Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kent Dills on April 1, 2010 at 7:26am

Raj, It's worth a counter but your agent is going to have to provide detailed info on the comps that were in better shape as well as the repairs needed on the property you have the offer on. Pictures work great for documenting needed repairs!

Permalink Reply by Ed Romero on April 1, 2010 at 7:29am

Pictures are great, but include with those, repair estimates from a contractor that can support your arguement.

Permalink Reply by Alan Remigio on April 1, 2010 at 1:24pm

to add to Kent's comments, you may want to request another valuation. I believe your property is what the lender's investors term a "high balance loan". I don't know what state you are in as the $ amount that qualifies it may differ in areas such as Hawaii, parts of California, etc. I was made aware of it when I was processing a 760k original loan balance in PA, sometime ago. There are different rules to this, in the negotiating process, often much easier because of the $$ tied up in 1 property and the potential dollars that may be spent to maintain the property. In my area, the largest drops in values have been with the high balance loans. Costs to maintain these properties are many times higher than those in the 100-400k arena, making it much more desirable to short sale rather than process as an REO. So, you do have some ammunition to counter. If you showed me proof that a house of better quality sold for $800k, My counter would be obvious. The worst any one could say is "no" and you'll never know if you did not submit an offer. What's there to lose?

Permalink Reply by Raj Amin on April 2, 2010 at 3:55am

Thanks all, definitely will do. The wall I'm running up against is that the seller's agent doesn't seem motivated to help, she thinks she can sell at the counter price - I've countered at $850 with the supporting doc recommended, wish me luck!