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I personally can't predict whether or not next year will be the best time to buy REO. I can however predict that there will be more, and they will be priced lower, pound for pound that is.

Do note that when I say priced lower, I don't necessarily mean priced more favorably. A property that an asset manager may price at $300,000 today; he/she may price the same property at $270,000 next year - however lower in price, this would not be anymore favorable if the economy as a whole worsens.

I recently attended a large REO conference where Freddie Mac's Chief Economist stated that their numbers indicate a 50% chance of a true recession in the next year. This would be in addition to the already sliding real estate market.

In a nutshell, no deal is a good deal if end users can't buy. So to that end, who knows if it will be better or worse.

I don't believe that legislation can help anyone that's already traveling down that dead end raod. It appears that most of the new legislation is designed to prevent/curb future mortgage industry screw ups.

Next
Banks will always try to get the absolute best price. But your initial assumption was correct; prices will fall when they start to really "feel the crunch" and have to "unload these properties". The only problem with that is, and as I stated before, will you be able to unload them. It's all relative, tit-for-tat, pound for pound, etc.

Also
Competition drives up prices. Will there be more investor competition next year or not. Many may come out of the wood-works because of the new "rock-bottom prices". Many may leave the business because of the scarcity of end buyers. Who knows... Plan your success one property at a time starting today.

I say don't wait until tomorrow for what may or may not come. Play the markets smart now, and adjust as required later. Skilled investors will adjust and manuevor to make things happen regardless of climate. Those who wait, will always find more reasons to wait - as there seems to always be good reasons to wait. You just can't make any money by waiting. I'll get rich next year isn't the best way to start a get rich plan unless you have a crystal ball.

Of course this is just my opinion.

Good luck sooz

is worth repeating.

In most cases, it's my goal for you to not know.

Good deal Greg.

I'd like to touch on one of your important observations...

I must admit, I'm guilty of this.

A great number of successful REO listing agents perform in this manner. It's a combination of having a more secure stream of business that we can rely on (arrogance to some degree), having lots of work to get done, having heard just about every sales pitch from every investor in our market, and also knowing that in most cases, our properties sell themselves; whether you buy it or not, it'll sell.

Like all listing agents, I love earning both sides of a sale. But I am also a big proponent of Buyers Agents and I certainly recommend their use.

Learning the arena in which you plan to operate is paramount. Understanding personalities, motivating factors, likes and dislikes are as important as knowing market stats and trends. You seem to have grasped this concept and are a better investor for doing so.

Congratulations Greg.

Of course the owner will know what you're paying for the home. The owner is the person selling you the home, not the bank. The bank is merely a third party that has the privlege of approving the sale because their lien isn't being completely satisfied.

In simple terms... Banks can't sell what they don't own; and until they own the property by way of foreclosure or deed in lieu of foreclosure, they don't own it. Regardless of how indebted they are to the bank, the homeowner is still the homeowner, and also the potential home seller. Nothing happens without their say so.

At the court auction, if the property is sold for more than than the balance owed (liens, fees, fines, etc), the surplus "proceeds" ARE returned to the previous owner. Jon was correct in this aspect.

After the auction, once the property is wholly owned by the lender (or auction winner); the new owner (lender in this case) can sell that property (REO) for whatever the market will bear, and keep all of the profit. swgprop was correct in this aspect.

Don't confuse the 2 sales.

Actually, asset managers are rarely fired for making decisions. In my experience, they're usually fired for not making decisions; And most asset managers are paid an incentive for sales, and penalized for a lack there of.

It sounds to me that a swampped asset manager may have lost your offer. Asset managers also move around from company to company; when this happens their portfolio is divided amongst others, or completely handed over to someone else - things especially get lost here as the replacement(s) may not have all the files, emails, faxes, voicemails or whatever else the other guy left behind. When I left my last asset management job, I left over 100 voicemails that no one had access to. MY BAD...

I've also found that sometimes, there's some kind of red tape such as; problems with the foreclosure proceedings, title issues, mortgage insurance issues, servicer issues and so on. When there is an issue like this, some swampped asset managers will merely put that property in a "holding pattern" and come back to it when everything is all clear.

I'd recommend that you have your agent speak with the listing agent, and have the listing agent call the asset manager to ask, "Is this property available for purchase right now?"

If the property is available they'll act right then and there; but if you give them time, you'll get lost in the shuffel again.

Take it from someone who's worked for one of the best and possibly the worst, a month is too long even for the most overworked asset manager. Your offer is buried or lost - if someone sent in an identical offer right now, they likely have a better chance of getting the deal than you because it's "fresh" on the asset manager's desk.

There is one other possibility. They could be negotiating back and forth with a couple of other offerors that are better than yours. In this situation, some asset managers won't decline any offers until they've locked in one. I recently had a similar situation that took about 3 weeks. If this is the case, and you're not apart of the negotiations, feel confident in knowing that your offer didn't get lost, it's just way too low.

Either way, move on it now and good luck.

In order to file an ethics complaint against a Realtor, you must first determine which of the National Association of Realtors Code of Ethics have been violated. From what I've read in your post, there have been no violations.

Banks seek to get the highest possible price just like any homeowner. Agents for banks are charged with getting the highest possible price just like agents for any other homeowner.

Not to take away from the incredible importance of a good buyer's agent, a simple reality that you'll have to get use to is that buyer agents are at a disadvantage when it comes to submitting offers; but this isn't a characteristic of just REO, it's all of real estate. The listing agent has the privelege of seeing your offer, but you can't see theirs, that's just the way it is.

Granted, this presents an ethical delima that REO asset managers are well aware of, but the fact is, it can rarely be proven that the listing agent did anything unethical. In the end, the listing agent got their client a little more money - that's their job. As far as offer deadlines, these are merely part of an overall marketing strategy, and are not "official" or set in stone in any way (except HUD, VA and some auction platforms to some degree). A homeowner (bank) can pretty much do as they please regarding such matters.

One thing...
If the accepted offer was lower than yours, then you could possibly show an unethical act - as the listing agent may have not presented your offer, a violation of (Standards of Practice 1-7). This would not only be an ethics violation, it would be a violation of state law, as it could be proven that the agent wasn't acting in the best interest of their client.
This of course wasn't your situation.

I am sorry that you lost out, I know how difficult it can be to lose the place that you felt would be just perfect. However, take comfort in knowing that in the current market, there are going to be a lot of perfect places available for your choosing.

To that end, All Cash said it best. Move On.

Gordo2417 offers great "realistic" insight about REOs on the market for an extended period of time.

http://forums.biggerpockets.com/viewtopic.php?t=12235

What was your question?

Your position has been heard.

One other thing. The above relationships that you have are fine. I guarantee you though, these agents aren't doing a whole lot of, if any leg work. My concern is for the poor fools that don't know because you haven't told.

Whatever it takes to get money; I guess. That's business.......... Right?