Real Estate advice-Fannie Mae

[Instrument 41]

Found a house that my wife and I are very interested in, but....a few issues. In light of these issues I have questions.
The house is a foreclosure owned by Fannie Mae, Home Path. Initially sold a few years back for $500K but now at $299.
Initially there were 11 liens on the house, now there are only 2. Attorney is still working on clearing these.
The entire tract is Fannie mae owned, 35 acres, but on the market is the house and 10 acres. Use your imagination on this. the entire tract is rectangular shaped and the portion for sale is sectioned down the middle from front to back of tract. The issue is that one of the property lines cuts right through the center of the house.
The agent is wanting us to make an offer, expresses that there is a lot of interest. Clearly with the liens and how the property lines are drawn, it will never sell as is.
Question : How likely would Fannie Mae change the property lines to accommodate what we want. Instead of 10 acres down the center, section off the first section of the full width that would give me 10 acres? (never dealt with Fannie Mae)
Can we make an offer based on the property lines to meet our satisfaction and leaving that open as to what we want or willl I need to be specific?
Any advice on this is appreciated.

[biosurfer1]

Someone who know better might chime in but in my experience, Fannie Mae will not help out, fix anything, make changes or put forth anything the resembles effort at all. They will sell the house as-is, without any contingencies. They sell them cheap any expect the buyer to take care of everything.

[ben parrish]

Sounds interesting...I am currently in contract to buy a foreclosed Fannie house...as is. It also had an issue.... no water to the house. I couldn't get a loan closed on it without water to the home...couldn't even get an appraisal. Turns out Fannie Mae has the same rule...so...they spent the 3k to get the water ran to the house.
They will fix things that prevent normal closing of loans regardless of the "as is clause". We were even able to negotiate them paying up to 4% of closing costs.
You can't buy a house that is split with property lines..get the agent involved and he will get it straightened out.

[MT930]

Be patient hopefully you have someone representing you that knows how to problem solve with Fannie.

Their intent is to move the home quickly they have no interest in making it a positive transaction for you. They are contingency resistant. Most are as is sales.

The positive side is a great buy if you get it done.

Good Buyer's Rep,Patience, Patience.

[Instrument 41]

There is absolutely no problems with the structure. The issue is with property lines and the liens. Hope it goes well. The house is a restored 1930's 3100 sg ft home, salt water pool and large pond. I am meeting with the agent tomorrow to present my concerns.

[notfarnow]

Originally Posted by MT930

Be patient hopefully you have someone representing you that knows how to problem solve with Fannie.

Their intent is to move the home quickly they have no interest in making it a positive transaction for you. They are contingency resistant. Most are as is sales.

The positive side is a great buy if you get it done.

Good Buyer's Rep,Patience, Patience.

^^^^THIS^^^^

I hope you're not dealing directly with the listing agent... I would STRONGLY recommend getting your own agent to make sure you are getting adequate representation

YMMV, but you run the risk of having the listing agent provide just enough info to inspire you to write an offer, but not enough to raise concerns about potential shortcomings and risks

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by notfarnow

YMMV, but you run the risk of having the listing agent provide just enough info to inspire you to write an offer, but not enough to raise concerns about potential shortcomings and risks

With all due respect, having a buyer's agent does not necessarily guarantee that last bit, either. Though in this particular case, a property line drawn down the middle of a building is a pretty big deal, and the two remaining liens are deal-killers until resolved.

[MT930]

Originally Posted by notfarnow

^^^^THIS^^^^

I hope you're not dealing directly with the listing agent... I would STRONGLY recommend getting your own agent to make sure you are getting adequate representation

YMMV, but you run the risk of having the listing agent provide just enough info to inspire you to write an offer, but not enough to raise concerns about potential shortcomings and risks

Bingo! Could not say it better myself. Buyers Rep for sure on these.

[notfarnow]

Originally Posted by Noah930

With all due respect, having a buyer's agent does not necessarily guarantee that last bit, either. Though in this particular case, a property line drawn down the middle of a building is a pretty big deal, and the two remaining liens are deal-killers until resolved.

Rules vary too much Canada vs US, and even state by state for me to comment on specifics, but a listing agent's duties to a potential purchaser can be very, very limited.

Depending on whether or not your justisdiction has different agency duties for "clients" vs "customers", the listing agent may not be required to advise the buyer of certain issues, whether its with the house or with the legal transfer. The assumption is that the buyer is to protect themselves through the inspection & title search, AT THEIR EXPENSE.

A listing agent will be inclined to act in the best interest of of a long-term client, be it a bank, relocation company, or any other significant source of listings and business.

A buyers agent will be inclined to help you avoid certain pitfalls BEFORE you get to the due dilligence stage, and they will be motivated to protect ONLY YOUR interests.

Most of the times I hear people talk about being hard-done by real estate agents, it's in a dicy dual agency situation. People deal directly with a property's agent, and then seem surprised that they acted like a salesman. Of course they did, that's their job. If you want an unbiased opinion that favors YOUR best interest as a buyer, get a buyers agent with strong local knowledge. Just seems so basic.

Not that dual agency is always a problem... sometimes it's great. But dual agency on a bank repo? bad juju, IMO.

[MT930]

Originally Posted by notfarnow

Rules vary too much Canada vs US, and even state by state for me to comment on specifics, but a listing agent's duties to a potential purchaser can be very, very limited.

Depending on whether or not your justisdiction has different agency duties for "clients" vs "customers", the listing agent may not be required to advise the buyer of certain issues, whether its with the house or with the legal transfer. The assumption is that the buyer is to protect themselves through the inspection & title search, AT THEIR EXPENSE.

A listing agent will be inclined to act in the best interest of of a long-term client, be it a bank, relocation company, or any other significant source of listings and business.

A buyers agent will be inclined to help you avoid certain pitfalls BEFORE you get to the due dilligence stage, and they will be motivated to protect ONLY YOUR interests.

Most of the times I hear people talk about being hard-done by real estate agents, it's in a dicy dual agency situation. People deal directly with a property's agent, and then seem surprised that they acted like a salesman. Of course they did, that's their job. If you want an unbiased opinion that favors YOUR best interest as a buyer, get a buyers agent with strong local knowledge. Just seems so basic.

Not that dual agency is always a problem... sometimes it's great. But dual agency on a bank repo? bad juju, IMO.

Amen ! Same deal here in the US.

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by notfarnow

Not that dual agency is always a problem... sometimes it's great. But dual agency on a bank repo? bad juju, IMO.

+1.

In fact, a lot of banks/lenders here (in the US) actually do not allow their appointed REO listing agents to enter into a dual agency situation, regardless of any local laws/regs allowing such.

[Instrument 41]

I just met with the listing agent. She was not able to really answer any of my questions but we did talk to the attorney thats handling the liens and property lines.
The liens are almost cleared and when those are cleared Fannie Mae will change the property lines. Still want to wait before I make an offer to see exactly how the lines are going to change. Issue is that the price will be dropping soon and there is interest in the house. Wondering if I should put in a offer, and stipulate that the property lines have to meet what I want?? Would hate to let this get away. Not sure how long I should wait before making an offer. The agent said that is was going to $275 very soon.

[biosurfer1]

Originally Posted by notfarnow

A buyers agent will be inclined to help you avoid certain pitfalls BEFORE you get to the due dilligence stage, and they will be motivated to protect ONLY YOUR interests.

that favors YOUR best interest as a buyer, get a buyers agent with strong local knowledge. Just seems so basic.

Sorry, but I disagree. Just like the sellers agent, the buyers agent does not make any money until a property is bought by the buyer. As nice as it is to say they have the buyers best interest in mind, once money is involved that is rarely the case.

IMO, the buyer, and the buyer alone is the only person looking out for their best interest. Good to have an agent to walk them through the process, fill out forms, etc, but do all of your own due diligence.

[MT930]

A Buyer Broker would recommend.

Writing an offer contingent on the property lines being redrawn to mutual satisfaction, and working with the listing agent to make that happen.

VS

Fannie = No contingencies, listing agents working for Fannie do what they are told. Recommending a contingency to a Buyer would not be in Fannies best interest.


Fannie Broker = wait until the price gets low enough, someone makes an offer with out any contingencies, hopefully cash. Least possible effort.

[Noah930]

I don't want to threadjack too much, but I wholeheartedly agree with biosurfer's real-world explanation of how things work. A buyer's agent only gets paid when a deal gets done. Why sabotage your own payday? Just speaking from personal experience.