My personal tips for bidding on Bank owned homes in the Inland Empire

NOTE: these tips are based solely on my experience with my buyers and Bank owned homes in the Temecula Valley area. Procedures may differ from state-to-state and county-to-county… so please read this with a grain of salt.

1. I call the agent and find out if there are multiple offers on the property before I show it to my clients and I ask if they are still accepting offers and if so, what is the cutoff time. This saves my clients the frustration of viewing a home they like and then finding out they are no longer accepting offers.

2. I advise my clients they need to come in with their BEST & FINAL purchase price right from the start (with multiple offer properties). There is no room for haggling back and forth with the bank on price if there are a lot of offers on the home. It is important to realize this and make the offer your best offer – if you want a chance at competing with the other offers.

3. I make sure we have all required documentation before submitting the offer:
-----Required pre-approval depending on which bank holds the title to the property.
-----Proof of Funds for down-payment amount or all cash offers.
-----FICO scores are helpful (either have the lender put it in the pre-approval letter or obtain a copy of your score from the credit reporting agencies).
-----Copy of your “good faith” deposit showing you have intent to deposit the check into escrow as soon as the offer is accepted (this amount varies from about 1% of purchase price to 3% of purchase price—the listing agent will generally make a note if the required amount is 3% in the agent comments of the MLS).

4. I make sure that I am friendly, upfront and very nice to the listing agent and/or their team. Good communication and honesty can go a long way! Staying ethical and professional says a lot about a person’s ability to successfully represent their clients.

5. I try to make sure that when I submit an offer to the listing agent that it is “complete”. If something is missing it can hold-up the offer being submitted to the bank for approval. I also, follow-up to make sure the offer was received and to verify they have everything they need to submit the offer to the bank.

It usually takes a few days to get a response on the offer, but I try to keep in contact with the listing agent during this time. Sometimes the agents are very helpful and responsive and sometimes I don’t hear a word from them until the offer is accepted or rejected.


Note for other buyer’s agents who are working with bank owned listing agents: Just remember there are some really great listing agents who work for the banks out there and they truly are a pleasure to work with. However, with any business, you have some people who are not good at what they do. Don’t let this stop you from moving forward; you can try to find ways around their shortcomings to get your clients what they want.