Let me tell you about how I wrapped up a deal involving a short sale that was going nowhere fast…

I was sure that fairly soon I would see the listing again, but now being sold by the bank. I informed my clients that I would check for the cabin everyday in hopes to see it back on the market again. A little over a week later, the cabin was again listed, but now for $130,000 and being sold by the bank. I immediately contacted my clients with the great news, and we wrote an offer that day for $115,000.

The very next day the bank counter offered with $117,000, and my clients jumped on it. Luckily for us, the bank also fixed some busted pipes underneath the house that more then likely the original owner wouldn’t have been able to do. The fact of the matter is that the bank held out for a month and a half, and didn’t accomplish anything as a short sale property.

When the bank owned the property, we had the chance to buy the cabin for a better price and had the advantage of having some necessary repairs taken care of for us. Banked owned was the winner, short sale not so much. I had a very similar situation happen with a second family. This family made an offer of $340,000 for a property listed for a whopping $389,000. These clients also waited while the bank had the house reappraised and countless BPO’s done.

The end result was the bank declining our offer and allowing the house to go into the foreclosure stage. Again, I patiently watched and search the MLS listings until I came across the house listed as a bank owned property, and priced at 390,000. I agreed with my clients that the house was extremely over priced, and thought we should wait with the hopes of the price dropping. After we waited two weeks and the house still hadn’t been sold, we decided it was the perfect time to make another offer.

We offered the bank $333,000, and then patiently waited for a response. After only one day the bank declined our offer. It took about one going back and forth before we settled at $339,000. Again, bank owned, and a shorter time frame and a better price. So, if you’re keeping score, that would be bank-owned 2 and short sale at a big 0.

Article submitter Stephaine Miller knows all about shopping Big Bear, CA foreclosures and Big Bear, CA houses in general. Check out more of her articles on the web.