By Sara Huebener
Some of the things we encounter in the real estate business never cease to amaze me. One of them is, of course, the nature of foreclosures and short sales. It just goes to show that these transactions are so unique, so independent of each other in terms of what is considered "standard", that each one is a learning experience.
I have been working with a buyer who needed to buy a home (quickly) before the homebuyer tax credit expires), and so we have been feverously searching for a home in her price range in school district 719. Many are short sales, and since short sales take so much time to get done (as in months), she did not have the time to close on one and qualify for the tax credit. So we focused primarily on traditional sales and foreclosures.
All that said, one home struck her fancy. It was neat, clean, spacious and updated. It was also in her school district and price range. It was almost too good to be true. I told her what I have been seeing in recent months - the extensive buyer pool that this home caters to, paired with a race to the tax credit deadline, would surely drive the price on this house up beyond her reach.
Regardless, we took a shot at it and submitted our offer at just a few dollars above list price (and the top of our budget).
Surprisingly, in a pool of a dozen offers, our offer was one of two that the bank decided to review. Oddly, the bank did not want to see a higher offer price. (??) This is so different from any other foreclosure transaction we have ever done. Instead, the bank wanted the pre-approval letter worded in a very specific manner, and wanted strong earnest money down. I was stunned. The bank had turned down ten other offers higher than ours, and chose our offer because of how we worded our preapproval letter. In the end, the bank selected our offer. Currently we are waiting on signatures and preparing ourselves to jump through the many hoops we know are coming down the pike, to get her family into this great house.
I am bewildered with the rationale of the bank, as this home would surely appraise for at least $20,000 more than our offer price. But I am also pleased that my buyer has found what she needs - a home in her child's school district ISD 719, for a price she can afford and a condition next to new.
Telling a buyer that she "got her house" when we thought the odds were impossible is one of the greatest joys of this job, especially when I can make that call on Labor Day weekend. And a reminder of how absolutely random and inconsistent foreclosure transactions can be is always educational.
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