Fannie Mae Homepath property - sitting idle

[Sam Leon]

There is a property that I have been watching for the last six months.

Starting at 219K, it lowered it's price 209K, 199K, 189K, 179K, 169K, 159K in between it went under contract twice, then came back on the market.

When it came down to 159K I submitted an offer of 130K. The bank countered another offer, presumably a higher one.

Then the contract fell apart and after that the agent lowered it to 144K. I resubmitted my offer of 130K cash and the agent told me five days ago there is no other offer. The bank hasn't countered nor accepted my offer, just sitting idle.

OK now on to why the previous offers kept falling apart...the property has a 310K lien by the city - and this amount is growing every day by $300. Illegal structure and unpermitted driveway, both need to be removed. Once removed the city will accept 10% of the outstanding lien which as of today is 31K. So my offer is essentially 130K + 31K + removal cost + $30 per day between now and when it closes. Probably previous buyers didn't realize the liens until they get to their due diligence period then they freaked and backed out.

Now my question is, is it unusual for FNMA to sit on an offer and just ignore it? No counter no acceptance? Does it mean my offer is dead? I guess there is no way to expedite this? The longer they wait the more the lien at $300 a day.

[Ross K.]

The big red flag to me here is the assumption that the local gov will accept 10% of the lien. Make sure you get that in writing.