Moving past the frustration: A few tips on getting the bank to accept your REO offer

As a primary listing agent for numerous banks, I have been fortunate enough to receive multiple offers from buyer’s agents trying to secure a property for their client. In the past year, I have cumulated a good idea of core actions that if followed will definitely increase the likelihood of your offers being accepted. If you are consumer reading this blog, the items below are strongly relevant because if your Realtor asks you to provide this information you will have a good understanding as to why.

1. No Inspection Contingencies: This is critical to getting an offer accepted fast and easy. In a bank owned property, the bank has no idea as to the condition of the property or environmental hazards, etc. Due to the current economy, many inspection companies are now down to $200 - $300 for termite and home inspection. Try to convince your buyers to do this upfront if they are serious about placing an offer. Submitting these reports with the offer I have found improves the chances of a positive response by over 50%. Remember, the bank asset manager has to get the offer approved by the investor and any thing you can provide to make his/her job easier is a good thing.
   
2. Enhanced Personalization: In today’s world of email and paperless offers, any element of personalization goes along way. As an example, one of my buyers submitted his offer to me with a pod cast video showing his clients and explaining how strong they were committed to ensuring a successful close. I not only submitted the offer, but emailed the asset manager the video and low behold it was accepted. The asset manager later commented after we closed ,“she knew this would go through because any one who took the time to create a video with their offer had to be serious”. The point here is don’t forget to personalize the offer.
   
3. The “Squeaky Wheel” gets the grease: I know that all of us real estate professionals are extremely busy. However, it is amazing how the agents that consistently followed up with their offers have a much higher success rate. This is because with the system being overloaded as it is, the system responds to only the current crisis. The key message here is, if you send in an offer follow up daily until you get a response.
   
4. Provide a simplified worksheet with your offer: The majority of offers that are submitted have to be re-inputting into the particular banks system of choice. The ability for a listing agent to be able to quickly input the following core areas – Purchase Price, Contingency Period, Inspections and whether they are buyer or seller paid, any credits involved, down payment, etc. is extremely helpful.

Obviously all the usual items apply including the pre-approval letter, but the above four items seem to stand out in the crowd.
Thanks and we will talk to you tomorrow where we will discuss understanding the economics of a short sale, loan modification, and/or foreclosure to determine what is best for your clients.

Joseph Bradley
josephb.frg@gmail.com
Broker Owner
Family Realty Group, Inc.

Family Realty has specialized in REO, Short-Sale, and Pre-foreclosure properties for over 30 years, with our founder and my grandfather Joseph Goodwill. My success as the owner and chairman is based on maintaining F.O.C.U.S. during market upturns and downturns: F.O.C.U.S. stands for Financially Secure, Operational Expertise, Customer Focus, Unparalleled Industry Knowledge and Superior Technology. We are a boutique real estate firms that provides personalized services to consumers or banking institutions looking to sell or purchase a home in Contra Costa, Alameda, and Placer Counties located within California. As the Broke-Owner of Family Realty Group, I am personally involved in all of our client transactions ensuring the highest level of focus and accountability in servicing your needs. If you would like a FREE Home Seller or Home Buyer Handbook, or list of available REO properties please call me at 925.401.0405 or email at josephb.frg@gmail.com.