Hurry Up & Wait
In a traditional sale, Buyers can usually expect to hear a response to their offer within 24 hours — ideally much faster.
So, how long do would-be Buyers of Fannie Mae properties have to wait?
As long as 10 days.
Stale MLS Status
Which is why it’s only fair to such Buyers that the listing agent update the property’s status on MLS, to let other prospective Buyers know that there’s somebody ahead of them.
In fact, listing agents are required to do that, anyways, but in my experience the listing status of foreclosed properties often lags what’s actually happening in the market.
Seller Self-Interest
When listing agents don’t update a property’s MLS status in a timely fashion, is it an oversight or purposeful?
As a Buyer’s agent, it’s easy to suspect the latter.
That’s because continuing to list the property as “available” on MLS encourages more showings, which in turn could lead to more (and potentially) better offers.
In practice, however, it’s awfully hard to prove that, and — for a deal that might be worth only $1k or $2k in commission (what the Buyer’s agent stands to make on a $50k – $75k home) — hardly worth the bother.
