Agree that this is likely a short sale property. Many people still think that "Short Sale" means a "short response time or quick time to get a response". "Short sale" means that the seller/owner is selling the home "short" of what is actually owed on the home. And just the opposite is true of response time. Great patience is needed to buy a short sale. I have one working now and OFTEN the lienholder does not respond to correspondence, faxes, phone calls, etc for very long intervals. They contact the selling agent at their convenience and when they are ready. Complicated guidelines for submitting the short sale package to the lienholder take a lot of time and effort and for this reason, many agents choose not to work these.

Unfortunately, there is nothing your mother can do to speed up the process. And if she offered substantially lower than the asking price, the offer may not have been submitted to the lienholder, but rejected initially by the owner. Often the best and highest offer is the one submitted to the lienholder and this person is the one who must wait for the response...not everyone who submits. My short sale generated several offers above the list price. Those below the list price were eliminated early on. If this is the case with your mother's offer, the agent should be courteous enough to let you know this.

It's often difficult to assess what is "over value" these days. A house is worth what someone will pay for it today. With more homeowners protesting their tax assessments, the assessed values listed are not necessarily consistent with one another on a given street.

If a short sale home is priced right, there should be multiple offers on it and it should sell close to or even over the listed price.

Good luck to your mother in her house hunt. At this point, perhaps she might think about moving on to a different house.

The listing agent and seller can request from the bank to halt the foreclosure once they have an offer in hand. Usually banks do so.

About the house next to you: The owner has to be behind on mortgage payments a few months and prove hardship such as the loss of a job, pay cut, etc. before the bank can consider a short sale. There is an entire package that the owner has to submit such as bank statements, pay stubs, etc. If they have it listed they may have it listed as a short sale or priced high enough to cover the cost of the late fees and payoff.

Naima

Thanks again for all of the great advice! Realtytrac seems a little scammy, but I signed up for the free trial and, naturally, forgot to cancel the account before payment was processed. So, how likely is a home like the Rexton house to be auctioned off on the courthouse steps? Now I'm curious about the house next door to us which is also in foreclosure. It's listed on MLS but I think they stopped paying the mortgage two or three months ago.

Call the listing agent and ask him what the deal is:

Tod Yeslow (214)802-7675

The home on Sexton is indeed a short sale and it does have 2 liens on it so the answer will take a long time.

Don't put too much weight on the information you get from RealtyTrac. They list homes on there as soon as someone is late on their mortgage. They owners catch up on their payments sometimes and it's still listed on ReatlyTrac.

Naima
214-289-8555
Naima@Sumner-Realty.com

I don't know how to reply other than by "answering" my own question. She put in two offers because the first expired without a response. The property is listed as an "auction" property on Realtytrac, by the way. The address is 5020 Rexton Lane, Dallas, in case anyone was wondering. Anyway, I really appreciate all of the wonderful answers!

It's not a short sale if the bank already owns it!!!! There is no one to short!

If it's a short sale, then an individual owns the property, not a bank. Besides, we do a lot of short sales, and it doesn't take that long. After I put in the short sale packet, the banks are getting their appraisers out there in about two weeks. Total process takes about a month.

Kerry

Guy is correct. Your mom is very likely trying to buy a short sale home not a foreclosure. Why put in 2 offers? did she withdraw the first one? Typical time for a response on a short sale if this is the first offer would be about 4-6 months. No matter how experienced the agent is. If there is more than one lien on the home would me it longer as well. If a negotiator has been assigned, a BPO done then under 90 days would be the anticipated response time. After all that waiting, she is not even guaranteed that they will accept her offer.

Lots of patience is needed for these type of transactions. I'm waiting on one from Chase bank and it's been since December since we've been waiting. The negotiator I am dealing with has 450 files that he is handling... that's just sad but the truth.

Naima
214-289-8555
Naima@Sumner-Realty.com

That just doesn't sound right. The bank should have just denied the offer or submitted a counter offer. I wonder if the agent even submitted it to them? Ask for a written response from the bank, either countering our rejecting the offer. Ask for proof that the agent submitted the offer. I hate to think that the agent wouldn't turn the offer in, because that's grounds for losing your license if you don't.

All the Best!

Kerry L. Thornhill

It should not take so long to get a response! Since it is a foreclosure, the listing agent needs to submit the offer to the bank and wait for response from the asset manager. Nevertheless, it shouldn’t take more than a week. When dealing with small offers as far as price, I found that some agents tend to lose interest and devote smaller amounts of time working on it. Therefore the process takes longer and more often nothing happens. You might need to search for a more efficient agent!

If she is being told that it's a 4-6 month wait, then your mom is most likely attempting to buy a short sale property not a REO (Real Estate Owned) or bank owned. Bank owned homes typically give a response within 5-7 days and close in 30 days. Short sales have many hurdles and red tape to get through which is why they typically take longer. Although the offer is substantially lower, by the time the bank comes back with an answer, the property value will most likely be in line with your offer.

If you or your mom are not familiar with the process, ask your agent for a full explanation of how short sales and REOs work.

Good luck.