If you don't have $5000, you can't afford a $220k house. Set up a budget that allows you to save money, then come back to buying when you have savings in place. By that time, home prices will have decreased even more, so your $220k will go even further than it does now.

Based on only what you are sharing with us here and giving your agent the benefit of the doubt, just in case there is a missing explanation on his/her side...switch agents. And, as a side note: it is highly recommended that you have exclusive representation (meaning NOT the same agent working for the seller)

Kim

Disclaimer: I am a licensed real estate broker and property/casualty insurance agent in the State of Ohio, providing information and sharing experiences acquired over 15 years in the industries. I do not profess to be qualified to give advice in any other field, though will share opinions and information obtained during my course of work. It is always highly recommended that consumers seek counsel from a specialist in each area in which there is a question or concern.

This might be overstated, but your agent owes you fiduciary duties. One of those being obidience. If you are asking him to submit your offer, then he has to. Your contract with your agent is an "at will" contract which can be terminated at any time by you or the agent. That being said, I have submitted seller paid closing costs to banks on short sales and REO properties. In the short sale, the bank has final approval on your offer. There will be many considerations that will come into play in their decision making process which can take weeks or months before you get accepted, rejected or countered. If you have time on your side, then have your agent submit the offer as is and sit back and wait. In the meantime continue to search for properties which might have a better outcome. Everything in a real estate transaction is negoctiable which should not deter you from asking for what you want. Good Luck to you.

Mark Fruen
Realtor
markfruen@markfruen.com

Grace is correct- the homeowner still owns their home in a short sale. They need approval from the bank for any offers that come in. The bank wants $240,000 and by the very definition of a short sale even that amount apparently is less than is owed by the seller. So you are basically asking the bank to "eat" an extra $25,000 when they are apparently already losing money on this deal.

I'm in the process of completing a short sale at a price approved by the negotiator of the lender. And, the bank offered 3% back to the buyer to help with closing costs and the buyer didn't even ask for it!
I don't know the particulars of the property (is there more than one lien?) you are looking to buy or how off the mark you are with the price you are offering I just know that it is being done in my particular case.

Good luck!!!

Hello Homebuying and thanks for your post.

In short sales, the listing price can be 1) the estimated sales price of the home requested by the seller (the homeowner--not the bank) or 2) the price already approved by the bank, presumably for another buyer who may no longer be interested in the short sale. From the sound of your question, it seems that the price of $240K may be an already approved price for the home, but you should check with your listing agent first to confirm this.

Now regarding your question, I am going to side with your agent on this one. Having experienced many short sales, I can say that banks will NOT give money back on closing costs and, should you even bring this subject up, your offer will not be accepted. Because a short sale is an accommodation (in other words, a "favor) for the current home owner, the bank is looking for a buyer who is cash rich enough to pay an adequate down payment (usually 20 percent), all inspection fees, closing costs, and, if need be, additional money to the second or third lien holders. If the $240K price mentioned was just recently approved by the bank, you can bet that the bank will not quickly entertain offers that are, in this case, 10 percent less than their appraised value.

If you truly want this home, it might be best to play the "waiting game" to see if the home remains on market for a longer period. Often if the home remains unsold for another 30 days, the bank will think twice about a lower price to $220K. However, again, an offer that--on its face--shows that the buyer does not have enough money to consummate the deal may be approved by the home seller, but will likely not be approved by the bank.

Should you need money back to close the deal, you may be better in searching for homes that are either owned and being sold by a private party or an REO/post foreclosure property.

Good luck!!

Sincerely,
Grace Morioka, SRES, e-Pro
Area Pro Realty
Email: GraceAreaProRealty@att.net

Do you have your own REALTOR, or are you working with the listing agent? If you can't get the agent to write the offer, get another agent. There's nothing written in stone as to what any given bank will accept at any given time.

Good luck. I hope everything works out for you.

Nadine Mauro
The Herman Group Real Estate
561-414-0864
NadineMauroRE@yahoo.com

Sorry but unless the agent knows for a fact that the bank would not do it... there is no way or guidelines for what the banks are doing for short sales. Yes, they might balk at the help for closing costs and they might ask you to put it in top of the loan ie, your offer of 220k would be countered at $225k with 5k in closing costs. Now you also have to remember that the short sale process is not a sure fire thing, there is no guarantees that the bank will even talk to you back or accept the offer and that it will take several months to even know the answer so... if you are willing to wait and put up with the process, go ahead and get your agent to present it anyway =)

Good luck1