Camille Miller

And I was told that there is another bid on the house. We do not know theamount of the other bid. So I told my agent that I will beat any bid By $2000 up to a certain amount. But I was told that i can not place a bid like that. Is that true? They do it all the time on t v. thanks

Although this seems like a great idea and it's done in commercial real estate all the time, in NJ it's not an accepted method of bidding on residential property. Some Boards have deemed it unethical as well so your agent is correct. Good luck with the house. Multiple bids seem to be happening a lot again. I'm dealing with two myself right now.

You can ask your agent to give you a signed sheet from the seller that your offer was rejected. I often ask the seller to sign the front page of an offer as "rejected" for proof of presentation. I don't know your agent but I highly doubt that a good agent would risk their license by not presenting an offer on your behalf, especially in a buyers market. You can also do it through email so one can document the conversation between both parties.

Check out http://www.JustJerseyRealEstate.com for the latest school report for any town in any county right from the home page or under our resource center. The site provides all the information you need to make a good decision. If you need an agent don't hesitate to contact us for a referal. Good luck to you.

BackGround:
We extended a contract on a property with 20,000 deposit and I was provided a Mortgage commitment, however a day before my closing, I was told Bank (BOFA) had a glitch in their system and could not close. After several run arounds & after a week of delay BOFA finally declined me for mortgage due to high income to debt ratio. This was mainly due to the fact that, they approved me based on my W2 (My loan processor knew all along I was self employed) and during underwriting they used average income from my business tax returns, thus was dis-qualified.

Problem:. Based on my mortageg contigency on my contract, requested Sellers to cancel the contract & release the deposit. However to our shock, Sellers are holding us liable just b'cos we had mortgage commitment and they are claiming that we didn't act in good faith to close the house and has caused undisclosed amount of loss. What are my choices now, how can I come out of this situation. Please advise.

I can't give you legal advice but I can speak from experience. I hope you have an attorney guiding you through this ordeal. That being said your contract should have a mortgage contigency clause that CYA in this situation. In New Jersey the Buyer can almost always (with a good attorney) get out of any deal with no damages in your case it seems easy because the bank failed to loan you the money. If you still want the home you should consider applying to a credit union where they are better situated to deal with the self-employed. Bigger banks are notorious for puling that $%&#@ the day of closing (one BOA in particular).

It is being proposed by our wizard of a Governor. Here's an article on it. http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20090612/NEWS01/906... also on http://www.njar.com home page there is a good write up. Like most of his budget balancing ideas, it will most likely get voted down but certainly write your representives. To keep up on the lastest New Jersey real estate articles log on to http://www.JustJerseyRealEstate.com.