Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Pacita C Dimacali on April 1, 2010 at 7:15pm

When writing an offer, give it your best shot the first time because you may not have a second chance. If the bank is countering your offer, then you and the other(s) may be too close together, and the bank is giving you the opportunity to submit your best and highest offer.


When the banks ask for BEST and HIGHEST offer, the banks can/will choose the offer that in their opinion will be the fastest and easiest to close (like an all cash offer with no contingencies), and they will also have to factor the offer price since they are responsible for their investors.

Offer worksheet usually asks the agent to enter key information about your offer, such as:
offer price
terms and conditions (escrow and contingency periods)
initial deposit
down payment
preapproval


Multiple offer situation means exactly that: that BOA has sent you and others a counteroffer. The terms of the counter offer don't have to be the same. But accepting the bank's counteroffer doesn't guarantee that you will be selected by the bank.

If you don't respond, then essentially, you are saying no, that's you're sticking with your original offer.



Good luck

Permalink Reply by Keli Amparan on April 1, 2010 at 11:01pm

Thanks Pacita-
I thought that our offer was the only offer submitted through Equator, we were told that the bank was dealing with us first before even accepting any other offers. I"m not even sure there is another offer besides ours at this point. We originally gave a pretty fair offer, based on market, but now with the condition the house is in I'm worried the house won't appraise at the counter offer the bank sent. The house has been vacant for 8 months now, in AZ so all the landscaping is now dead and there's some interior damage from the roof leaking.

Permalink Reply by Alan Remigio on April 2, 2010 at 12:20am

Initial offers to start the short sale should always be low. Offers should also be made with consideration in place and you are in position to negotiate. My advice for a retail buyer is to never make an offer without consideration (money deposited) accepted. It is a waste of time if you are looking for a home and especially when credits that are currently available ($,8000 and $ 6,500) are nearing the end of their shelf life. Negotiations may take a while, on the average, in excess of 90 days. If you are one of many, you may as well go to an auction. Highest or high with cash is where the lender will go.

If the bank is countering your offer, ask your RE agent if they did a valuation on the property. You should also get a current Comparable Market Analysis from your agent with "like, kind" comparables, meaning REO's and short sales currently marketed, pending and closed, three different situations which can reveal important information and value across the board. Your agent's company should have the technology and know how to create a CMA that could support your idea of value. You need to push for it. Now you can make an informed decision as to whether to continue or not. If they are asking for a counter of best and highest, and did a valuation of the property, you can counteroffer effectively, if your agent knows who the investor is behind the lender i.e. Fannie Mae, FHA, USDA, an MBS, etc. I won't go into detail here, but now the agent can work within the investor guidelines to get a counter offer by you approved. If the agent is short on experience in this area, insist that they inquire with another who has the background to collaborate on a successful conclusion. Good professionals always will. No need or time to look for another agent on this property. Keeping it very simple, though...if the value is not what you think it should be...don't buy it! Good luck!

Permalink Reply by Juan Reyes on April 2, 2010 at 1:15am

Hi Keli,

No you do not have to sign it, you can just let the listing agent know what changes you'd like to make to your offer, he would then fill out the worksheet on Equator and hit the "Submit Counter' button. If you want to accept the banks counter offer, then he would just hit the "accept"

The reason the language on the letter states that "Buyer is aware that this is a multiple counter offer situation" is because BOA also uses Equator as the platform for their REO properties. I know this because I list REO properties for BOA and there are cases where we encounter a multiple offer situation. When we do encounter this scenario, BOA will let ALL buyers know of this by sending a multiple offer acknowledgment form that they have to sign making them aware that there is more than one offer in play and allowing the buyers to make any changes to their offer to make it stronger if they want, and it will have a deadline to do this. (Ex. by Friday Noon)

With a S/S Equator will only allow one offer to be submitted. Remember that with a short sale BOA is only a third party to the transaction between the buyer and the seller. I've listed short sales where I've received multiple offers and my job as a Realtor is to present all offers to the seller and help the seller decide which of the offers would have a better chance at being accepted by the bank and submit that offer for approval. One thing I look for in a S/S is for a patient buyer, because you know how long some of these short sales can take to get approved.

With REO properties, the bank IS the seller so I am obligated to the seller to present any and all offers I get so that the asset managers can make an informed decision as to which offer to accept. Now get this, asset managers will usually accept an offer within 48 hrs. because they have already taken the necessary steps such as BPO/Appraisals, repairs Etc. prior to the home being listed by the bank. With a S/S all this is done while the home is under contract.

Permalink Reply by Keli Amparan on April 2, 2010 at 1:31am

Thanks as always Juan,
So what you're saying is that this is just a generic form, used for both REO and s/s's and that's why the language is there? I wasn't sure if they were statements that were added, particular to our offer.
Will BoA usually renegotiate during the inspection period? For example, during the inspection it is found that the roof is leaking and will cost $5,000 to repair. I had a friend who bought a s/s through another bank and the bank agreed to split the cost of the repair by taking it off the offer price.
And last, if we accept their counter and the house appraises at less, has BoA been agreeable to renegotiating the price based on appraisal or will it kill the deal?

I know nothing is concrete with BoA, I've heard it depends on the negotiator and a lot of other factors. My realtor is working on an updated CMA at this point, but this house is hard to comp out, even using a 10 mile radius.

Thanks so much for your answers!! I really want to get my decision in today, as early as possible!

Juan Reyes said:

Hi Keli,

No you do not have to sign it, you can just let the listing agent know what changes you'd like to make to your offer, he would then fill out the worksheet on Equator and hit the "Submit Counter' button. If you want to accept the banks counter offer, then he would just hit the "accept"

The reason the language on the letter states that "Buyer is aware that this is a multiple counter offer situation" is because BOA also uses Equator as the platform for their REO properties. I know this because I list REO properties for BOA and there are cases where we encounter a multiple offer situation. When we do encounter this scenario, BOA will let ALL buyers know of this by sending a multiple offer acknowledgment form that they have to sign making them aware that there is more than one offer in play and allowing the buyers to make any changes to their offer to make it stronger if they want, and it will have a deadline to do this. (Ex. by Friday Noon)

With a S/S Equator will only allow one offer to be submitted. Remember that with a short sale BOA is only a third party to the transaction between the buyer and the seller. I've listed short sales where I've received multiple offers and my job as a Realtor is to present all offers to the seller and help the seller decide which of the offers would have a better chance at being accepted by the bank and submit that offer for approval. One thing I look for in a S/S is for a patient buyer, because you know how long some of these short sales can take to get approved.

With REO properties, the bank IS the seller so I am obligated to the seller to present any and all offers I get so that the asset managers can make an informed decision as to which offer to accept. Now get this, asset managers will usually accept an offer within 48 hrs. because they have already taken the necessary steps such as BPO/Appraisals, repairs Etc. prior to the home being listed by the bank. With a S/S all this is done while the home is under contract.

Permalink Reply by Juan Reyes on April 2, 2010 at 1:47am

Yes, it is standard wording on the letter.

You can go back and negotiate repairs, or appraisals and yes it will depend on the negotiator. I haven't had that happen with one of my short sales yet, but it has happened many times with my REO listings. But here is how things differ on a S/S and REO on repair issues.

With an REO if the bank agrees to do repairs that a buyer asks for, I have to pay for the repairs out of my own pocket and will be reimbursed by the bank. Sometimes the banks will do repairs prior to listing the home. With a S/S I can't do that because the bank is NOT the seller.

The only option you have is for them to reduce the price. What you'll want to do is to support your case with repair estimates and pictures that can be emailed to the negotiator to make him/her realize that it is in their best interest to accept a lower price rather than the home going into foreclosure where the property will deteriorate even more and they will take a bigger loss.

Keli Amparan said:

Thanks as always Juan,
So what you're saying is that this is just a generic form, used for both REO and s/s's and that's why the language is there? I wasn't sure if they were statements that were added, particular to our offer. Will BoA usually renegotiate during the inspection period? For example, during the inspection it is found that the roof is leaking and will cost $5,000 to repair. I had a friend who bought a s/s through another bank and the bank agreed to split the cost of the repair by taking it off the offer price. And last, if we accept their counter and the house appraises at less, has BoA been agreeable to renegotiating the price based on appraisal or will it kill the deal?

I know nothing is concrete with BoA, I've heard it depends on the negotiator and a lot of other factors. My realtor is working on an updated CMA at this point, but this house is hard to comp out, even using a 10 mile radius.

Thanks so much for your answers!! I really want to get my decision in today, as early as possible!

Juan Reyes said:

Hi Keli,

No you do not have to sign it, you can just let the listing agent know what changes you'd like to make to your offer, he would then fill out the worksheet on Equator and hit the "Submit Counter' button. If you want to accept the banks counter offer, then he would just hit the "accept"

The reason the language on the letter states that "Buyer is aware that this is a multiple counter offer situation" is because BOA also uses Equator as the platform for their REO properties. I know this because I list REO properties for BOA and there are cases where we encounter a multiple offer situation. When we do encounter this scenario, BOA will let ALL buyers know of this by sending a multiple offer acknowledgment form that they have to sign making them aware that there is more than one offer in play and allowing the buyers to make any changes to their offer to make it stronger if they want, and it will have a deadline to do this. (Ex. by Friday Noon)

With a S/S Equator will only allow one offer to be submitted. Remember that with a short sale BOA is only a third party to the transaction between the buyer and the seller. I've listed short sales where I've received multiple offers and my job as a Realtor is to present all offers to the seller and help the seller decide which of the offers would have a better chance at being accepted by the bank and submit that offer for approval. One thing I look for in a S/S is for a patient buyer, because you know how long some of these short sales can take to get approved.

With REO properties, the bank IS the seller so I am obligated to the seller to present any and all offers I get so that the asset managers can make an informed decision as to which offer to accept. Now get this, asset managers will usually accept an offer within 48 hrs. because they have already taken the necessary steps such as BPO/Appraisals, repairs Etc. prior to the home being listed by the bank. With a S/S all this is done while the home is under contract.

Permalink Reply by Katerina Gasset on April 2, 2010 at 3:12am

Keli- It sounds from what you are saying that you have already presented your offer and that BOA is countering your offer. Is that the case?

Permalink Reply by Keli Amparan on April 2, 2010 at 9:59am

Yes, we presented our offer last August and just yesterday got the counter offer. My realtor is getting a CMA together to figure out our next step.
Keli

Katerina Gasset said:

Keli- It sounds from what you are saying that you have already presented your offer and that BOA is countering your offer. Is that the case?

Permalink Reply by Peggy K Fowler on December 22, 2010 at 5:31am

If I am the listing agent for the property how can there be multiple offers without my knowledge as the agent?  I just received a counter offer and it states "buyer is aware this is a multiple offer situation" I am not aware of any other offers on the property.  Any comments suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Peggy

Pacita C Dimacali said:

When writing an offer, give it your best shot the first time because you may not have a second chance. If the bank is countering your offer, then you and the other(s) may be too close together, and the bank is giving you the opportunity to submit your best and highest offer.


When the banks ask for BEST and HIGHEST offer, the banks can/will choose the offer that in their opinion will be the fastest and easiest to close (like an all cash offer with no contingencies), and they will also have to factor the offer price since they are responsible for their investors.

Offer worksheet usually asks the agent to enter key information about your offer, such as:
offer price
terms and conditions (escrow and contingency periods)
initial deposit
down payment
preapproval


Multiple offer situation means exactly that: that BOA has sent you and others a counteroffer. The terms of the counter offer don't have to be the same. But accepting the bank's counteroffer doesn't guarantee that you will be selected by the bank.

If you don't respond, then essentially, you are saying no, that's you're sticking with your original offer.



Good luck