I've Ceased To Be Amazed!
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In today's Covington
real estate market, I've ceased being amazed at the attitude of the FDIC, some
of our large banks, and alleged premiere mortgage companies. They are continuing to do more to hamper a
rapid recovery of our housing industry that they are to facilitate it. And, they don't really seem to care.
There are exceptions, naturally. But, they are few.
Several of our "local" banks, strapped with significant
numbers of foreclosures, are making genuine efforts to reduce their inventory
and bring things back to a more normalized market. They have assigned special management teams
to work on getting the foreclosed homes off their books. They're advertising, offering special agent
incentives, good interest rates and special financing packages to qualified
buyers. Most importantly, they always
are available to talk with agents. But,
the "big guys" are another story...
In the past couple of weeks, my associates and I have been
involved in two situations which have become all too typical. One involves the FDIC, and the other a large
bank/mortgage provider, who shall go unnamed.
I won't even disclose the names of the horses which pull their
stagecoach.
In the first situation, a local bank foreclosed on a number
of new homes in an upscale Covington
neighborhood and was making every effort
to sell the homes. In fact, they had
several under contract when the FDIC stepped in and assumed control of the
others. My associate had a qualified,
pre-approved buyer who had found one of the remaining homes to be their "dream." But when the agent called the local bank to
present her offer, she was told that the FDIC had assumed control of the
remaining homes, there was no one she could talk to at the FDIC to make an
offer, and even if she called and left messages, no one would call her
back. "The FDIC has its own procedures
for dealing with its inventory," she was told, "and don't seem to be in a
hurry." The homes may be re-listed with
an agent in four to six months, but until that time, there's nothing you can
do." The result... a confused, frustrated,
inconvenienced buyer, a frustrated Realtor®, and another new home remaining in
inventory, deteriorating, blighting the neighborhood and ready to be
vandalized.
In the second situation, my associate made an offer on a
foreclosed home listed for $256,000. Her
buyers' offer of $205,000 was the highest of three which came in at essentially
the same time. However, several days
later, the listing agent called to tell her that the asset manager for the
mortgage company which owned the home had decided they would get more for it by
selling it at auction. Last weekend, my
associate bought the home for her client at absolute auction for $140,000. My associate had a very happy, satisfied client,
but she got paid much less than her effort was worth. And, I hope the asset manager got thrown from
the stagecoach.
But, I've ceased to be amazed!
