All Forum Posts by: RALPH MOSS

After just 7 weeks from having my purchase offer submitted on a single family home in Cape Coral, Florida..........the short sale has been approved by all parties.

The sellers have a 1st mortgage of $350k with CitiMortgage and a 2nd mortgage of $40k with Guaranty Bank. My accepted offer is for $255k. The home is just over 2 years old with one original owner who paid $440k in October 2007.

I do not know how much the 2nd mortgage holder was compensated to release the lein. I was not asked to pay anything extra and that's all that matters to me.

The contract of sale had a 'short sale addendum' that required the seller be released from all money owed in shortfall.

My lender has an appraisal scheduled in a few days and I scheduled a home inspection for tomorrow. Barring any surprises, I expect to close within 5 weeks.

My only concern at this point is hoping the seller does no damage to the home which is currently in perfect condition inside and out. I guess my pre-closing walk through will be revealing.

I want to thank all the knowledgeable posters on this board. You gave me the foundation to get this deal done with confidence.

Do any of the experts on this board have additional advise to offer? Perhaps I missed something important.

Thanks

Short Sales.....I'm new at this so what better way to start than reading through this forum. I am very impressed with the knowledge in here and I really appreciate all of your help and sharing.

I am looking to buy a vacation /retirement home in Cape Coral Florida. I am working with a real estate agent who is a friend of a friend. This agent has been in the business for 20 years and claims to be an expert in the area and with short sales.

I, through my agent, recently put in an offer of $242,500 on a short sale that was listed with another agent. The seller had the property listed at $350k. The comps in the area came in between $240k - $270k. The seller never submitted my fair offer to the bank. He rejected my offer and countered at $300k. I would not budge.

So it appears that the seller has no obligation to submit the short sale offer to the bank............

Questions..........

Does the seller and his agent have the right not to submit a fair offer to the bank?

Why wouldn't the seller want to submit my offer to the bank?

My agent claims that the seller has to approve the offer before it can be submitted to the bank. Is this true?

Is there a way to go around the seller and his agent and approach the bank directly?

Do I need to find a different agent that specializes in short sale negotiations? If yes, how do I find one in SW Florida?

Are there any incentives that I can offer the seller or his agent to help push this deal through?

From reading this forum, I do not see any issues like mine with sellers unwilling to submit fair offers. Can this be something that occurs in Florida and not other states?

Thanks