As I have said all along over the past couple years, banks are motivated by different factors than a traditional seller. A potential retail buyer (or "nester") is unlikely to know exactly what those motivating factors are. If the note has been sold on the secondary market, and many have been, then it's the note holder & not the servicer making foreclosure/short sale decisions. Possibly, there are other factors such as the current borrower/owner having other outstanding loans with the bank that adds another wrinkle. Or, it could be how the bank is handling their accounting that makes the difference between short sale & foreclosure. It's really a fruitless process trying to second guess what they're doing & even more so...why. In many cases, due to legal reasons, a lender will decide they need to foreclose & due to confidentiality restraints they aren't supposed to discuss those reasons with you, a potential buyer of the distressed property. Another potential reason to not accept an offer from a retail buyer...they have sold a "block" of REOs to an invester & the particular property you are interested in is contained within that block. The lender has to foreclose to clear title before completing the transaction with the investor. We're seeing many more block invester sales now than 6-months ago. Anyway, it really is wasted energy trying to project your logic onto an institution that has a larger picture as their focus instead of an individual sale. Cash or financing? Well, there's financing & then there's "financing". Cash is cash no matter where it comes from. If you present an offer on a distressed property accompanied by a Commitment Letter you're set to go when you find a property that suits your needs. If you, instead, submit a Pre-approval Letter...well, that's really not worth the paper it's written on. For instance, we have an open Commitment Letter from our bank that allows us to purchase property(s) up to a certain amount based on our personal guarantee (no collateral). After we close, we give a first mortgage to our bank releasing the personal guarantee portion of the Commitment for another property purchase. That loan may contain up to a certain number of these properties obtained via just personal guarantee at any one time. How do you get a loan with just a personal guarantee? Well, again as I've been saying for a long time here, it pays large rewards to develop a "relationship" with a bank over a period of years rather than always shopping for the elusive "lowest rate, lowest fees". All I have to do is phone my bank & tell them I'm submitting an offer on such & such property & need a check in whatever amount on the closing date...I've got 45 days from the funding date to provide a lien. We've earned the bank's trust. It's a win-win for both of us. brickeye, "Let them stew a few more weeks and put in another offer through my attorney." I can assure you nobody at the bank is losing sleep over your offer & they are certainly not in a "stew". Executive management at the bank is entirely focused on the big picture. How a particular property fits into that puzzle only the bank knows. That's one of the reasons David, me, & others harp here regularily that to purchase a short or foreclosure from a bank requires a completely dispassionate approach. Interjecting what seems logical to a "nester" or even the small investor is almost guaranteed to be not relevant to the bank. I stress, again, the bank's need to focus on not only a larger picture but a different picture entirely. The large lenders holding tens of thousands of these bad loans have set-up varying proccesses to move that inventory off the books. But, even so, at any given time a single property may (or may not) fit into the "guidelines". A property's classification can change overnight suddenly making it difficult, or impossible, to purchase. For example, the bank has multiple loans to the same borrower (CC, mortgage, HELCO, car, boat). A restructure agreement is reached with the borrower & foreclosing on the real estate is necessary to clear up title. Or, a borrower sues the bank. That would halt everything until bank counsel has had an opportunity to review the validity of the suit. There are just so many reasons a bank suddenly decides to not offer a short sale...it's impossible to list all of them. I'm far more amazed at how many are actually closing than the fact some get stalled out mid-process. /tricia

Phoggie - we buried ours last night. We live on a main road with lots of traffic and our entire family is standing outside at dinnertime with a huge shovel and a prayer digging a hole next to the for sale sign in the front yard. We said the prayer and my husband put St. Joseph in right side up facing our home. (He didn't believe in putting him in upside down.) We have been saying the prayer at each meal and I starting reading the bible last night (have a lot of catching up to do). So I am trying to bring our Faith out more to make this work. I also followed another Sellers suggestion about the price you want on the floor (did that in a closet with pencil). So we'll see. I'll def post if we get an offer.

First of all, welcome to the Forum & a big Happy Birthday to you! My suggestion, since it's a small town, is to visit the courthouse & take a look at deeds for the surrounding properties (assuming price is public info in your area). Then, you'd have something to show the owner to bolster your conversation. Alternatively, tax assessments will give a price relationship of one property to another (although maybe not exact market value). You have knowledge of the auction prices locally & those may also support your offer. Preparing & taking with you a list of things the home truly needs & a realistic estimate of their cost is another suggestion for a negotiating tool. It sounds like you live in a casual & intimate area (meaning that folks all know each other if not well at least by sight). Normally, I'd not make these suggestions but in an area such as yours, sometimes, just straight talk is best. If they know you, then they'll also know that your intent is not to insult them. At this offer price ($60K) versus a $30K purchase price plus a guess at $5K for the upgrades...that's not a bad investment over 15 years. What would you 'guess' - timate market value to be if the property were completely restored? That's another way to back into a realistic value in present condition. Good luck & keep us posted. Tricia

dream2009: You are still doing ok if you go through the original realtor that showed you the place, since she told you she would rebate you the 3%. So basically, the buyer gets to see the 3%(that you get back) in the sales price, but then the seller pays the 6% commission as a separate line item. Then you get the 3% back. It is actually a win-win for you and the seller. The agent is very generous, and I think, should be rewarded with the sale. Many/most agents would not do this. This is basically a 3%gift to you and you are real, real lucky to get this offer. As far as closing costs - it depends on state/municipality. If your area has title companies that do closing, you should contact one of them for an estimate of total closing costs if you buy it. They will be glad to do this in most cases, as you are more likely to choose them for closing. In fact, the agent that showed you the home should be able to help you get this estimate also. If the seller pays owners title insurance(lenders require this), it could get a bit pricey, but it all depends on your area. Also - when/if you get a loan, shop around and find one with 0 points and NO origination fee if at all possible. This will save on closing costs.