Offer FAQ
1. Where should my buyer write the EMD (escrow deposit) check to?
If you know who the seller’s title company is (sometimes you can find this on our MLS sheet) then write the check to that company otherwise you can write the deposit to your brokerage firm or title company of choice or put “upon acceptance” under the deposit section and wait for an offer acceptance before making an EMD. If your offer is accepted we will provide you with all of the seller’s title information, any deposits must be transferred to the seller’s title once offer has been accepted.
2. When will I hear an answer for my offer?
From one hour to two weeks but we probably average about three days. It only takes a minute for us to communicate an offer response but we do not have control over how long it takes to hear back from our seller. Please be patient and give us at least three days before following up.
3. How come the seller countered at asking price?
Generally when a seller counters at asking price they do not feel the offer presented to them satisfactory enough for a reasonable counter. It is an alternative to rejecting the offer. If your buyer still is interested in the property have them submit a higher offer.
4. I submitted a full price offer doesn’t the seller have to accept it?
The seller does not have to accept a full price offer, many times there are above asking price offers which the seller also does not have to accept. There is no license law stating that a seller must accept an, at, or above asking price offer.
5. The buyer’s attorney reviewed the seller addendums and wants to change line x, add y, etc.
The seller will not accept ANY changes to the addendums, period. It is the cost of doing business with a bank or a lender. Some of clients operate in 50 states and do not have time to review each state contract; the addendums are there to protect them not to try and steal deposits.
6. How come the seller won’t accept my $50,000 offer, its cash?
Though it is true cash offers are preferred to financed offers just because an offer is cash does not mean the seller is going to fork over thousands of dollars in equity. So if the seller was asking $90k for a house you put an offer for $50k on and a conventional (financed) offer comes in for $85k with 20% down ask yourself who’s offer would you entertain? Likewise why would you want to entertain an offer at 60% of your asking price knowing that you are likely the lowest priced home of its kind in the neighborhood? Banks are very competitive with their list price, they are priced to sell so they usually aren’t going to stray far from the list price.
7. But the house has a huge hole in the roof, no doors, mold and its backing up to a busy highway! They should be lucky I’m giving them an offer, aren’t they desperate?
Our banks are very aware of the value and condition of their properties, they have us check up on them, give monthly reports and BPO valuations initially before the listing and periodically throughout the life of the listing. BPO’s (Broker Price Opinions) are like mini appraisals and contain three to four sold comparables and active comparables and there will typically be at least two, often three or more BPO’s completed on a property to determine a competitive sales value prior to the listing. Sometimes damages are repaired other times the price is adjusted instead but all damages are taken into consideration before determining the list price. Properties are sold AS-IS.
8. Do you think your seller will accept an offer for $123? How flexible is your seller? Will we be wasting our time if we put an offer in for $456?
We don’t know what the seller is willing to accept or not, often we are not in direct contact with the bank and even if we where we would not be allowed to disclose that information. What do you consider a waste of time? Part of being a real estate agent is submitting offers that do not get accepted but generally speaking if you can’t come somewhere around 90% of asking price of an REO it is usually a long shot.
