I put a bid in on another "short sale" house today. For this one the seller's realtor is confident we will hear back from the bank within a week. That would be really nice, except for the fact that I really like the first house I bid on quite a bit better. It has been almost a month and I haven't heard from the seller's bank on whether or not they accepted the bid. The seller is moving out.... I talked to him yesterday. His family moved to Texas months ago, and he is finally following them. He told me to just be patient... the bank would eventually get back to me.
The problem is, what if they get back to me and their answer is "no." Even though I have cash, I don't know how much the seller owes the bank. The bank may not want to take a loss, and may ask me to pay more than I have bid. Problem is I don't have more than I already bid... so I would have spent a lot of time for nothing.
The house I bid on today is in the same area, and has some features that I like better, but it is just not the same. Oh, today's house is also quite a bit cheaper.
It is frustrating dealing with real estate right now, because of all the short sales and foreclosures, and neither the banks nor the realtors really having any timelines on this stuff. It seems that you have to be in the right place at exactly the right time, have cash in your hand, and even then the whole deal may fall through at the bank's whim. It is hard to be patient, but it is also very, very interesting. I am learning so much about this whole real estate business. I also feel extremely sorry for the many, many people who are losing their houses. I also feel sorry for people like me who have always paid their house payments, who had to sell their house because of a death ( e.g. no second income), and who are trying very hard to buy something. It seems to be a no-win situation all around.
Hopefully I will hear something from someone soon ! Being homeless is not fun.
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