Highest and Best may be.... best from the start

Highest and Best may be.... Best from the start.
Attention buyers ~ it may not be a buyers market after all. In some specific price ranges and types of sales, sellers have the upper hand. In southwest Plainfield, IL there are plenty of foreclosed and short sale homes in fair condition listed for under $140,000. These are homes that once sold for over $225,000 in many cases. I have seen homes with 30 plus REALTOR cards on the counter top indicating 30 plus showings. I've been told there are no more showings after 10 days on the market because there were too many offers. Even for homes imperfect homes at slightly higher prices there can be fierce competition amongst buyers.

Last week I wrote 2 offers for foreclosed homes. The first home was listed at $129,900 and my buyer's offer was $125,000 with $4000 in closing costs. Within 4 days, the bank counteroffered $128,000 with the closing costs. My buyer accepted that day and the listing agent was notified. 7 days later there was no signed contract by the bank. At the end of the day, I received an email stating that the home was now in a multiple offer situation. The listing agent had included "No sale transaction is accepted until seller signs written contracts" and "Counter offer acceptance is subject to senior management approval, mortgage insurance and /or investor approval", giving the bank the ability to accept my buyer's offer but still proceed slowly enough until a 2nd offer was presented. In most negotiations, the offer agreed to via email would have been honored and the 2nd offer would have been submitted too late.

On the second offer, my buyer offered $125,000 on a home listed at $139,900. Buyer decided to go back and forth in $1500-2000 increments until the bank's offer was $131,000. Buyers' final counter offer was $130,000. All of this was accomplished over the course of 4 days. We then waited for 4 days before the listing agent notified us that there was another offer and seller was requesting highest and best offer. One day later, the seller rejected my buyer's offer in favor of the other offer.

In both cases, the negotiations moved quickly until the very end when the banks took extra days to respond to allow additional offers to come in. These were both very frustrating situations as it became apparent that the banks don't have to play by the same rules as everyone else. 2 attorneys I spoke to both reiterated that banks make their own rules and that there is really nothing that can be done.

Except I think to have the buyer bring the highest and best offer from the very start and get the offer either accepted or rejected at the very start. Is possibly paying 2% more for a home worth paying in order to avoid the risk of losing the home to another buyer? I think so. Hopefully, my buyer will, too, the next time I write an offer on a bank owned home.