$200,000-plus on the table until condo-building began. BANK ERROR Banks know that if a buyer makes an unsolicited o ff er, most of the time the o ff er is below fair market value. In one case, a bank lost more than $30,000 on a mistake based on that assumption. Two people were interested in buying a property. It was in an excellent location and unique among properties available in the area. Both buyers were anxious to make an o ff er before someone else could o ff er more. Either one of them would have been willing to pay the fair market value of $800,000 for the property. Money was no problem; both buyers had the ability to pay in cash. Unfortunately, the bank refused to take any o ff ers on the property . Th ey would not budge until it was listed on the open market. For some reason, possibly due to an oversight, they put the property on the market for $75,000. First, the bank underpriced the property by $50,000. Second, the hired agent didn’t market it properly. Errors were made in the MLS listing. As a result, it did not show up in search results for other agents who had buyers looking for that type of property . Th e address was incorrect. As a result, the listing did not show up on any of the real estate websites that use a map display. Finally, the agent neglected to put a sign on the property . (Th e person who eventually bought it lived down the road and drove past the property every day.) A ft er the bank refused to work with the buyers, each waited for the listing to appear. When it didn’t show up in searches, they gave up. Ultimately, both buyers moved on t o fin d other pieces of land. Meanwhile, the property sat on the market, unnoticed. Because of the agent’s errors, no interest was generated, and the property went into foreclosure. Th e man who lived nearby knew the bank had been trying to
109
Powered by FlippingBook