Recently, my clients and I threw a hat in the ring for a bank-owned property. Form my previous experience, it seemed like everything was going smoothly.
A week had come and gone, and I still hadn’t had any concerns yet. Then after two weeks went by, and no response still, I knew something was going on. I called and e-mailed the selling agent religiously for three days, and still no response. Finally, as a last ditch approach to getting some type of response, I had to call the agents broker. They then turned me over to their assistant, and she did appear to have more knowledge then I had expected about what was going on.
Finally after a long and drawn out two weeks, I received a notice giving me an extension due to the bank opening the escrow with the wrong company. How is it even possible to not be aware of what company you are dealing with? Thank goodness I decided to give the broker a call, otherwise the selling agent would have just coasted along and not have been able to put a stop to the madness.
I also have experiences that are the exact opposite. I sold a bank owned property a little while back that was listed by an agent in Lake Arrowhead. Like most bank owned homes, it took the bank longer than usual to open escrow, but everything else ran perfectly. She made sure I received regular updates and her assistant was on top of everything. I got all the paperwork on time and done correctly.
Because we both did what we needed to do , the transaction was very smooth and I was able to give my client excellent service. If you are considering buying or selling, ask the Realtor you are dealing with some qualifying questions before you proceed. Make sure they are a full time, professional Realtor and not a part timer. Make sure they have a good, working knowledge of the local market.
If you are planning on buying in Big Bear, it is a very bad idea to use somebody from L.A. or Orange County. If you are planning on buying a Bank Owned listing, it is especially important to use somebody who is experienced in selling them. The banks do thing very differently and a Realtor who doesn’t know what they are doing can blow the deal or end up costing you a great deal of money.
Author Marcus Fetzer has much experience researching Big Bear, CA foreclosure deals plus Big Bear realty overall. Read his other articles on the internet.
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