Buying a bank owned (REO) property is a much different process than a traditional listing and it is imperative that your Realtor know the difference. If your Realtor is not aware of the differences, they could not only cause you to lose the property, but also cost you money in the process. Let me explain.

When a bank owns a property, they have complete control over the situation. They have the ability to make the rules and do not have to follow any disclosure requirements. The bank will typically have you, the buyer, sign an addendum which will give them full disclosure to the process, and leave you with no protections.

The bank will set a timeline that they demand you stay on top of, or they will enforce consequences on you. The odd thing is that they can take all the time they need before they deliver any type of response to you. Almost a month ago, I was approved and have been holding money in escrow for a bank owned property. It took the bank three weeks into the thirty-day period before they even opened my escrow.

It took a full three weeks before we received my contract and addendum. Not so lucky for us that when we first signed into this contract, it stated that we would be charged $100 per day per Diem for every day that went past the thirty-day period!

They didn’t help us in anyway to meet our deadlines either. As you may already be aware, most short sales do not have a successful closing. Typically this happens because the listing agent that takes on the contract isn’t familiar with how a short sale works, but still takes the home anyway. In the same breath, REO’s can also turn out the same. In my case, the listing agent was very confident that he had all of his ducks in a row, and the bank was ready to close.

Submitted by: B. Stein has much experience shopping new homes for sale and properties overall. Read his other posts online.