When making an offer on a foreclosure (bank-owned or REO property) in Miami, the competition among bidders is normally steep, especially on lower priced properties. Most properties have several buyers making offers at the same time, and will normally send out a request for “Highest and Best” offers. This is a request for you, the buyer, to send in the absolute highest (in price) and best (in terms) offer you are willing to make on the property. The banks will then review all of their offers and decide which one to accept or counter. Please note, they do not have to accept any, even if over list price! It’s their decision.
The best offer for a bank would be a cash offer, As-Is, no inspection contingencies, close quickly, high down payment. Basically, the stronger the offer is to them with less chance of the buyer to get out due to financing, inspections or other contingencies, the better.
If you are not making a cash offer (and this means YOUR cash, not a loan, not hard money, etc. YOUR cash in the bank now), you must be competitive with price and terms. Foreclosures in Miami are selling for approximately 5% OVER list price right now, so be prepared to make your offer competitive. Other things you can do to make your offer strong would be to limit or eliminate the inspection contingencies (ie buy it As-Is, no “get out clause”), close quickly (10 days?), and/or offer a strong good faith deposit (this shows you are serious).
Due to the highly competitive nature of buying foreclosures in Miami, we recommend to all of our buyers to make their Highest and Best Offer their FIRST offer. If it seems like a good deal to you, it is going to seem like a good deal to ten other buyers, so don’t wait, make your best offer.
If you are in the market to buy a foreclosure in Miami, call us today! 786-252-4970!
