Newbie fell into a good deal, now what?

A friend going through bankruptcy mentioned that me the bank is going to forclose on his townhouse. By the end of the night, I had looked at the house, called his agent (just before he was going to put it on the MLS), and now have scheduled time to meet with his agent put it under contract…and I have no idea what i’m doing.

At the end of a cuddlesac of a fully occupied single-family home development, sits 4 townhouses. All 4 new townhouses sold for $110,000 2 years ago. He currently owes $102,000 on his house. He and the agent set the list price for his house at $75K becuase the townhouse next to him went through forclosure last year and sold for $75K at the auction. The agent expects the bank to take our offer, or perhaps counter offer for $80…which will make it easy to flip.
Comparable new townhouses in the area are selling for $110K. Even the cheapest condos are selling for $95K.

I figured that I could place the townhouse under contract, then easily assign it to someone. However, the agent just told me that the bank doesn’t like it when he signs contracts with “assignability” clauses and has been instructed by the bank to re-list it if the buyer is given the option to assign it.

So, what do I do now. I have a few people tentatively interested in purchasing it for $90-$100, but I wanted to get it under contract first…now I’m stuck. please help.

Confused Newbie.

Has the bank agreed to a short sale price? Has the realtor talked to the bank? has the realtor done these before? If the answer to any of these questions is NO I would get a power of attorney from your friend to talk to the bank and start the short sale.