on a short sale you like. If you’re patient, you actually have a chance. I was the one that backed out of the ones I made offers on. I think I could’ve gotten them if I wanted, but other opportunities presented.

[jpinpb]

[quote=SD Realtor]I would challenge ANYBODY here to show me a case where a deposit was made on a short sale and they did not get the deposit back from escrow if they changed their mind during the approval process.[/quote]

I’ve made offers on short sales. Gotten deposits back and sometimes checks were never even cashed. Don’t be hesitant to make an offer on a short sale you like. If you’re patient, you actually have a chance. I was the one that backed out of the ones I made offers on. I think I could’ve gotten them if I wanted, but other opportunities presented.

[jpinpb]

[quote=SD Realtor]I would challenge ANYBODY here to show me a case where a deposit was made on a short sale and they did not get the deposit back from escrow if they changed their mind during the approval process.[/quote]

I’ve made offers on short sales. Gotten deposits back and sometimes checks were never even cashed. Don’t be hesitant to make an offer on a short sale you like. If you’re patient, you actually have a chance. I was the one that backed out of the ones I made offers on. I think I could’ve gotten them if I wanted, but other opportunities presented.

[jpinpb]

[quote=SD Realtor]I would challenge ANYBODY here to show me a case where a deposit was made on a short sale and they did not get the deposit back from escrow if they changed their mind during the approval process.[/quote]

I’ve made offers on short sales. Gotten deposits back and sometimes checks were never even cashed. Don’t be hesitant to make an offer on a short sale you like. If you’re patient, you actually have a chance. I was the one that backed out of the ones I made offers on. I think I could’ve gotten them if I wanted, but other opportunities presented.

[Author]

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