I went to look at a short sale house today................?

On a short sale in this price range, you can offer 20-30% below the cheapest comp you can find. Also, since the banks will not pay for repairs, have a licensed contractor give you a high estimate and deduct that from the purchase price as well. For example, if the cheapest comp for this house is 130k and it will cost 10k to repair it, I would offer 90k and ask the seller to pay all closing cost plus give me 3% for my closing cost associated to my loan.

Here's a few pointers:

1. Offer the owners 2k for the stove if they use only your purchase offer. The seller make nothing in a short sale so they could care less what it sells for. Giving them money (after you close) makes them motivated to work with you and gives them money to move.

2. Make sure that the bank hasn't seen another offer.

3. Make sure the bank hasn't done their own appraisal (known as a BPO Broker Price Opinion sometimes) without your agent being there and giving the appraiser the low comps and the estimated cost of repairs.

4. Make sure the listing agent knows how to conduct a short sale.

5. Make sure you use a buyer's agent. I've seen some bad things and you want to make sure that you have someone to protect you!

6. Make as many offers as you want on a short sales and go with the first one that materializes on the terms you want.

7. never spend a dime or give a deposit on a short sale until you get the approval letter from the lender(s).

You will find that most agents do not understand short sales. Good Luck!

The realtor works for you and should do what you request. Do NOT do anything you do not agree with. You may or may not get the house, but never offer more than you think it is worth. Also make sure you have a professional inspector go over the property carefully so you know how serious the problems with the house are. Water damage should be a huge concern and the cause needs to be known before you make an offer on the house.

The realtor may have experience with the bank involved in the short sale and is recommending you bid above because they don't bother considering lower offers. But you can only find that out if you make & offer that is lower and see if they ignore you. Not sure why a realtor would do it for commission - The difference to the broker is only a couple hundred dollars. Maybe his brokerage has more listings in that neighborhood & if the short sale goes low it hurts all the other homes for sale in the area?

Your realtor will net about 1.5% in commission, which means the difference to him on $130k vs $142k is only $180 in commission. He is probably not trying to get you to pay a higher price so he gets a better commission, but obviously is much better off getting you to close on a sale, rather than make an offer that might be rejected.

Whether or not his advice is good or not, he does have an obligation to make the offer. He is probably reluctant because your offer is 8% below asking price. When you factor that, plus the 6% commission the sellers will pay, plus other legal and closing costs it means the sellers will only get around $115,000 net, which may not be enough to close the deal, so they might reject your offer.

But, this really isn't relevant to you - your interest is a house you like in a decent neighborhood that you can afford. So, ask your realtor to show you comperable houses so you can see if your $130 offer is realistic. If it isn't, and you really like the house, then decide if you can pay what will be accepted and make the repairs.

Your realtor is probably right, but his tact is wrong. He needs to explain to you his reasoning for bidding more then the asking price. Are there offers out there? Was it just placed on the market?

Remember, you can ask whatever you like. On a short sale, however, you're better off bidding as close to the asking price as possible, since the bank will probably be losing money on the deal.

Your realtor is right.

Most likely, if you lowball at 130k, the bank will just sit on your offer and wait for others to come in. It is in the banks interest to make as much as they can on this property. They have time to kill and can wait, while you would probably get frustrated and pull out. Your realtor is probably telling you to offer 2k above asking so that the bank will take notice and take you seriously.

Short sales are notorious for dragging out for months.

I was puzzled at first as to why he wanted you to offer more than the asking price. In a short sale, the house is selling for less than the existing loan balance. I speculate he was probably thinking or knows that there are other offers on the table, and that for your offer to be accepted, you should be a little above these offers.

Hope that help

all realtors just care about their commission, and getting it as soon as possible. offer whatever you want, and find a new realtor if they have problems with that.