How to buy a bank-owned home.

by Kris Berg on October 5, 2009

Look! I made a movie!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kris Berg is Co-Owner and Designated Broker of San Diego Castles Realty. If not-so static web sites are your thing, go here at once where you will find loads of real estate information including homes for sale, market trends, floor plans and more. Kris's hobbies include fencing and spot welding. She likes kittens.

{ 12 trackbacks }

Hey! — Arizona Real Estate Notebook: October 5, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Today’s top 5 real estate posts of the day for 10/6/2009: October 6, 2009 at 8:20 am
Buying an Bank Owned Property — At Home In Scottsdale | Your Guide to Scottsdale Real Estate: October 7, 2009 at 5:38 am
Short Sales Are Not Short | San Mateo Real Estate – Call Vicki!: October 8, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Kris Berg explains How to Buy a Bank Owned Home « Phoenix Real Estate Brokerage – John Hall & Associates: October 9, 2009 at 9:11 am
A very funny and entertaining movie about buying bank owned homes | Bgreen Arizona: October 12, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Mark Madsen – Are Las Vegas REO And Short Sale Listing Agents Discriminating Against FHA Borrowers? | Colorado Mortgage Loans by Ben Yost: October 13, 2009 at 1:37 pm
How To Buy a Bank-Owned Home | Real Central VA: October 18, 2009 at 9:44 am
Foreclosures and Short Sales: the Dangers of Buying Them | Cincinnati Real Estate - Amy B Sells: November 6, 2009 at 6:15 am
Foreclosures and Short Sales: The Dangers of Buying Them « 5705 Hermosilla Avenue Atascadero: November 29, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Can I submit an offer on a short sale property while I keep looking? — The San Diego Home Blog: February 4, 2010 at 10:03 am
Search the MLS, part 3: May 21, 2010 at 2:26 pm

{ 44 comments… read them below or add one }

Ron Ares October 5, 2009 at 9:11 am: I clapped. And wept. Spielberg and Scorcese had better look out. Hollywood has a new powerhouse director and screenwriter — Kris Berg.
Jeffrey Douglass October 5, 2009 at 11:05 am: Kris, you are so awesome!
Vicki Lloyd October 5, 2009 at 11:22 am: That deserves an academy award! I need to send it out to my 47 panicked first time buyers right now!
Sam Basel October 5, 2009 at 12:14 pm: Truly Hilarious. Thanks, Kris for the comedic break from reality.
Smithers October 6, 2009 at 6:51 am: Excellent work. His Hasselhoff essay was in the wrong font! (I hate it when that happens)
Dean Ouellette October 6, 2009 at 8:24 am: Kris, this is classic! Worst part is…. it’s 100% dead accurate.
Tiffany Cloud October 6, 2009 at 9:19 am: Kris – so sad, but so true. Thanks for the minute of comic relief – now back to reality and the several home buyers I have trying to compete with the cash investors. How did our market come to be like this???
Beth Bowen October 6, 2009 at 2:30 pm: I laughed so hard I cried… good karma to you for the honest, but hilarious movie!!! I may now have the emotional fortitude to discuss a refi with Tim F.
Julie Everhart October 6, 2009 at 4:41 pm: Absolutely 100% accurate portrayal ! Just had a 1st time FHA home buyer turned down on an REO property (with 13 other offers) today…so, it was comic relief for sure!! Thank you
Dru Bloomfield October 7, 2009 at 5:15 am: Self-consciously cracking up!

Kris, you are amazing.
Tim October 7, 2009 at 8:15 am: Cinéma vérité at its finest! Brilliant!
Jonathan Bowen October 7, 2009 at 10:07 am: Very good!
Arlyn Mendoza October 7, 2009 at 10:08 am: This is true genius!… I saw it on Inman and had to pass it around to almost everyone I know… thanks for the giggles !!
Thomas Johnson October 7, 2009 at 12:00 pm: Kris: Start getting fitted for your red carpet dress and those little shoes. Your movie of the year nomination is forthcoming.
Carolyn G-Tu October 7, 2009 at 12:50 pm: Aree with all the others – this is such a real potrayal of working with first time homebuyers in this market. Especially accurate is the attitudes of some of the other agents we work with on a daily basis.
Jeff Sullivan October 7, 2009 at 12:59 pm: OMG, that was so hilarious! Get this, after having had buyers that have lost REO offers to cash buyers, now I have a cash buyer and am told that Fannie Mae’s initiative will now give first preference to primary residence buyers for the first 15 days…can’t win. I loved the foreclosure agent part, ” busy, busy, busy”, will not return your call, and may not even exist! So, true…even when some of them don’t even have that many listings.
Tim October 7, 2009 at 1:56 pm: “…Fannie Mae’s initiative will now give first preference to primary residence buyers for the first 15 days…”

What is this initiative all about?
Jeff Sullivan October 7, 2009 at 2:03 pm: Tim…Fannie Mae’s “First Look Initiative” says that all Fannie Mae Bank Owned Properties new to the MLS (multiple listing service) can only accept Owner Occupant Offers for the first 15 days. After the property has been listed for 15 days then Fannie Mae will consider investor offers.

That’s great news for homebuyers getting a head start in the race for great properties and deals, but not so great for investors.
Tim October 7, 2009 at 2:25 pm: Thank you, Jeff! This is the first I’ve heard of it. Is there any way to identify a property as being Fannie Mae owned in the MLS? Or, is that something my agent would easily be able to find out?

Thanks for sharing this encouraging news!
Robert Sizer October 8, 2009 at 10:21 am: Her-sterical & sadly accurate Kris!
Chris Butterworth October 8, 2009 at 11:08 am: Loved it, Kris – one of my faves! Thanks!
john October 9, 2009 at 12:22 am: Would be hilarious, except for the fact that I’m a professional freelance 3D animator, and I lost my home a year ago after my workload dropped off and my ARM kicked in at the higher rate.
Salt in the wound!
All kidding aside, it made me chuckle.
Matt Hernacki October 9, 2009 at 8:10 am: When can we expect the sequel on short sales?!
Alex Jovicich October 9, 2009 at 10:02 am: Phenomenal phenomenal and phenomenal (not to mention dead on correct).
Karen Goodman October 9, 2009 at 11:28 am: And buyers wonder why I want nothing to do with finding them a foreclosure! I’m happy to refer them out to a much more patient agent.

Definitely passing this on.
Marcia Woods October 9, 2009 at 1:31 pm: That was hilarious!! The part about foreclosure specialist was spot on..OMG! It is sad our profession has come to this but it has.
Joy Smith October 9, 2009 at 3:25 pm: OMG, my broker sent this to my and I thought I’d die laughing!!! I SOOOO want to send it to my first time home buyers…but thought better of it and decided to keep it to myself……because it is WAY too close to the darn truth and would be painful…..OY!
Joe Feinhandler October 9, 2009 at 5:23 pm: Too True! I have been sent this video from 3 different SD agents today. You are the newest viral video phenom!
Deidre St. Romain October 9, 2009 at 6:00 pm: If it wasn’t so true it would be funny! Ok it IS funny. Thanks for providing a bit of levity in this oh so difficult market. So in conclusion my suggestion to my buyers is \”Go with Short Sales – yes you may not get the Tax Credit but at least you have a chance to actually buy a home – that is if the Short Sale agent knows how to get the job done!! – I interview them – do you?
Judi Stull October 10, 2009 at 10:35 am: Oh Kris, That is completely awesome and way too truthful.
C Dale Hillard October 11, 2009 at 3:52 pm: Hi … I the Designated Broker with West USA Realty in Phoenix, AZ (1100 agents) … and our agents have met this listing agent before — more than once!! Thanks for the “reality check” in a clever format!
Barbara Bixler October 12, 2009 at 1:15 pm: Absolutely hilarious!! “Rejected like a bad kidney…” is the new catch phrase in our office! Thanks for the laugh!
Anna 'Banana Kruchten October 12, 2009 at 6:20 pm: Kris – I loved it! Posted it on Active Rain and gave you credit!
Brandon October 12, 2009 at 6:37 pm: Nice. I was laughing thinking of a very similar conversation I tried to have last week with a foreclosure specialist aka REO listing agent. Thank you for putting together a very entertaining movie!
Robin Rogers October 13, 2009 at 8:17 am: Kris, your movie was priceless! It conveyed all the drama, pathos, and tragedy of trying to buy a foreclosure.

Watch your back, Spielberg!

Best regards,

Robin
Helen Thompson October 13, 2009 at 6:01 pm: Bravo Kris,
You so brought the painful truth to hilarity!! A few of us in entrenched in distressed world in Central Florida are thinking of creating a Broadway Musical to depict our madness in Distress Home Sales..Helen Thompson
Chris Stuart October 13, 2009 at 6:10 pm: This is right on the mark! I love the “busy, busy, busy” – I waited two weeks for an agent to get back to me; just to say he was having communication problems. Guess the string broke on his telephone can.

Thanks for the laughs!
Smiley October 15, 2009 at 8:51 pm: That’s funny and sooo true. We have been looking for a house for over a year and a half. We have looked back at houses we put offers on and most sold for less than what we offered. We assume because we have an FHA pre-approval What is a buyer with good credit, only FHA approveable supposed to do to get a home in San Diego?
Drew Meyers October 17, 2009 at 2:24 pm: Haha…nice!
Kim Marin, Southlake, TX October 18, 2009 at 12:41 pm: Kris, you’re hilarious! You must not list many REO, otherwise you sadly wouldn’t have time to make the movie!
James Sanson October 19, 2009 at 10:32 am: This is the funniest and saddest video I have ever seen. This is so true… We have been sharing this concept with our buyers for about 9 months now.
Donna October 21, 2009 at 10:36 pm: Hilarious Kris – It’s good that we can laugh about it. We have a couple local REO specialists that fit the bill…sad but true.
And how creative on your part! Thank you.
Steve Haley October 23, 2009 at 1:41 pm: I laughed then cried, my wife laughed then cried then told me how many or our current buyer clients we had to email this too.
Thanks for the oh so insightful entertainment.
Stephanie November 10, 2009 at 3:49 pm: What a great video…and sadly so true in so many cases!