I submit offers all the time for myself.

I include proof of funds and my letter of intent.

Logistically it makes NO SENSE to submit my offers on full GAR contracts.If I submitted 20 offers I would have to fax 400 pages of documents which is ludicrous.

I had one broker tell me "Well you haven't seen the property? I said no that's why there is a 24hr inspection period upon written binding agreement from all parties" Unless there is fire,massive termite,or plumbing damage I usually go through with the deal. His response "Well if i go through this work and you don't like it I did all that work for nothing!" WTF this is crazy!

So I ask for a 24hr window of time yet this idiot will work on buyer contracts that are financed and wait weeks to remove contingencies?

Some people just truly amaze me.Banks always go verbal and then counter later and the bank addendums always supersede what's in the contract.So in short I don't need a bunch of provisions and wasted time,ink,and paper on pages that do not apply to me when I make my offer.I understand on the banks counter I will be signing there boilerplate stuff.

Now for some of them that require it I will submit a full contract and it usually stipulates it in the MLS comments.

Like I told the last broker on the phone there are over 700 active properties for sale 20,000 and below. This is an investment decision not an emotional one!

Look at it from the listing agent's point of view. Personally, I hate it for people to submit offers sight unseen. 98% of the time, it's a waste of time. Also, all banks that I work with stipulate that they do not respond to LOIs. The interest from the buyer does not come across as very strong, either.

i have a GREAT attitude thank you very much...
butt i know many who don't, mainly the ones who have been doing this for like 20 yrs and dont sell anything but they're own stuff anymore and dont show homes-give buyers lb codes, and most of all DO NOT like to submit offers from other agents and do about anything to make sure no one does! I've had a couple buyers where they LOVE a certain home and i know for a fact if i submit an offer for them i send them to the listing broker and forego the commission..i guess if i had more time and really wanted extra drama i would send the signed buyer agreement and send that to title when they closed...but ehh

For me in my limited REO listing experience I like the letter of intents better. The one company I work for you submit the offer electronically anyways. Once the offer is accepted the agent writes out a state sales contract signs it at the same time as the bank addendum/counter. I've recieved two full state contract offers on a listing before and both buyers backed out before they even signed the bank addendums. I have yet to have a buyer back out when sending a letter of intent. I leave that up to the buyer agent. But I tell them what they have to have on the letter of intent. Don't just give me a price. I need closing dates, acceptance deadlines and other such things.

I do REO work for a number of companies, each of which has their own wrinkle in how they want things done. An increasing number of them require the initial submission to be through their web site with specific pieces of information which I can lift from a board contract form. Some letters of intent may provide the required information, others might not. So far (in over 12 years of R.E. business) I haven't had anyone try that route with me. If someone wants to buy one of my listings I will fill out the required paperwork on standard board contract forms for them; if an offer comes from another agency it better already be on the right forms; I will not assume the legal responsibility of interpreting a letter of intent.

The main reason some REO brokers may (seem like they) have a bad attitude is because many of the agents and brokers out there ask the same idiotic questions and/or submit incomplete offers for "investors" who just received their Carelton Sheets diplomas. You know the ones.. they think an offer of 40% of list price loaded with contingencies and 100% financing is a good offer!

Seriously, there is a lot of work involved (more than most retail listings) with REO and the guidelines are set by the lender, not the broker. If an offer is incomplete, then it just means even more work for the listing broker.

In my experience, anyone who is making 20 offers is not offering anywhere near market value and is playing a game. They are entertaining themselves and hoping that something may "stick" with no regards to how much time* they are wasting.



If you had to completely fill out 20 offers and fax 400 pages of documents for your buyer, then you would most likely be more hesitant to allow a buyer to use your time and experience unless you felt VERY confident in their buying ability and the legitimacy of the offers.

Just look at it from both sides. If you attempt to get your buyers to complete all the necessary items to make an offer, it is being thorough and professional. Everyone saves time that way!

Best of luck to you! *Time is time.. no matter whose clock you look at and nobody should waste theirs or anyone elses. The above is not meant as an insult, I just wanted to bring to light that there are two sides to every situation.

I appreciate everyones input. When I have reo listings the assett manager usually just wants a verbal on what the price is and terms and then when that is nailed down go to contracts.

I have a myfax account and get charged for each page so obviously I am not going to send massive amounts of paper.

I am an investor along with being a broker. There are many homes 20,000 and under list price in my area. I am ready to close with CASH with a 24hr contingency to inspect. A contract really does not get any easier than that.

Maybe I should just do what other people do and call the listing broker with a verbal instead of putting anything in writing.

Obviously I am not going through 1,000 sheets of paper with 50 offers when I can go through 100 instead.You have to understand homes in this price range in my area only qualify for cash offers in there current condition.

Thanks everyone we will see what happens.

they have to have thick skin to do the job. they are overworked and stressed.

I never had an asset manager who only wanted verbal. All mine want wriiten contracts and the AM responds back in writing. I must be working with the wrong AM's.

I agree with super realtor. It does not make sense the listing agent to reject the offer. Moreover it is his obligation to provide it to the seller. Anyway the other buyers have to do inspection as well and there is not guaranty that they will back up too and in this case he did the wrong choice.

For those of you who just present blind LOIs: if you don't have the consideration to view the property you want to buy, prepare an offer, and earnestly present it, don't expect a warm reception from the seller or listing agent. Yes, we understand it's a numbers game for you. However, blind offers rarely ever work out, a bunch of time gets wasted, and I've been on both sides of the ball there. AMs know this and there's nothing worse than wasting another person's time. As if there isn't enough busy work to do....

I currently handle about 75 properties at random stages and for the most part they are all REO. I will also sell about 350 REO properties this year. To answer your question directly Super Realtor, because most Buyer Agents do not follow instructions and it becomes very irritating. You accompany that with about 400 emails a day, 30 offers to review, and a phone call every 1.5 minutes...they begin to get overwhelmed. The hardest part about REO's is that you get the work and the volume before you get the money. You basically go through phases and growing pains to keep up your level of service while trying to staff up and work 3X as hard to train staff to handle all the items and task that they can. The last thing an REO listing Agent wants to deal with is an argumentative Buyer Agent that wants to express their opinion and not take that time to just follow instructions. I was once where you are, in regards to the frustration of just producing offers and getting no where. The truth is you cant see it until you have walked in their shoes. A tip, when the Seller ask me about multiple offers and which offer looks the best to me, I always take into account (with other criteria) the Agent's ability to follow instruction, willingness to complete offers, return calls, etc... REO's are fast paced. My average DOM is 48 days. My avg property gets 7 offers. If you have 40 active properties hitting that avg DOM at once and you recieve an avg of 7 offers, that is minimum of 280+ pieces of papers you have to sort through, check for details that your client prefers, etc...meanwhile you are working on 6 hrs of sleep for the week, the remaining 389 emails to go through and the 78 task that are due in your systems that day from the Seller. Also mention that the task that the Seller assigns you is due usually within 48 depending on what it is they are requiring. It is the task timelines for the most part that stress us out, not really the Agents in my opinion, they just dont help. It is true that none of us have the right to get an attitude with each other. We may carry different logos and different thoughts but we all carry the same licenses and the same profession. I may be the worlds worst at getting stressed and wanting to fire off at someone...but I learned a long time ago that the only way to please everyone is to keep my mouth shut and hire highly talented people that are great at dealing with the things that make me want to scream at people. The day that we quit looking at it as we are on opposite teams and put our heads together to work together to get the best possible solution for both sides, is the day that this will change.

Just my 2 cents.

KP

Victor:

As the listing agent on REO properties my duties are to the seller and if the seller has already provided instructions about how they want offers handled then it is my duty as the agent to follow those instructions as long as they are legal and ethical. That includes rejecting them back to the buyer's agent if they are incomplete. If the seller instructs me that they don't want any verbals (and like REO Seller said, my asset managers want it writing), they want either prequalification or proof of funds, they want me to hold the earnest money deposit, etc. then that is the way we do it.

Mr. Foreclosure

I can sympathize with the idea of not wanting to fax out 200 sheets of paper. On my most recent REO deal, the seller accepted a contract that was scanned and then emailed. This is speedy, and uses a minimum of paper and fax expense. It also minimizes the image degradation of faxed paperwork. I still think a contract needs to be submitted to the listing broker with proof of funds. I have not encountered a situation where a seller would seriously consider a verbal offer.

KP I agree at that volume level all you are doing is reo's.

It is different when the property qualifies for Fha/conventional financing.The properties I look at only qualify for cash investors.

Of course even if I look at the property I might want inspections and I am not going to spend that expense even though I have walked through it UNTIL we have agreed on price.

So yhe broker that says you haven't seen it you might waste my time. How is this different from seeing it,going binding and doing an inspection and then backing out?

As far as earnest money goes I don't give that until we have a fully executed contract in writing signed by all parties and not before. I also put a short timeframe for acceptance because I know banks drag there feet and I am not going to wait 2 weeks for one answer.I can still accept but I am not obligated to.

It's like one developer I work with put it.He said I use different brokers in different areas. He said I don't wait for brokers to get back to me to do my investments. What he was saying is he doesn't out his investment plans on hold waiting months for brokers to get back to him.

In my area banks do not consider hard money loans cash anymore. That's fine because I have cash. I can see the frustrations on both ends. The reality is I am not a carlton sheets investor. I am a broker who has cash and if we come to terms on price the deal will happen.