mortgages buyer agent – We moved out of our house to facilitate our real estate closing, now the deal has fallen apart.?
We moved out of our house to facilitate our real estate closing, now the deal has fallen apart.?
It turns out our RE agent did not have a firm letter of approval from the buyers he had a pre-qualification letter. We took our agent at his word and moved out. It turns out the buyer was pursuing a zero down loan through the USDA and was an extremely shaky buyer. We feel our agent should have checked off, the financing contingency in the buy sell agreement by performing his due diligence and making sure the approval letter was a formal letter and not a pre-qualification letter. We have over 10,000 in moving expenses and now we have to move back into our house. We have also just wasted the prime summer selling season on an unqualified buyer, and we have also lost out on the house we were planning to buy, much less the inconvience of moving out of our house into an interim apartment and now having to move back into our original house. Our realtor is taking no responsibility and is blaming the problem on the buyer's mortgage lender. Any feedback would be appreciated.
If a buyer does her homework, and has a savvy Realtor, she ought to clean-up in this housing market. When making an offer for less than the asking price, you should be prepared with the following tips:
1. Speak with a qualified mortgage broker. At a minimum get pre-qualified for financing on the home. If the mortgage broker is unable to furnish this simple document, run for the hills, he probably doesn’t know what he’s doing and will cause you nothing but problems. The last thing you need on closing day is your mortgage broker leaving you high and dry. Getting the pre-qualification is important for two reasons. First, the pre-qualification will give you a proper estimate of what you can afford.
It will be disappointing, not to mention a waste of time for everyone involved, to spend a weekend looking at homes you later find out are outside of your price range. Second, when your offer is accompanied by a pre-qualification letter, it sends a message to sellers that you “know the ropes.” If you expect the seller to significantly reduce the asking price, then you need to make sure everything else is organized. When the seller receives an offer, he wants to make sure you are not a flake. Put yourself in the seller’s shoes, they are going to take their home of the market for weeks, or months, and want assurances that you’re not chasing a pipe dream.
2. Sign up for automatic email updates. I look at the new listings and price changes every night, so my clients find out about great deals within hours. If you’re agent is not as dedicated to market knowledge, then you should sign up for automatic email updates. There are numerous websites that will email daily market updates based on your parameters. Obviously, I’m partial to my own website. It’s been my experience, that when something is listed below market value, which is not often, there will be multiple offers. You want to be first in the line with an organized offer complete with assurances of your ability to close.
3. Don’t be indecisive. At this point you’ve already done your homework on finances and the market. So have the courage to act quickly. I’ve seen a lot of properties slip out of a client’s hands, because of indecisiveness. Your offer should include a due-diligence period, which is the vaccine to a bout of buyer’s remorse.
4. Gather sellers’ intelligence. A good agent will help you get information. Try to find out what their motivation is for selling, how quickly they need to sell, how much is owed, how much did they pay, have they been burned before, how long has the home been on the market, where are they moving, do they need to sell before they move. The seller will be far more likely to bend on the price if you can meet other needs. Don’t hammer them on every issue. I’ve seen a few deals fall apart due to pride getting in the way of inconsequential issues.
5. Know the comps. Before you write the offer, find all of the neighborhood’s comparable properties that have sold in the last 12 months. I wouldn’t go back more than 12 months in this crazy market. The recent “comps” will give you the best idea of market value for that neighborhood. I’m all for somebody getting a good deal, but at least try to base it on something. We are all hearing about the drop in real estate values, but most homes on the market have already had the price reset for the current conditions. It’s hard for your agent to argue for the offer if the price is arbitrary. You don’t want your agent’s only comment to be, “My client is financially qualified, can close quickly, but he’s irrational.”
6. There is no standard discount. This seems to be the elusive grail of real estate buyers. Buyer’s want to know that magic number, some say it’s 5% some thing it 10%, but there is no number. I recently sold my personal residence, during a down market, in 3 months at almost 100% of my asking price. I aggressively marketed my home at a realistic value. I know of another home in Atlanta that is probably overpriced by 150%. Unfortunately for that seller, the home will ultimately sell for less than it’s true market value. It will die a slow and tortuous death as sits on the market known as the “overpriced” house. Go back to the point number 5; it’s all about the comps. Why penalize a seller for listing his home at a discount and why reward a delusional homeowner with an arbitrary, “standard” discount.
There are a lot of great bargains in the current real estate market. In my part of the country, it seems like we are having an “Atlanta homes sale.” Good luck with your home purchase.
Erika Eaton is a successful Realtor specializing in the Buckhead, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody and Vinings areas of Metro Atlanta. Please feel free to search for homes Atlanta on her website or contact Erika if you’re interesting in buying or selling a home in North Atlanta.
(C) Copyright – Erika Eaton – All Rights Reserved Worldwide
Mail this post
Leave a Reply