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What to say to a buyer who's on the fence.

We are all used to the buyer/borrower who can't make up their mind about buying, or which lender to go with. They come with the territory. But what we are now seeing a lot of, is borrowers who were pre-qualified losing the program, or the ability to get financed because a program guideline changed over night. I'm not talking about marginal credit buyers, but good solid borrowers.

Over the last few weeks I've seen the following

A) A NOO rate increase by a whole point on a borrower with a 760 credit score and 20% down/equity who was looking at doing 2 loans. They decided to wait on one of them and now it will cost more should they even move forward.

B) An excellent borrower have to switch programs from a 95% CLTV to a 90% CLTV in order to keep a good rate.

C) A NOO lose the ability to pull cash out of a Triplex with No Doc, even though we were at 30% CLTV and an 800 credit score.

My suggestion? Get your borrowers/buyers credit approved with a reputable lender and lock the rate.

For details on a real pre-approval, see my post on Preapproval: Is the Borrower Bonafide.

Larry Morris is a loan Officer with Equipoint Financial Network in Newberg, Oregon. He specializes in relocations and Sherwood, Oregon neighborhoods and Yamhill COunty. He is a Board Member of the Sherwood Chamber of COmmerce.He can be reached at larry.morris@equipoint.com . His website is www.PDX-Mortgage.com . This material is copy protected 2007 by Larry Morris, Mortgage News that Matters. All Rights Reserved His opinions do not necessarily represent the views of Equipoint Financial Network.

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Posted by Larry Morris, CMPS, Newberg Oregon on 08/12/2007 10:08 PM

Comments (6)

mortgages, fence sitters, preapprovals

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6 Comments on What to say to a buyer who's on the fence.

How true Larry. Sadly, I had a A+ buyer go to the internet for financing. The loan was suppose to close August 3. We went to the attorneys office at 930 Friday. It still is not funded.

Just kept telling the buyer........told you so!

08/12/2007 10:10 PM

by Katie Evans (RE/MAX Preferred Realty)

Good lenders are invaluable. Unfortunately, unless some people get burned a few times, they just don't realize how invaluable your services can be.

08/12/2007 10:13 PM

by Laguna Homes|Laguna Condos| Laguna Real Estate|Marlene Bridges (Sherman Smith & Associates)

This is a little off topic but I think people will find this info useful. My husband and I have been looking for a house in the Portland area and at first we were using Zillow, but after getting valuations that were not very accurate I tried housefront.com and found the information much more reliable. I was even able to use my cell phone to text message information about homes while we were driving around.

08/12/2007 10:15 PM

by lauren

Katie - Hopefully you're with a lender who is still in business. My former employer had a $13k commission fall apart when American Home Network collapsed. IF you can find out who the lender is I can give you my 2 bits

Marlene - Yes, I agree. Unfortunately it is then too late.

Lauren - Thanks for the tip. I'll give housefront a check. If there is anything I can do to assist you with financing or a good Realtor let me know.

08/12/2007 11:00 PM

by Larry Morris, CMPS, Newberg Oregon (NW Lending Solutions)

This is definitely not good news for buyers! When my buyers are requiring a mortgage, I definitely request the lender lock in the rate.

08/16/2007 01:06 AM

by Todd Clark (Realtor), GRI (Washington Co, Beaverton, Oregon) (Kastings & Associates, Oregon)

Larry,

Great advice, and for Todd and other realtor's, I believe you have every right to ask for a signed rate lock form. I provide them to my borrowers as we sit down and sign the disclosures. I often will show them the rate sheet too, so that they are able to see everything very clearly and entirely up front! Thanks for this post, Larry! I wish more mortgage professionals would handle business ethically... Enjoy the sunshine (yes, Oregon does get sun!)

08/22/2007 01:01 PM

by Sarah Eubanks ~ Preferred Oregon Loan Consultant & Notary Public (Hill Valley Financial Services)