Expert: Dick Dennis - 9/2/2007

Question
Dick - I have recently been following a short sale that has now become a bank repo. My questions is this: what are the chance of obtaining the repo, for the same offer I made during the short sale. I will provide you with some information about the sale of this property. The current mortgage on the house is about 840k. The property was being offered for 679,000 as a short sale. I offered 20k more than what was being asked. I am now offering the same for the repossessed house. What are the chances of this offer going through?
Also, are foreclosure listings accurate, and can you really "save" %30 of the going market value for a home?

Answer
You're going to have to realize, Anthony, that banks hate to accept losses such as that. Therefore, I recommend that you or your agent keep on them for acceptance. Further, it would be a good idea to show them how good your credit is so they could know it ain't coming back at them again.

The accuracy of foreclosure listings are strongly controlled by what the lender has into the property. So, yes, I would say they are accurate up to a point. Please remember that you are buying a HOME, not an investment, per se. As long as you buy it at a good price, you will be glad you did three, four and seven years from now. I wish you well.