Quick update on our future home bid. The property is a short sale that requires both the sellers approval to move forward. Unfortunately the short sale is due to a divorce and job loss. The sellers are difficult to get together to make a decision. I have no news at the moment, which has me on pins and needles. No news in Real Estate is generally bad news. In this case we have been in touch with the selling agent. The sellers agreed to make a decision tonight. My buyers agent and I had to laugh. I’m no rookie (no expert either) on buying houses, but I still get anxious waiting on a potential contract.

The BPO (Broker Price Opinion) from the listing agent came in at our offer price. Those versed in short sales will note that the BPO must come from the bank. You are correct. That is still the case here. What the listing agents office does is rather savvy. They do their own BPO, get with the banks BPO agent and come up with a best price for the property. What he found is the bank BPO was generally coming in to high and he was having trouble selling properties from them. This makes his job much easier. It also makes it easier on all the parties to get the transaction done quicker.

My wife and I have a real good shot at this property. The purchase price is 51 cents on the dollar conservatively. We will be going in as owner occupants. We can wait out the lengthy short sale process. We are solid buyers, and we have a proactive agent on our side. All pluses. Time will tell.

On another note. I attempted to call one of the probates tonight to make an offer. I will try again shortly. I will be offering 160k on this property. My coach and I discussed 170k, but I ran the numbers again and rechecked the comps. I’m just not comfortable that high. The comps are very screwy in this area of million dollar homes and bungalows. My comp is at 300k with a high quality rehab. That number requires me to finish the basement. The basement finish requires 20k worth of basement floor lowering to increase the 6.5 ft ceiling height. If I have to duck at my short height, the ceiling will not pass code. I estimate 55k worth of work to this 1350 sq ft home. 675 up and down. I can make a very desirable 3/2 with master bedroom if I get the bid.

That is all for now. I leave you with this quote; “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”
Thomas Jefferson