CONGRATULATIONS, this is not an acceptance! What?!
Some REO agents have really automated their processes. I recently wrote an offer for some clients on a duplex in the hills of Echo Park. It's a great property: updated kitchens, separate parking, separate yards, view from both units and both units being delivered vacant. This is especially terrific since Los Angeles has some pretty heavy-duty rent control laws and being able to set market rents and find your own tenants is a huge plus.
OK, my clients like the property and we put an offer together. Per the MLS, offers were to be "present directly to the seller" by logging onto a website and following the instructions. Talk about automating processes! I had to register at the site as a licensed California real estate agent. Then I had to enter my clients' names and contact info along with just a few terms of the offer: Price, escrow period, cash or loan and earnest deposit amount. That was it! They didn't want me to send the actual offer to anyone.
So I submitted as requested and received an auto-response that the offer was 'received'. A day later I got an email 
that there were multiple offers on the property and that best and final offers were due by 3pm the following day. I conferred with my clients and submitted a new, higher offer for the property within the prescribed time frames. It had to be submitted through the site like the original offer. I couldn't simply modify the offer I'd already submitted.
Voila! At the appointed time, I received a rejection email for the first offer. A few minutes later, I received an email with the subject line: "CA - Altisource Homes Listing 00070848080TRNL1 Offer Accepted". YAY! The first line of the email stated "Congratulations! We would like to begin the documentation process regarding your offer..." Yay again!
Not so fast... The email continued on with how I would be receiving a bank addendum within 24 hours and there was a list of items that must be returned with said addendum within 24 hours after that. The final line of the email? "PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS E-MAIL DOES NOT CONSTITUTE ACCEPTANCE OF YOUR OFFER".
OK, so what to tell the buyers. Congratulations, your offer was accepted, but then, not really? Yes, I realize that the bank will need the actual offer and I need to get a signed acceptance for it to be "official" but here we are on Dec 23. Are they really going to send me something in 24 hours and expect my clients to read, sign and return it on Christmas? I called the number provided in the listing. It sounded like a huge call center. Press 1 for this, press 2 for that... I finally spoke to a real person. I was stunned to hear that there would actually be people working Christmas Eve, Christmas day and right through the holiday weekend.
Honestly, I will be shocked if we get the stated addendum within 24 hours, but my clients and I will be ready to fill out forms and return documents on Christmas Day if that's really how this plays out. I guess we'll just have to think of this as a Christmas present of sorts!
Happy Holidays everyone!
For more information on buying bank owned properties and information on buying or selling property in Silver Lake, Echo Park, Los Feliz, and surrounding areas, contact me directly at 213-215-4758 or check out LApropertySolutions.com
Jenny Durling
Broker Associate
L.A. Property Solutions
213-215-4758
info@LApropertySolutions.com
LApropertySolutions.com
Copyright © 2010 By Jenny Durling *CONGRATULATIONS, this is not an acceptance! What?!*
Banks never cease to amaze me these days. I hope this process doesn't start here in Idaho! Best of Luck, it sounds like you will need it!
Hi Jim- pretty crazy, huh? With all of the online automation, I was most worried that my buyers might be outbidding themselves in the process. I have yet to speak to anyone in the actual listing office. The person I did speak to could have been anywhere- he had to call around for me to find out exactly who will be sending me the addendum. At least my clients are calm AND in town!
That is very strange than an REO company would have anyone working over a weekend, let alone on Christmas Day. I know that Fannie Mae is going to be closed on December 31st.
I'm confused at just who this company is. Aparrently they work all over the US but the actual listing agent is somewhere in Los Angeles. The MAIN company is working through the holidays but I highly doubt the listing agent is and I will be stunned if I actually recieve their addendums today or tomorrow.
A colleague has an offer working its way through the Altisource system. When he phones them he gets someone in India. Could that be why they work through the holiday?
I explain to people that there is a difference between acceptance and ratification. Until the written documents are received and delivered we don't have ratification.
Acceptance is comforting, but not something you can get enforced by a court.
The things you have received should be interpreted as providing additional evidence that the probability of a positive outcome for your client is increasing.
As Mr. Franklin noted, nothing is certain except death and taxes.
Managing expectations! We try to never ever give "potential" good news to a client, until we - have it in writing!! Been there, done that! ;-)
Richard- I was thinking they might be in another country. The fellow I talked to had a Brittish accent!
Yes, it's about managing expectations. I explained that the seller doesn't currently even have a copy our the signed offer due to the way they operating and without that, plus the seller's signature there was no actualy contract. They were most concerned that the bank would be busily trying to shop their offer around in the interim. Though I doubt that is the case, I have heard horror stories!
Talk about a rollercoaster response. It's almost as bad as hearing from an agent saying "Great offer, thanks" and then hearing that the seller wants to wait and consider other potential buyers. I had this happen recently and it's frustrating.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I look forward to hearing how the process goes. Please keep us posted. Not only are your posts educational, but they are very entertaining.
Good post today, thanks for sharing your story.
Patricia/Seacoast NH & ME
We have one REO agent here where EVERY TIME you submit an offer the auto email you get back is "We are now in a multiple offer situation, please make your highest and best offer now."
After you get that same response a few times, it kind of means NOTHING.
Really? Every single time? That's kind of funny.
Bryan- Oh, I hate when that happens. You just gave them a great offer, why don't they simply respond to it? It seems that listing agents are starting to ignore the time frames too. If you give them an offer with 3 days to respond, they need to respond within that time. Half of them simply get around to it when they've shopped your offer to every other potential buyer out there.
Bob - Thanks. I'm looking forward to seeing how it proceeds as well. My guess is I won't actually get a bank addendum before Monday and then perhaps it will play out more normally, ifh there is such a thing as normal when it comes to REOs!
Patricia- I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for stopping by
Erica- Ugh! So How do I know my clients didn't just outbid themselves?! I guess you'd never know that in any case if there truly ARE multiple offers. If I was getting auto responses immediately as you mentioned, I'd certainly take those with a grain of salt.
Some of these REO agents scare me. I am in direct contact with several banks....THEY JUST DON'T GET IT! They push listings to their list of Realtors...and that is it. As long as it is in the same state, it appears to be close enough...no wonder we are having a crisis :(
Angelina- agreed- some of them are scary. The listing agents haven't even seen the properties many times. It's always a nice surprise when they ARE on the ball and you can have a 'normal' interaction with them. Rare- but nice when it happens!
This is fascinating, Jenny. While I've experienced a couple of short sale deals here, I haven't had the pleasure of selling an REO just yet (there just aren't that many of them), and the process you just described sounds a little disconnected in some respect. What on earth do these particular listing agents actually do? Sounds like you're going to do all the work...if it's all automated, perhaps they should eliminate the listing agent and pay you the whole commission. ;-)
Hi David- I like that idea of eliminating the listing agent and paying only me! This deal is a bit of a nightmare. I've called India 3 times now, always to speak to a different person and never to get a sold answer on anything. I've yet to received the executed documents and now my buyers are having second thoughts about the whole thing. Wonderful!
Amazing. Ugh! I hope it works out for you and your clients, and hopefully patience will prevail (albeit not easy in this case).
Hey David- They are definitely going to bail. As long as i don't have the cancellation and the listing is not showing as active in the MLS I'm going to do my best to get another buyer to offer on it. What the heck, right? This is all giving me ideas for another blog post so all is not lost in any case. Happy New Year!
Any outcome yet? Having the same experience. Was told that the offer was accepted and expect and the Addendum A within 24 hours. That was 4 days ago.
Casey- Well, my clients bailed on the property, but I can tell you that you WILL eventually get the Addendum from the bank. It took about 6 days for us but part of that might have been due to the Christmas holiday. My clients signed it and I returned it right away but several days went by before they decided to cancel and I had not received the signed documents back from the bank yet so it was never officially an accepted offer! Good luck - call me or email me directly if you'd like to discuss. I'll tell you whatever I can.
Jenny, thanks for the response. Right now we are just waiting, I will let you know if anything interesting happens.
This Altisource homes is a piece of work to be sure. I am going through the same stuff right now with them. Tried the online chat feature yet? I did and waited for nearly 30 minutes only to get a message saying "no one is available to assist you at this time, please try again later". These REO agents have erected a wall of technology to prevent anyone from actually speaking to them. I have finally received the long awaited ratified contract. The listing agent signature is a stamp.
Read through the addendums very carefully. There are several traps in there for your buyer.
Now to communicate with the Title Company. Same problems here. No one answers any telephones or replies to any email. There are unique situations in every transaction that often require you to actually speak to a live person. I did get a batch of blank forms to fill out in 24 hours. Much of the information requested on the forms is normally provided by the listing agent. What do you do when the listing agent is merely a name in the MLS who cannot be reached. Yup, you guessed it. You do their job too.
Hi Lucein- it is NOT the most organized situation to be sure. My intial buyers read online review of Altisource and bailed on the deal before I got too deeply into it. I am in escrow again on the same property with a different buyer and you are absolutley right- the selling agent has to do the listing agent's work. Pretty pathetic!