Games People Play.
No, I'm not talking about that human relationships book from the 60's. I'm wondering if there is some BS going on in the real estate market or if I'm just overreacting.
Case #1: I submitted an all-cash offer on a short-sale back in August. The seller (and lender) accepted a slightly higher all-cash offer shortly after my submission. OK, fine, but the curious thing is that property closed in about a week. That's right. Not even 10 days from the submission of that offer to a closed sale. And here I am in week 3 of another offer on a short-sale and not a word from the lender. Anybody ever see a short-sale move that fast? Are there inside deals formed out of collusion between asset managers and their investor buddies?
Case #2: Another property in the development I'm shopping has a regular equity seller. Yeah, they're not all extinct yet! The problem here is the seller is dreaming in regards to his asking price ($135,000). He's already lowered it twice (from $155k if I remember correctly) and he's still WAY over market. I asked if he would consider a realistic all-cash offer. The listing agent said they just received an all-cash offer for $130k (yeah, you Arizona flippers may want to sell this guy some ocean-front property). I figured that place was as good as sold IF the offer was legit, but it's been 2 weeks and the property is still active. So either the seller is an idiot for not taking the all-cash offer or the listing agent is full of $%&@. Is this a common game in the real estate world, i.e., always say you have another offer coming in whenever you receive an inquiry about any property?
Perhaps there's perfectly valid reasons for what I see as suspicious behavior and I would love to hear some possibilities. However, I'll be returning to work full-time soon and just don't have time for this nonsense.
Sorry for venting. I needed to blow off some steam. Thanks for reading.