The House Of The Dangling Carrot

I saw the perfect house today. It was big, 1,700 sq.ft. compared to the usual 1,300 sq.ft. that I have been looking at. It was renovated inside, tile with carpet in the bedrooms, and very nice. It had a double carport, a large covered patio and a 6ft. block wall. There was an RV gate and pretty landscaping in the front and back. It had indoor laundry, a fenced side yard with an extra large dog door entering the kitchen. It was move in ready and beautiful. It was listed for only $89,900.

So why is this not good news? It is a short sale. From what my agent told me, the owner and real estate agent set the price on the house in order to get offers in an attempt to stop or at least stall the trustee sale which means foreclosure. So let's say I put in an offer for the asking price of $89,900. The bank will look at that offer and then send their person to find out the comparable value. Then the bank can say no, it is worth more. Unfortunately, $90k is as high as I can go.

My realtor sent me the comps. for the neighborhood. I think the house is worth $120k. To make matters worse, there are 2 loans on the house so there are 2 banks involved. The house was purchased in 2006 and they paid $215k.

I am still going to put in an offer for the asking price and see what happens. The listing agent said he has gotten a lot of calls on it and it has only been on the market for 6 days. I am sad that I finally found my perfect house and it is probably out of my reach. I just hope I get a response back quickly so I can move on with my search.