Las Vegas Foreclosure Myths

The last time I had an offer accepted below list price was November 2008. There was only one time since then and it was because the highest bidders on that property backed out at the last minute. Your chances of getting a bank owned property at or below list is about 5%.

There is no consistent method. Even the same banks have different methods based on who is listing the property. The same bank will provide an answer in 2, 5, 30 or never. The only consistency you will find is among listing agents. Some are awesome, some suck and some are just ok. What is very important to know is that you can't bid on some major bank owned properties unless you are approved by them. That's right. You could be the Dali Lama and have a million dollar credit line with Bank of America and still not be able to bid on a Wells Fargo home.

90% of them are buried under mountains of paperwork and won't give a newbie the time of day. Generally, another agent will answer the phone and that agent's objective is to show you their listings because they get both sides of the transaction. If it makes you feel any better, less than half will return my phone call and I have an offer on the table!!! The reason I close so many deals is that I'm persistent and know how to get inside.

You have to wade through a lot of crap to find a diamond. A bank will probably reject the highest bidder unless it's the price they want. What the auctioneers don't tell you is that the bank has final say. Read the fine print - I'm not making it up. Many investors finally throw their hands up and come back to me.

Even if you are the highest bidder with cash, some banks will take a lower bidder if the buyer is getting a loan with that bank. For example, you bid $100k on a house owned by Bank of America. Johnny Lunchbucket bids $95k for the same house and will be getting their loan through Bank of America. Bank America will take Johnny Lunchbucket because they will make more money on the loan than the house.

I don't like the real estate conspiracy any more than you do. I can also testify that there are some scary agents out there. The reality is that the "PUBLIC" information listed on web sites is just a fraction of the information you really need. What you don't see is critical information about the status of litigation, short sale status, how many offers are on the table or which bank that owns it. That stuff isn't public and you could end up purchasing a property full of land mines.

Most of the rotten scoundrels are now working at Albertsons because they couldn't hang with the tough during a down market. The agents that are left are the hard core veterans you want to work with. Buyer's agents have plenty to show you and listing agents really only want to talk with buyer's agents. We are back to the good old days of agents working hard.