I am working w/a buyer who is looking into foreclosures & short sales. I read that on a short sale banks are trying to get the closest to asking price as they can or above. How about on a foreclosure? A friend told me to offer 10% off the listing price. What tips do you experts have on offering the target price. I wrote an offer on a condo for this buyer 15% less from listing price and it was not accepted not even countered. They accepted another offer.

What I do is look at recent closed REO sales.In the tax record it has who had the foreclosure deed. I have found some banks that are stubborn as a mule and will reassign the reo listing many times before getting realistic to sell. I have also seen consistently certain bank and servicers that price aggressively and dump the properties for a fast sale.

We used to have lists for short sales too. Some were on the ball and others were nightmares. After submitting offers and tracking data for awhile you will know when looking at a property what chances you have of getting it at your price.

Thanks, I looked through the foreclosure sales & they are selling close to listing price in my area. I will continue tracking them & keeping an eye on who has the deed.

It all depends on the area. In one area here every single REO goes into a bidding war 10-15% above asking price. In others areas around here you can get them at 10-15% below asking. The REOs here only stay on the market for a few days beofe they have multiple offers.

Southern California is getting crazy with the multiple offers again, this could be a very negative factor for those who are bidding on their firt home. Here we go again!