Who says buying a bank-owned home is difficult? Your agent? If so, it’s time to find a good agent. Preferably a good buyer’s agent.

Candy contacted me last week, and said she’d been looking at homes in the Lake Las Vegas area with another agent. She loved the area, but wasn’t happy with her agent. Her agent, Candy said, told her REOs and short sales were way too hard to buy, so she was showing Candy only her company’s listings.

There is a different process involved in an REO sale than in a traditional sale. However, any agent that hasn’t figured out how to help you get a great deal on a bank-owned home should have found a new career about 4 years ago. Their chosen profession certainly left them behind in 2007. In my eyes, there is no excuse for not helping a buyer find the perfect home – and the best deals are generally found in REOs and short sales. An agent who convinces a buyer to avoid these is doing that client a disservice.

Only a willing buyer and seller can determine the purchase price of a property. Some REOs are a great buy, and may or may not be in need of repairs. I’ve sold several REOs that had never been lived in. When an agent refuses to show these, it’s generally a matter of convenience – their convenience. More steps are involved in purchasing an REO, and the process is a bit more cumbersome. The agent has to work a bit harder, but isn’t an agent’s job to help a client find the “right” home? How can an agent do that when they limit a client to looking at their listings?

The State of Nevada requires that an REO Notice be signed by every buyer making an offer on a bank-owned home. This disclosure details the major differences between buying a home from a bank vs. a traditional seller. If you would like a copy of the disclosure, send me an email at RobinCamachoLV@gmail.com and I’ll email a copy to you.