This is the 4th short sale we have tried to get, and the only one who accepted our offer.
Two weeks ago we placed a full price cash offer on a house that has been on the market for over 149 days. AFTER we placed th offer, our agent found out that there had been two previous offers. One was low, and GMAC turned it down. The other offer was for $10K over asking, was approved, but the buyer found another home, and dropped out. The agent explained she can't take the home off Active because of a clause in her contract with GMAC. This makes us nervous. We could raise our offer to the already approved price, but we fear they will come back even higher since we are showing so much interest in the property. Meanwhile the house can be shown, and other offers taken, I guess. What to do?
Does GMAC keep all properties Active in the MLS?
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Susan,
GMAC does not own the property. GMAC has no right to demand the agent to do this.
In Southern California this IS AGAINST the MLS Rules.
I would file a complaint on the MLS against said listing agent on the CRMLS.
This appears to be an agent who does not follow the rules and has no knowlede of how to do short sales.
The Listing Agent must think she is working for the Bank instead of her client.
I have done Short Sales with GMAC and they do not ask this or at least never have of me.
I am Guessing,... I think the agent is looking for buyers or a double end.
It is my opinion when you deal with an agent who does not play by the rules you should report them and move on and find another home for your client.
When you report them to the MLS you should not stop there you might want to take it to the board and grievence committee.
I would not raise the offer. this is not what the listing agent wants.
Also, GMAC has a knee jerk reaction to all offers to ask for more money even though the BPO does not support. The BPO will not be disclosed to you. They have no ethics to tell you the truth.
We can not continue to allow listing agents to keep homes on the market that already have a signed offer. She can put it in backup.
GMAC Does Not own the Home and even if they did the agent can NOT act in a manner against the MLS rules.
The MLS violation will not show who made the complaint. It will go to both her Broker and her. if it is a repeat it will cost her. She will not know if you did it or a buyers agent who does not want to waste their time showing sold homes.
Harold, I think you are right. I think the listing agent/seller was looking for more buyers as a cushion. It made us uncomfortable, but I did put an update in here stating that she finally put a "Hold. Do not show!" Evidently she got all her paperwork in "early" last week. Wonder what "early" means. Wednesday? Ha!
We were so nervous that we kept looking, and another possible home has come up. We are previewing that one this week if it doesn't get snatched up. It's a fixer and is REO, so the cash sale on that, could be much easier than this one. We haven't decided on it, and our original offer still stands. Hopefully the bank's investor will get back with an approval or counter soon. Learning a lot from the "Short Sale Hell" thread here, and am not willing to wait through extensions after extensions.
When listing agents keep listings Active, no matter what their reasons, they should know the buyer they have in their hand might fly away to a better opportunity if one should knock.
Thank you!
I have ran into that also. I because a issue with the agent stuck in the middle. They are fielding call and contract on a property that have an offer causing them to do more work and get people like us peeved at them. The local board they belong to may have a policy they are in violation of. But the board reviews the banks forms and lets it go. This is what happens when banks act Realtors with out licenses.
I wonder if your state has AWC-That would still qualify as active
UPDATE: Today the house is no longer Active on the MLS. Says "Hold. Do not show." Took a while, but it's a good sign that the seller/agent is behind our offer. Now we wait for the bank approval or counter.
Thanks for all the replies!
This varies widely by state and region. Where I am at (in VA), as of last year, all short sales must be pended within 48 hours once under contract (while waiting for short sale lender approval). The agent will get fined otherwise for a MLS violation if it is is not immediately corrected upon notification. This rule is consistently not followed.
I've never run into any problem with a short sale lender for doing this. Here you also can not be in a contract with more than one buyer (i.e. you can not sell your house twice). Agents are rampant with back-up contracts which state they are in effect if 1st offer falls through. They are not valid here even though they are done. An offer can be presented and not signed by both parties and held until the right time- that is just fine. Legally, a seller can not be in a contract with 2 different parties for the same house- it doesn't matter what the contingencies are....at least that is the case here.
At a minimum the agent should have updated the listing to indicate an offer has been accepted by the seller and is awaiting third party approval.
As Wendy stated- agents must follow MLS rules. We've seen it too many times here- MLS overrides anything the short sale lender wants. It makes life easier for all the buyer agents who when they search for ACTIVE listings are able to show buyers homes that really are available and not under contract.
Agreed - you cannot sell your house twice! An Agent / Broker must make sure the contract states something to the effect that allows an "if/then" possibility and consequence. The banker who told the agent she must keep the MLS "active" is wrong - and, as mentioned in one of my above rants, if it were me, I would have corrected this person asap. ...and if the agent is really that meek... also mentioned above - it's time to get another agent!
We are the BUYER! If the seller messed up, not a lot we can do!
I'm not suggesting the seller messed up. I'm suggesting that the agents, more than likely, have. Your agent "should," there's that word again, be working for what's in your best interest. Your agent needs to either demand the listing is either put UAG or flagged for back-ups, and then your agent "should" find out from the list agent whether "ALL" offers are being submitted to the bank. If they are, your agent "should" explain all scenarios to you, and you will need to make a decision regarding whether to rescind, as I suggested above, put in a kick-out clause and/or a deadline date, wait it out (and possibly miss out on other houses), or just plain move on. Only you can make that decision, just make sure you're fully informed. ...I wish you luck.
With respect, everybody seems to be assuming that this is a valid contract simply because the buyer and seller have signed off on it. That's not always the case. You have to know your state laws concerning short sales. In NC, for example, our short sale contracts specifically state that a) the property must be kept "active" and listed "for sale" until the 3rd party lender gives written approval of the offer, b) either party may cancel the contract without penalty for any reason prior to the 3rd party lender's written approval and c) gives notice to the buyer that there may be more than one offer on the property and the seller can choose the highest/best offer to present to the lender.
Keeping the property active why it's actually contingent may be an NAR ethics violation. It was actually a question on the recent ethics test. So I guess you could tecnincally be in compliance with State Law and have a ethics violation complaint levied against you.
http://nvar.com/index.php/law-ethics/article/listing_a_property_as_...
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