Zillow Advice: Buying Foreclosures - Buying bank-owned...How long does it take...and why?

Working with forclosures ...

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 04:21:00 GMT

Working with forclosures requires a lot patience at this time. First, do not expect rational, predictable behavior that makes sense. Do not anticipate that you can guess what machinations are taking place within the lenders decision process. There are so many variables at this point, and delays are often long and make very little discernable sense. The process is different in each case with each lender. Also many lenders laid off part for their assest resolution staffs, and are understaffed. Take the process one step at a time, and respond to the lender as they respond to you. There does not seem to be any predictable rules at this time. Have your agent keep the pressure up, and stay with it...if the property is worth the trouble.

John Herman CEO
TheBuyersRepresentative.com
Connecticut Exclusive Buyer Agents

The problem is most likely ...

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 07:12:00 GMT

The problem is most likely the loan is securitized and requires investor approval. This is not like the old days when lenders really wanted the loans off the books. Most lenders are really servicers and who really owns the property is a trustee of a security which may have been sliced and diced many ways. It is not just about your offer it is how the allocation of the loss will be pass through to the investors. Its a complicated mess and getting to a final decision is about curtailing liability. Your offer is least important in most cases. I know that sounds odd, but it is the way. Up until recently, I worked with legal disputes for a top ten national bank and had to deal with this issue on a daily basis. Even going to the CEO of the bank did not move it along, it was outside of their control.

The reason the bank may take ...

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:45:00 GMT

The reason the bank may take that long is because they are seeing if more offers will come in at a better price. If they feel it is a fair price for the home. They may do brokers opinion on it to see what an agent thinks it is worth. This takes time for them to review what an agent thinks it would sell for. So yes things are going on in bankland that you may not see. Your agent is trying to prepare you so you know it is not the same as buying a non foreclosed property.

Then there is no reason for ...

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:37:00 GMT

Then there is no reason for an answer to take "several weeks". If you have an agent of your own then he/she must be persistant in asking for updates. Not to the point of being a pest but every two days or so.

If you are working direct with the agent, you can do the bugging.

Unless one is offering a terribly low offer banks are usually responding in 2 days to a week or so. And an offer within 5% would be considered serious.

Good luck.

It was foreclosed last year. ...

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:23:00 GMT

It was foreclosed last year. I made an offer to the listing agent.

Is this actually a bank owned ...

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:10:00 GMT

Is this actually a bank owned property or is this a short sale situation? The timeframe is very different. If it is truly a bank owned property (bank has title and possession) the answer process typically only takes a few days. Worst case I have seen is about 2-3 weeks and that was unusual circumstances.

I have worked with WAMU as a listing agent many times. They have always responded fairly quickly on bank owned properties.

Now if this is a short sale then, yes, the process can be a couple of months. But in that case the bank does not own the property yet. It is still in the foreclosure process.

Could you clarify the situation?

Steele V. Propp
Foreclosure Specialist