Should I make a offer on a property before even looking inside the house?

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[quote author="Knife Catcher" date=1238729742]It's a short sell and I drove by the house but they will not let my agent view it.





Also, I can always pull the offer without any legal penalty correct?</blockquote>


NO, that you are even thinking about a property with out seeing it on the inside you are just spinning your wheels.
 
I'm not at all surprised that the listing agent is saying you need to submit an offer to see it. A short sale approval by the bank can't even begin until they have an offer to submit to the bank. Often times the short sales are listed quite a bit lower than the current market value, which would bring tons of people through your home, all of them aware of your humiliating position of having to short sell.



Once the short sale is approved by the bank, I"m sure they will gladly show it to seriously interested buyers. If you submit an offer it's meaningless unless the seller accepts it, which they can't until the bank OK's the deal. Assuming your offer is accepted, that's when your contingency period begins. I believe the standard is 17 days from acceptance you sign off on the inspection.



If they do accept your offer and you look inside and decide it's not what you want, then yes, you can rescind your offer. If you do like it, then you need to get an inspector in there to check everything out to make you aware of the condition of everything. The seller being in a short sale position is not going to throw any money at repairs. So you will have to decide if the cost of the repairs still makes the price right for you.
 
[quote author="stepping_up" date=1239181885]I'm not at all surprised that the listing agent is saying you need to submit an offer to see it. A short sale approval by the bank can't even begin until they have an offer to submit to the bank. Often times the short sales are listed quite a bit lower than the current market value, which would bring tons of people through your home, all of them aware of your humiliating position of having to short sell.



Once the short sale is approved by the bank, I"m sure they will gladly show it to seriously interested buyers. If you submit an offer it's meaningless unless the seller accepts it, which they can't until the bank OK's the deal. Assuming your offer is accepted, that's when your contingency period begins. I believe the standard is 17 days from acceptance you sign off on the inspection.



If they do accept your offer and you look inside and decide it's not what you want, then yes, you can rescind your offer. If you do like it, then you need to get an inspector in there to check everything out to make you aware of the condition of everything. The seller being in a short sale position is not going to throw any money at repairs. So you will have to decide if the cost of the repairs still makes the price right for you.</blockquote>


Um... no... there is no way you can not have access to home on the MLS. Either it is a Supra key or a combo lock box. You can get into the home, and the agent that tells you that you can't needs to be smacked over the head with a baseball bat. I could be wrong, but IRCC you can't list a home on the MLS without access to it, and it might even be a MLS violation. I betcha I can get inside the home if I am PM'd the address.
 
ok, they had an open house last weekend. The property has a nice view located on the hills and is nicely maintained.



http://www.redfin.com/CA/La-Mirada/13841-Monterey-Ln-90638/home/8124550



The price is reasonable but it simple isn't a million dollar home that I've been waiting for. I rather pay an extra 150k and get the bigger lot size with all the upgrades. Its a frustrating process to go house shopping. ...The prices aren't falling fast enough and I dread paying taxes without a big write-off.



The only homes i really like are priced above a million. :(
 
[quote author="Knife Catcher" date=1238729742]It's a short sell and I drove by the house but they will not let my agent view it.



Also, I can always pull the offer without any legal penalty correct?</blockquote>




If the property is empty, you can sometimes go into the back yard through a side door and have a peek through the windows and patio doors. Try the back door, and don't sue me if you get arrested.



Personally, I wouldn't bother with short sales. If you see a property you like coming on the market, be within the first 3 bidders by noon with above-asking bid to make an impression, unless if you're bidding with all cash offer. This applies to very competitive areas only. If you don't like the property you can withdraw your offer within 2 weeks I think -- others on the forum can better answer this one.



I've been looking to buy over the past 2 months and it's getting harder and harder. Last week I submitted 4 bids, all are above asking, and I'd be lucky if the seller even talks to me. It's very had to fight against the 10%-20% all cash offers from the stack.
 
[quote author="graphrix" date=1239205020][quote author="stepping_up" date=1239181885]I'm not at all surprised that the listing agent is saying you need to submit an offer to see it. A short sale approval by the bank can't even begin until they have an offer to submit to the bank. Often times the short sales are listed quite a bit lower than the current market value, which would bring tons of people through your home, all of them aware of your humiliating position of having to short sell.



Once the short sale is approved by the bank, I"m sure they will gladly show it to seriously interested buyers. If you submit an offer it's meaningless unless the seller accepts it, which they can't until the bank OK's the deal. Assuming your offer is accepted, that's when your contingency period begins. I believe the standard is 17 days from acceptance you sign off on the inspection.



If they do accept your offer and you look inside and decide it's not what you want, then yes, you can rescind your offer. If you do like it, then you need to get an inspector in there to check everything out to make you aware of the condition of everything. The seller being in a short sale position is not going to throw any money at repairs. So you will have to decide if the cost of the repairs still makes the price right for you.</blockquote>


Um... no... there is no way you can not have access to home on the MLS. Either it is a Supra key or a combo lock box. You can get into the home, and the agent that tells you that you can't needs to be smacked over the head with a baseball bat. I could be wrong, but IRCC you can't list a home on the MLS without access to it, and it might even be a MLS violation. I betcha I can get inside the home if I am PM'd the address.</blockquote>


Might be a violation to list the home on the MLS, but you won't be able to get in the home. The listing agent probably can't get in. If the sheriff can't get in a home when the bank is trying to repossess it, what makes you think anyone else can?



It's actually a more common than people on this board are making it seem. Every once and awhile, you'll see the listings that are drive by only, primarily because of a tenant or an unhappy homeowner. If it's priced at market value, it will still sell (especially if it is in <$500,000 price range). People will still write offers because they know that they aren't locked in and can back out anytime before contingencies are removed.
 
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