Final Stage Of SS - Need Help With Negotiating!
I am in the final stage of a SS that began in April, '03. The 1st will be assigning a negotiator in a day or so.
I learned everything to do this SS from this website - including meeting the appraiser at the property & getting them to submit something very close to my offer.
I was told (yesterday) by the "settlement specialist" I have been talking with during the past 30 days that my offer appears to be a little low to her & to be prepared to negotiate higher. I have offered the 1st $100K on a $122 princ. bal. and the 2nd has agreed to settle for $33K on a $43K princ. bal. The FMV on the appraisal is between $130-$135K due to needed repairs, etc. The comps the appraiser submitted were higher but justified their appraisal using the repairs needed.
The home has been vacant since Dec. and the owner has not paid his mortgages for about 1 year. It is located in a very "hot" market. The owner purchased the home 3 years ago and added a pool & enclosure (2nd mortgage). A foreclosure suit was filed in May but a judgement has not been rendered yet.
I am looking for some tips to try to sell the negotiator on my package or at least to negotiate only slightly higher. I expect to have this deal closed within a week or so. Any & all suggestions would be appreciated! Thank you.......
My $.02
You probably shouldn't have settled with the 2nd until you had an understanding with the first. It'll be tough to revisit the 2nd's settlement without a compelling argument...
IMHO, get the first to agree, in writing, to what they will accept as payment in full. Use that 'approval' as leverage with the second.
The success of your deal rests with the 2nd. Your expectations of closing this within a week are unrealistic.... unless you have all cash, and have already done
titlework.
Yes - Titlework is complete & this is a cash deal.
It was my understanding that there must be an agreement with the 2nd before the 1st would consider the proposal. If this is not correct - what would be the correct procedure to follow in the future?
Do you have any constructive suggestions on negotiating with the 1st? That was really my question. I am open to any & all comments - good or bad! Thanks.......