Joseph
It sounds to me as though you and your Realtor need to have a discussion.

It should focus on three things:

1. Your expectations - separate needs versus wants. Does the home that you want exist?

2. Time table and alternatives - how much time do you expect to invest looking for a home, and what happens if you don't find one in X amount of time.

3. Do you want to work together (that means commit, sign a buyer broker agreement, which stipulates what you agree to do...both parties.

If I do not believe that I am going to find a buyer the house that they want, it would be pointless for us to agree to work together.
OTOH, going around making low-ball offers just to "try" to get your offer accepted, makes no sense and a good Realtor will not agree because we have better things to do.

However, if I believed that there were homes that met your expectations, and that they are simply over-priced (which I see), then we develop a plan to try to convince the sellers of true market value.

For example, we put an offer of $619 on a property that was listed for $685K. Across the street is a pending listing, same size, better condition, for $599K. The Listing Agent (L/A) told me that she worked that market for 20 years and knew that her listing was priced right.

They then got an offer and they said they didn't want to even counter ours. Now, a month later, that offer went away, list price is still the same, and it is still ACTIVE. My clients and I are confident that the price is too high, and a seller's refusal to negotiate is THEIR decision.

There is a big difference from my story, and another buyer's plan to simply go around making low offers with no strategy. The issue is not "what is the price" ...the issue is "what is the value of the property".

Joseph, It does happen. I just worked with someone who purchased a home for $200,000 and the mortgage balance was 600,000.

Have your agent do a CMA to get an estimate of its value, if the CMA comes close to what you can afford then make the offer.

On the otherhand shortsales are not for the faint of heart, look through Trulia to learn from other peoples experiances, then decide.

Joseph,

The advice about the bank-induced frustrations of a short sale are correct and if you're not in a position to wait a long time while the bank moves in its usual sloth-like condescending fashion, then look elsewhere.

Meanwhile, I'd say that you are in the driver's seat because it is now a BUYERS MARKET. If your agent isn't doing everything she can to get you the best value for money, then dump her immediately and without regret. For another house, try dealing only with the listing agent (so there is only one middleman in the transaction, not two).

And of course, the simplest deal is with a person selling their house without an agent (i.e. no middlemen, no commissions, no waiting for someone to call you back, ad infinitum, ad nauseam).

Don't give up Joseph. The worst that can happen is that even if the short sale does not work out, the home will get to foreclosure and come on the market as a "bank-owned" property. If you have the time and energy to get what you want...don't give up!

None of us can answer your question about your agent. It is against our Code of Ethics to do so. Don't expect an answer to that one.

Hi Joseph - While it is always great to try and get the best deal, the bank in all liklihood is not going to give you the house for $250k. They will order an appraissal and it will come back higher than that. It just isn't realistic.

The thing about short sales is you can't even be sure that the bank would accept an offer at list price, and it might take 3-4 months to learn that.

If you want rock bottom prices you might consider bank owned (REO) properties. They close faster and are often less expensive than short sales. The downsides are that the required contract might be oppressive and/or poorly drafted, resulting in additional expense, and also you would probably have less information about the septic system if the property is vacant.