Bryant Tutas Broker/REALTOR(R) Tutas Towne Realty, Inc

Hi folks. This post is a follow up to my recent post My Buyer only wants one house. Why make 14 offers? If you haven’t read that one….I’ll give you a brief synopsis. It’s about making offers on multiple properties even though my Buyers intent is to only purchase one of them.

I’m writing this post for clarity. I want to clarify what I’m doing and I need clarity on a few of the comments that were left.

First, a few people mentioned that they MUST have an escrow deposit in hand prior to submitting a purchase offer. If this is a law……….show it to me. I don’t believe it.

Secondly, I had two agents from Georgia comment about what their purchase contracts state about disclosure.

One said:
 
"In GA we actually have something in our contracts specifically for this. A checkbox in which the buyer must disclose whether this is their only offer or if they have others in the hopper simultaneously."
 
The other wrote this:

"Actually, here in GA the Purchase Offer has a box to check for the buyer to either have or not have the right to enter into a contract on another property."

One’s talking about offers the other is talking about contracts. Which is it? I would be SHOCKED if there were a State law in any State that stated a Buyer had to disclose if they were making offers on more than one property. If there is……show it to me. I don’t believe it.

OK….I’m not trying to be a dick....I just want clarity. These things are important. Sometimes things we think are illegal or unethical are not. If I’m wrong..... I want to be corrected. It’s how I learn.

Now let me clarify a couple of things.

• I only use this tactic on REO properties.

• I only use this tactic when working with experienced Investors with cash.

• My Buyers do not back out of contracts. They do however withdraw offers.

• There is no chance in heck of a Bank signing off on an offer without coming back with a stack of addendums.

• Offers are presented with escrow deposit being deposited within 24 hours of acceptance.

• My Buyers are making very strong, over list price, cash offers with the intent of purchasing the property.

• If the offer is accepted in a timely fashion my Buyers will go under contract.

I think that’s it. Maybe when Wendy and I get finished with “Short Sale Basics” we’ll jump over to “Dealing With Buyers in a REO Market”. What do you think?

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Making offers on Multiple properties. Do your Buyers do it? Mine do. And here’s why.

In the Central Florida market right now REOs (bank owned properties) make up a HUGE percentage of the saleable inventory of homes. Most sell very quickly, for higher than listing price and with multiple offers.

This can be very frustrating for Buyers and their agents. It seems like every time you make an offer on a REO property it is either pending or a bidding war is going on. So what do you do?

What I do is have my Buyers make offers on numerous properties at the same time. We don’t even look at them. If a good property comes on the market I send an offer for my Buyer to sign and then we forward it right on to the REO agent. We want to get into the game.

Last week I presented 14 offers for one Buyer alone!!! My Buyer’s intent of course was to only purchase one property. Luckily we received acceptances on 2 of the 14. My Buyer was so excited he changed his mind and decided to buy both!! You just have to love it when that happens.

It happened to me this week too. So….submitting multiple offers turns out to be a very good thing. The Buyers are not only getting the property they want but they also getting a second one as a bonus!!

Now listing agents are probably not thrilled about this as we end up withdrawing a lot of offers. I had a conversation with one of the REO agents last week who asked me if the Buyer had seen the property. My answer was “no”. He seemed to be a little perturbed and actually said I couldn’t do that. Said I was “playing dirty”.

Now folks…..I don’t think I have ever seen a law that stated a Buyer needed to see a property in order to make an offer on it. Have you?

We look at the property between the time the offer is verbally accepted and the time the bank sends us over the final addendums. As you know, if you sell a lot of REOs, this could be a day or 2 weeks. Whatever it is it’s plenty of time to pop over and check out the property.

I’ve been primarily a Listing Broker my entire career. I think I’m getting pretty good at this Buyer stuff though. Am I playing dirty or am I just doing the best I can for my Buyers? What say you?

Are you a Florida REALTOR(R) looking for a change? Check it out. http://TTRealtyNet.com

CENTRAL FLORIDA REALTOR(r) OPPORTUNITIES

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Hi folks. A few months ago I had  Sellers call me who had just received notice that their property was being sold at auction in 10 days. Of course they wanted to know if I could help. As the good little Broker that I am I said “Maybe”. I asked a few qualifying questions and found out the property was:

• Purchased as a “flip” that flopped.

• They had a first Mortgage with 1st  Horizon and a 2nd with Etrade.

• The mortgage balances totaled roughly $220,000 and the property was worth about $60,000.

• The Sellers had recently divorced.

• One was in California and the other was in China.
  

The biggest obstacle of course was the auction date barreling down on us. Both Sellers would have to get me their financial information very quickly AND we would need to find a Buyer…… yesterday.

So my question is……..would you take this listing?

***In order to be successful with Short Sales you have to be able to pick and choose who to work with. You have to make sure the Sellers qualify and you have to make sure they are motivated. Want to learn more?

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Hi folks. Here are some excerpts from my day. Nothing special really. Just a normal day with trying to sell REOs in my market. ALL of these properties were active in the MLS and had been placed on the market in the last 48 hours.

My Buyers made cash offers ALL well above asking price. Some as high as 20% above list price. Frustrating for the Buyers to say the least. Not to count the hours of my time spent writing and submitting offers. Oh well. The day is over and I am now relaxing by the pool with a good book. Enjoy!!!!

• This is a just a courtesy E-Mail Letting you know that we have received your offer. There are Multiple Offers on this property and we will be getting back to you within 2 -5 business days with the banks response. Have a great day.

• Thank you.. we just got an offer accepted today in the morning pending seller's signature..I will keep you offer as a backup.

• Good Afternoon. The seller has accepted another offer on the above property,  I will advise should anything change with the accepted offer.

• The bank has accepted another offer. Thank You for all your efforts. We look forward to working with you in the future.

• I already have an accepted offer on this property.

• Offer receive it, thank you. Please be advice that this property has multiple offers. The lender is reviewing offers at this time they will choose the highest and best offer

So how was your day?

Thank goodness I placed a couple of my Short Sales pending.

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What a difference 3 years makes. Right now the average price in Poinciana Florida is $73,000. You can still do 100% financing but only with VA, USDA(rural housing) or FHA with a gift from a family member or employer.

3 years ago I wrote this: (I highlighted the statements that truly show how far we have fallen)

Negotiated a deal on one of my listings yesterday. The Buyer is purchasing using 100% financing with Seller paying closing costs. My market is affordable housing with the majority of homes priced from $190s to $250s and it seems like most of the Buyers lately have been purchasing with no money down.

Now don't get me wrong I am in favor of home ownership for everyone but I fear a lot of the Buyers are going to have financial difficulties in the near future. With high insurance costs, property taxes and mortgage payments I am seeing payments of close to $2,000 per month for a starter home. That's a pretty big nut to crack every month in my area where most families are regular working class people and don't have any reserve funds if they should encounter a financial setback.

Also, a good number of these purchases are being made with ARMs with the Buyers basing their ability to pay on future raises at work or a part time job that they may or may not be getting. In my opinion Mortgage Brokers and Realtors are being overly aggressive in selling these folks on the advantages of home ownership without really taking the time to counsel the Buyers on the true costs involved. And since they don't have to come up with any money at closing they are sitting ducks for Mortgage Brokers who are charging them sometimes outrageous fees for doing these types of loans.

So my challenge to Realtors who are dealing with first time Home buyers with a little or no money down is to really take the time to explain the pros and cons of purchasing a home. If the Buyers are fully informed and are wanting to move forward then help them to negotiate fees or guide them to the myriad of programs available that can help them with financial assistance. Placing a Buyer in a home he can't afford can damage them for years. It can cause bankruptcies, divorces and even illnesses. So let's "Protect the public" it's what Realtors are supposed to do.

END

Maybe I really am psychic! What do you think?

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