The owner is behind on payments. Probably going into foreclosure next week. Has an assumable mortgage on the property. It is priced at what I would be willing to pay. It is listed with a realtor.
I called the realtor to set-up the offer. And the realtor told me I should just wait until next week when they get it from the bank and then make an offer.
I said what about the assumable mortgage. I want to make an offer and he said that’s not an option now. :argue
It seemed a little fishy to me. What do you guys think?
It is my understanding that the realtor has a fiduciary responsibility to present ALL offers to the seller. I’ve had agents tell me they won’t present my offers because they are too low but they always back off when I bring up this fact and the lawsuits that have been instigated because the agents failed to present an offer.
It is not unusual for the seller to get a delay of foreclosure that may allow your offer to be worked on.
The fiduciary duty is to present all WRITTEN offers unless instructed otherwise in writing by the seller. There is no obligation to present verbal offers or inquiries.
Nearly all mortgages are assumable with qualification. Assumption qualification is the same full documentation and rigorous qualification that you would go through to obtain a new loan. Provided you can meet the lenders qualification criteria to assume the mortgage, assumption means that you take over the loan and accept responsibility for all the arrearages on the mortgage as well (the owner could be a year behind on the payments).
Any agent just looking for a commission would present your offer and hope it goes to settlement.
In this market, the list price may be higher than the property is worth. Maybe the listng agent is doing you a favor by suggesting you can get the property after foreclosure a lot cheaper because he knows the true fair market value of the property is a lot less than the list price.
Maybe the agent knows that the loan is so toxic that he would not wish it assumed by his worst enemy.
Maybe this agent is looking beyond a quick commission in the hope of cultivating a long term relationship with you and doing several profitable deals with you in the future.
I never looked at it like that. Thank you DaveT. I called the agent back to get a better understanding of what going on. If I have no luck there. I’ll look at it after it goes on the market from the bank.