*Please refer to the MLS listing remarks for how to submit an offer on a particular property, below is a general guide.
General Instructions for Cooperating Agents and Checklist
We appreciate the opportunity to work with you on selling one of our listings. Bank Owned Properties (REO’s) involve procedures that differ from a normal sales transaction. Please explain these items below to your Buyers prior to offer submission and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office.
CONTRACTS, OFFERS AND ACCEPTANCE:
Check the MLS agent to agent remarks FIRST! Offer submission instructions are there. You should submit your offer on the standard MAR Contract of Sale unless indicated otherwise in the MLS remarks. The Bank Addendum and Lead Paint Form will be sent if the offer is accepted.
The Seller’s name can be found on the Bank Addendum. Do not use the former homeowner listed on tax records.
If you include a written deadline in your offer for a Seller response, please advise your client that in most, if not all cases, the Seller, who is an out-of-town corporation; may not respond to your offer for several days, thus this deadline most likely it will not be met.
Once an offer is submitted to our client, and we have confirmed that they have received the offer, we do not call them for updates, but we will notify them if there is a change in your Buyer’s offer. Normally it takes the Bank 3-5 business days to respond to an offer and sometimes their response can take more than a week. Please ask your Buyer to be patient. Please do not email or call us repeatedly for an update as we have none to give you. We are not ignoring you; it’s just that we have no information to give you at this time. We will notify you as soon as we have a response from our Seller! And, as always, it is our mutual goal to sell the property!
If the offer is accepted, the Bank may send a Counter Offer Addendum and/or Bank Addendum for the Buyer to sign which we will email to you. Please have your Buyer sign these right away and email them to us as quickly as possible. Failure to return these to us promptly could result in the Bank accepting another offer, or your offer being rejected.
If the Buyer wishes to change the terms of their offer after it has been accepted, please let them know that most Banks will not approve the changes (e.g., asking Bank to raise the purchase price and pay closing costs). Make sure your Buyer asks for everything they expect up front.
As soon as a complete contract package is received from you, it will be delivered to the Bank. The earnest money check should be made out to whoever is mentioned in the Bank’s addendum and sent to the deposit holder. Please inform your Buyer that getting a signed contract back from the Bank may take 3 to 7 business days. We will do everything we can to move this along, but keep in mind some companies are handling hundreds of properties at once and may need to send contracts to several departments before we receive them back.
SELLER DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER FORM:
There is no Seller’s disclosure/disclaimer statement, as the Seller never occupied the property. Please do not include a blank disclosure/disclaimer in your offer.
In most cases, we never met the previous occupants. If we know important information about the property, we will tell you about it either in the MLS or when you make the offer. We do not know ages of mechanicals or have records of updates, warranties, manuals, etc.
PER DEIM FEE:
Please read over all addendums carefully and ask your Buyer to do the same. They should understand all terms, particularly the “PER DIEM FEE” for late closings. The Bank will impose a per diem penalty if the property does not close on time regardless of whether the delay is the Buyer’s or Buyer’s lenders fault! In some cases, depending on which Bank owns the property, the penalty is applied to both the Buyer and the Buyer’s agent’s commission, which may be reduced!
MORTGAGE PRE-APPROVALS:
Contracts require a mortgage pre-approval letter from the Buyer’s lender if they are using financing. This must be submitted at the time you send your offer. The Bank will not process your offer without this document. If your Buyer is getting a loan, the name of the lender, loan officer’s name and phone number must be on the letter and it must state the dollar amount they are approved for and the loan program. Please check with the lender to see if the current condition of the home will qualify for a loan prior to sending an offer and to verify that they can close by the date in the offer.
In some cases, the Bank may require the Buyer to be pre-approved by their own lending institution. This does not mean that the Buyer must use the Banks’s lender, only that they be pre-approved by them! If this is required, call the Listing Agent for the contact information. Please also tell your buyer that the lender may offer special financing or incentives and has renovation loan programs to help with the purchase.
TITLE WORK:
Title work will usually not be ordered until we receive the signed contracts back from the Bank and they have designated the closing agent. Since most of these properties have been in foreclosure, title issues sometimes may arise and they could delay closing. We will do everything we can to help resolve these issues, but do let your Buyer know this is a possibility and could delay closing. It’s not a good idea to have a loan lock expire the day of closing! Nor, is it to have move-in-day also be settlement day! If there is a delay, the Bank will not reimburse the Buyer for additional expenses. If you are notified by the title company of an issue, please contact the Listing Agent immediately!
The Buyer has the right to choose their own title company; however, the Bank may recommend using their title company or attorney for the closing. This can help to move closing along quicker as the title company the Bank recommends, may have also handled the foreclosure of the property and have the deed or other documents in hand. Some companies will offer the Buyer reduced fees for using their services. The Buyer can contact the title company for their charges to compare. If the Buyer chooses another company, their contact information must be sent to our office ASAP. Please be aware when using another title company, the Bank’s title company will still close their portion of the title work and will need a HUD statement sent to them by the Buyer’s title company at least 48 hours prior to closing for the Bank’s approval! Sending HUD’s late have delayed past closings!
If the Buyer cannot close by the settlement date in the contract for any reason, please call our office immediately!
INSPECTIONS AND UTILITIES:
If the Buyer is conducting inspections and wants utilities on, let us know so we can have them turned on prior to inspection, the Bank does not automatically do this. If the property has been winterized and they want the water on for inspection, depending on the Bank, the Buyer may have to pay to have the property both de-winterized and re-winterized. Typical charges are between $100-250 and this amount is payable at the time of the inspection. Please let us know so we can arrange to have our plumber present for the inspection if they wish to do this.
All properties are sold in as-is condition. Bank will make no repairs!
All utilities will be shut off in the Bank’s name the day of closing.
OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW:
A commission typically will NOT BE PAID to a Buyer who is a licensed agent.
The Bank will not redeem any ground rent. Buyer to verify if one exists.
The Buyer may NOT make any alterations to the property or occupy the property prior to closing. NO EXCEPTIONS!
Buyer’s Agent MAY NOT give out lockbox code to Buyer!
The property has been keyed to a master key, which means every REO agent and contractor has a key to your home! Buyer must re-key property immediately after possession to ensure the security of the property. The Buyer may not receive the keys from their agent until both Buyer and Seller have closed, signed all documents for closing, all funds have been received and the sale has been consummated.
Someone from our office will remove the lock box, pick up the sign and remove the post within 1-3 business days after the house settles at the latest. Banks require the listing office to leave the sign up until the day of closing. Please do not remove these items – we will pick them up! If they need to remove the doorknob to re-key, please ask them to place our lockbox beside the front door. If we have not made prior arrangements for Buyer to get the key before the lockbox is picked up, please contact us immediately!
Offer Checklist
____ 1. MAR Contract and General/County Addendum
____ 2. Copy of Earnest Money Deposit Check – Made payable to your office
____ 3. Cash Offers - Proof of Funds Letter either from a bank or copy of a Bank Statement showing at least the offer price (Hard Money Loans or Equity Lines of Credit require a pre-approval letter and are not considered cash deals!)
____ 4. Financed Offers – Pre-approval letter from the Buyer’s lender. If the Bank requires a pre-approval from their lender, it must be submitted with the offer in addition to the Buyer's preferred lender
____ 5. The Bank Addendum and Lead Paint form will be sent to you by email with an instruction sheet on how to submit a final contract package to us at the time the Bank verbally accepts the offer. Since the Bank Addendum with the majority of our clients is printed with your Buyer's names, terms, ect, we do not give this form up front.
If you have any questions about anything we haven’t covered here, please give us a call or email. Thank you for your assistance and we look forward to doing business with you!
