How do I send an REO offer?

[N/A N/A]

I am very new to real estate investing. I am actually looking to purchase my first home, which is an REO property. I would say the property's After Repair Value is $95K. It needs about $20k of repairs. It has been REO'ed for about 10 months in Florida. I want to offer the Lender $60k. Should I go through the assigned Realtor or try to talk to the Loss Mitigation/ Foreclosure Department directly?

Also, what should I include in the offer. So far, I have a letter from a mortgage lender that says I am pre-approved for a certain amount of financing (so I can close quickly with cash), I took pictures of the repairs and itemized them on paper. Should I ask the Realtor to get low comps for me or should I go on Property Appraiser and print out what I can find? Should I create some kind of a cover-letter specifying and summarizing my objectives?

I know I have a lot of questions, and I appreciate the help greatly. Thanks!!

[Paul Cordero]

I work for the REO dept. of one of the nation's largest bank servicing companies.

It will do you no good to talk to the forclosure dept. or the loss mit. dept. because once the file is in REO, those other dept. have nothing to do with it.

Your best bet is to talk to the listing agent and make your offer. The agent must submit all offers to the bank. If it has been on the market that long, the bank should be willing to take less just to get it off of their books. I would start your offer even lower, then see what they counter with. Keep going back and forth until you reach your threashold of 60K. You may be pleasantly surprised that you get the property for even less.

God Bless,