Thanks for the pep talk. It’s still too raw to stand back and not still feel sickened. I keep wondering if there’s something I can/should still be doing to retrieve this deal. Ignorance is haunting. If the lender originally had said, “We need $75K more for this deal to go through and if you want to swing it, we have a deal”, I could have made a yes-or-no decision with my eyes wide open and have a solid game plan. The way they played it though, they kept leading me to believe that if I reached for this one more price-hike, it was a deal. The last one seemed so outrageous, I figured that if I went for it, it was a done deal, as the rep led me to believe. It’s being lied to that gets me, not losing the deal or losing money.
As it stands, the auction is scheduled for September 15th and I had pushed my lawyer/title company for a September 12th closing date. I wonder what it would take to get a commitment letter so that I could at least control it legitimately in order to shop it past some rehabbers I know.
After having a short-sale fall apart at the last minute, when the lender kept raising the price every time I agreed to it, I’m getting some haunting thoughts about what might have happened behind the scenes. When the property was appraised, instead of a full-fledged appraisal, which costs a few hundred dollars, they got a BPO (broker price opinion), in which a realtor does the appraising for about 1/2 or less. When I walked the guy through the house, I brought with my forty-three photos and repair schedule to sell him on the terrible conditions. Afterward, he called me into the back yard where we could speak privately, which seemed pretty creepy. I was waiting for him to solicit a bribe, but he never did. He told me that he thought the property was worth more as a tear-down than a rehab and he knows some guys who can do it. I said that if there’s anything I can do to make this deal happen, to let me know, but nothing further was said. Now, since I appear to have been in a bidding war with an invisible opponent, I’m wondering if, in fact, that realtor’s buddy didn’t have an inside track and tell the bank that whatever this Jerry will pay, I’ll beat by $10K or something. Too paranoid? If it wouldn’t bother me ethically, I’d call the bank back and tell them I’ll pay a bunch more, just to mess with them for messing with me. In the end, that might just take more of a chunk out of me than out of them. Nice fantasy, though. I still can’t imagine what scenario is most likely taking place behing the scenes at that lender. I’m now wondering if switching reps on me twice is their standard procedure, so that each of the three reps I dealt with could come back with a new increase and distance themselves from whatever nasty stunt the last rep pulled. This isn’t getting to me too much, is it?
Jerry in Illinois
Posted by Greg(NJ) on August 25, 2005 at 21:07:08:
Yeah is getting to you way way too much. Two words : MOVE ON. Next time check out the lending company, bank, broker, etc. AND get the stuff in writing. Do yourself a favor, move on and forget about this, it?s over. What ever happened - well happened. Period. Look for the next deal. Short sales should be only a small part of your overall investment strategy.
Just to clarify, it’s more than just getting screwed that’s getting to me. I ran ads, plus called all the people on my list of rehabbers and made appointments with them that I had to break. And since the auction date was soon, I scheduled a closing with my attorney and paid for a survey. My reputation has been damaged. I called all my appointments and apologized profusely and explained exactly what happened, telling them that even though I cancelled with 1-1/2 days to go before the appointment, it was better than waiting until the last minute or showing a property that I didn’t control. What makes it even worse is that I made anyone who wanted an appointment fax me proof of funds first. And then to cancel - how humiliating. All that is what has me so wound up and nauseated.
This is why you don’t do any of this until you get a firm answer from the bank and negotiate an extension of the sale date before you start calling up everyone.
But don’t feel bad, now you know for next time. Deals fall through all the time.