What can I put in the offer to make sure that the listing realtor actually makes the offer to the lender or whoever has the REO? As you are aware some of these offers require deep discounts in order to be profitable investments and I want to make sure that ALL of my offers are being presented. Any input is appreciated.

CASH, AS IS - NO REPAIRS, NO WDI TREATMENT, 3 DAY INSPECTIONS ARE INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, CLOSE IN 30 DAYS AT SELLER'S CHOICE OF TITLE CLOSING COMPANY...

did i miss anything?

Ask for a response in writing from the seller within the time frame.
I had to do that once.

Every offer should be submitted no matter how low. I know here in Florida that any formal offer must be submitted by law. I usually fax my own purchase contract to the realtor. It is a standard contract that realtors use and make sure to put: Cash, As Is, and No Assignability. I usually put a 15 day inspection period just to make sure you have time to back out in case the property doesn't inspect well. 15 day Inspection period is the standard here in Florida. Oh, and it always helps to be friendly with the realtor.

Agents are ethically bound to present any and all offers *unless* the seller has instructed the agent *in writing* not to present offers below a certain amount.

If it's an REO, a response can be slow in coming. It's not like dealing w/a private party seller, there are lots of people in the mix who have to review the offer & more likely than not the lender will want an appraisal or price opinion before making any decisions.

I was telling one of my AMs the other day how much I liked dealing with the company because they always respond to offers. She said most banks have a policy that if the phrase "counter offer requested" is inserted into the offer, they will counter regardless of the original offer price (instead of just ignoring or rejecting).

Might be something to try.

I believe I know what you mean BRE. I'm licensed in TN and FL and I have seen in both states, agents not presenting offers and saying they did but the seller said no.
I suggest you to put in the offer:" Buyer and/or buyer's agent must be present when offer is presented"
So you can check effectively if the offer has been sent in anyway...

So buyer's agent has to be looking over my shoulder when I hit *send*?

Did you read the original post?

BRE asked about offers for REO's....so there is no way the Buyer's agent can present when the offer is submitted.

Anyway, it's actually pretty tricky to get a rejection in writing. Mine are usually rejected on the website or by email from the Asset Manager. And I'm NOT about to give out the website or AM's email address to the buyer's agent.

I'm curious as to others replies to see how they get rejections in writing.

Yup that was my point. How the heck is the buyer's agent supposed to be there watching over me as I hit *send*?

But would this be sound practice even in the case of private party sellers? To have buyer's agent present when presenting the offer means buyer's agent is privy to seller's responses.

Sounds like a major breach of fiduciary obligation to your seller to me.

Pretty much, yes...
But , guys, if you're so negative about this issue, I understand why there are so many offers not presented to the sellers...

Our point is the offers ARE being submitted...we just don't always get rejections in writing - or they come by email.

And their is no way the buyers agents is gonna see my contacts website or their email address!

No, he wants 'to make sure that ALL his offers are presented'...
And when it's a low ball offer, the listing agent does not feel (s)he should present the offer most of the time. It's a reality unfortunately...

When acting as Listing agent on REO properties, I have printed out the e-mail or printed the web-site where it states "offer rejected", etc. Then I white out the sensitive info (i.e. web address, Asset manager's e-mail, etc.) and fax that copy to the buyer's agent. They feel better because they have something in writing to show that I did present the offer and they can provide something to the buyer showing a true 'rejection'. It makes all of us look professional. I feel every legitimate buyer has a right to a written response on their offer. If they took the time to write the offer, the seller (and his agent) has a responsibility to provide a written reply.

Don't faxes print a confirmation page that show a specific fax has been send to XYZ company by XYZ person on this date and time? How otherwise can the sender show proof that it was faxed?

I have the same fear of my offers not being submitted. In fact I truly believe it was not submitted based on the conversation I had with the listing agent. I even asked for a fax confirmation but the agent would not provide the confirmation. The reply was " it is standard to not receive anything in writing from the bank". I am going to put in the next offer...counteroffer requested.

so in summary of this conversation... there is no way that we can legally force a listing agent to confirm in writing that they have submitted an offer and confirm the client response in writing? Correct?

It's probably more depending on how your contract is written, and you (your buyer) might consider requesting the sellers signature and date in the offer if the contract is rejected.
Ours requires a sellers initials if it's countered or rejected. I think a full signatue and date would be more appropriate.

how is requesting anything in a contract that is ultimately rejected obligate the person who rejects the offer to do it? you can ask for a signature, to only present with buyers agent looking over shoulder or for a back rub upon rejection but a not yet accepted contract isn't binding by it's very nature so there is no obligation to respond at all. right?

Hello Everyone,

It's difficult to distinguish the lazy agent from the "I'm not obligated to call you unless my client accepts your offer or my client instructs me to inform you" agent.

We address the problem by disclosing offers over the web. All parties are informed that all offers will be disclosed and in the event of a multiple offer situation all parties can
modify terms of offers. pre-offers are not final and subject to approval.

http://www.makebestoffer.com/cgi-bin/AnyStreetAddress.pl?category=real&item=1200591781

This has worked wonderfully for sellers. We are currently testing a similar venue for buyers where buyers can solicit offers from sellers interested in selling. In the event that our buyer is interested in buying more than one property, sellers may compete by discounting their price. Nonetheless all offers are disclosed on the web.

I hope this helps.

Obviously, if the seller is not sincere in selling the property and communicating with a buyer, and the agent is not sincere in presenting the offer or asking the seller to respond in writing, and neither wants to abide by the state laws and the contract, you have a problem.
It's time to change your approach.

Usually this works, but I did have one case where the agent and seller were refusing to submit anything but full price offers. The property in the best of markets wasn't even worth their asking price. After a few weeks of back en forth I was able to piece together the story.

The seller was in Lis Pendis, but the bank was holding off on an actual auction date 'because the seller is in the process of selling'. What he was really doing was telling the bank he was trying to sell and the bank believe him. He was actually turning down all deals that came to him, in hopes he could drag it out a few more months until the market came back and he could sell for XX dollars over the cost of his note.

Sometimes you have to play a little rough, so I took this information and went to the Broker the agent was working for and within 24 hours my deal was magically presented to the bank and approved in a week (it was a small local bank--wish the national ones worked that quick).

Do not get me wrong, 99% of the agents I work with are great, I just happened to find one jerk--that's alright he doesn't have a job anymore...so sad....

I do believe there is a problem in my area with not all offers being presented to the seller. In addition to this, a little trick a few REO agents like to play in this area is "multiple offers." One of their listings could be on the market 1 day or 365 days, but whenever I submit my offer we are all of the sudden in a "multiple offer situation." Not that this doesn't happen, but I just find it mildly ironic that it always happens to me, with the same agents, no matter when the offer is submitted. May not necessarily be illegal, but certainly unethical in my opinion. So, I agree with the above post that 99% of the agents I work with are great, but sometimes you do have to play a little rough with a handful of people.