Here is an interesting scenario, you put in an offer on a bank owned, reo, foreclosure home, you offer is higher than any other offer, and you don’t get the home? This allegedly happened to a couple looking to purchase a Brooklyn Park, MN Minnesota twinhome. The Star Tribune reported that The Minneapolis Area Association or Realtors will be holding an ethics hearing on the matter. Realtors, agent, brokers are required to presents “any and all written offers” for real estate. The buyers for this Brooklyn Park, MN listing had brought the “highest and best offer” and found out that a lower bidder got it.

From The Star Tribune, 11/26/2010, 

Couple lose out on home; Realtors face ethics case

“From the moment Erica and Mike Lenzen saw a foreclosed twin home for sale in Brooklyn Park, they thought it should be theirs. They even put in a no-strings-attached offer $8,000 above the asking price. But the home was sold to someone else. The Lenzens got suspicious when they learned the house sold for $2,000 less than their offer. When Mike Lenzen tracked down the bank representative in charge of selling the property, she told him she had no record of receiving the couple’s offer. Despite all the regulation and disclosure, buying a home can be a secretive process. Buyers are largely at the mercy of what sellers and their agents tell them. It’s especially mysterious these days, as foreclosed homes flood the market and the banks that own them make sales decisions that sometimes defy explanation. Most buyers who lose out on a deal just move on. The Lenzens spent weeks investigating the transaction and scrutinizing documents. They are convinced their offer was withheld by the bank’s agents at EXIT Realty Metro. They’re not quite sure why, except that the winning bidder, an investor who plans to rent it out, had no agent, allowing EXIT Realty to earn a larger commission.”

http://www.startribune.com/local/north/110890349.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUac8HEaDiaMDCinchO7DU

If you are thinking of buying a foreclosure home, condo, townhome, twinhome or land, you need a good buyer’s agent to ensure your offer is presented and received and that you have all the info to put in the best offer. It is important to work with a Realtor/real estate agent that knows REO Foreclosure properties. Although there will be other listings in the Brooklyn Park area for these buyers and I am sure they search the MLS daily for new bank owned deals, they felt they were slighted in this deal and they want justice! Brooklyn Park borders on Brooklyn Center, Fridley, Champlin, New Hope and Maple Grove Minnesota. – John Schuster is the #1 Listing Agent with Coldwell Banker Burnet in 2010 and is a leader in Foreclosure/Bank Owned/REO properties and listings.

FROM MSNBC.COM

“We’ve all heard so much bad economic news, many folks are afraid to buy homes. But those in the real estate industry say, this could actually be a great time to buy. 8 thousand dollars. That’s how much the feds are waving in the faces of first time home buyers. It’s part of an incentive to encourage home buying and stimulate the economy.” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29537044/

This tax credit for first time buyers (10% of the homes value up to $8k total credit) is great news for the housing market.  In the Twin Cities / Minneapolis / St. Paul area – there are a ton of first time buyer homes available and now a glut of move-up and upper-bracket homes.  The buyer to purchase these move up homes doesn’t have the equity in their current home anymore AND they can’t get anyone to buy it.  Not any more!  The good first-time-buyer homes are selling!  Selling so fast, ~25% of my homes listed under $150k are selling in multiple offers! Housing is now affordable and this tax credit is icing on the cake!  This will help the mid and upper bracket only a bit…  Many first time sellers cannot compete with bank owned foreclosures and they cannot sell themselves because they are upside-down in their home OR they would walk with such little money, they would have enough down-payment to move up to the 250-400 bracket.  I predict you will see a bottom come to the first time buyer market mid-2009 and mid-to-upper bracket market will return when the economy FULLY recovers which will be 2-5 years out.  2009 is the year to buy real estate.  John Schuster sold over 100 homes in 2008 and he offices out of the Minneapolis Lakes Office of Coldwell Banker Burnet  www.TwinCitiesListed.com612-924-7140.  John Schuster has a full time team of 5 people and loves to work with both buyers and sellers in this market.