Special offer

I hate it when that happens....

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 GREC# 169695

I recently began to work with buyers.  They were not yet pre-approved and there were some issues to be worked out.  They were working with a lender so we set out to find a house.  Not one, not two, but three homes they have kinda liked have gone pending while waiting for the pre-approval letter.

So for those of you who call me and I ask if you are pre-approved and you try to give me a song and dance about cart before the horse and lender in your pocket.... learn a lesson from my client. There was house after house that fit the bill and he wanted, but while waiting on lender pre-approval those homes were sold to other buyers who got pre-approved before looking at property.

Pre-approval SHOULD come first. 

If you call me I can give you a list of lenders you can contact about getting pre-approved.  Yes, I have a list.  Do I get anything if you choose a lender from my list?  Well if you mean money.. no not from the lender.  But I do get it is the benefit of knowing you'll be getting great service because the lenders that make my "list" have a record of getting my clients to closing.  So what I get out of it, is the satisfaction of knowing my clients get great service.

Because there is more than one lender on my list and because different lenders on my list offer various loans that fit different types of property I'm not going to publish my list.... but call me and I'll be happy to email it to you or give you a name and number over the phone based on what you are looking to purchase.

Don't loose the house you want because you weren't prepared to make an offer complete with pre-approval letter.

 

Posted by

706-485-9668  us on facebook

Tammy@Lake-Sinclair.com

(Click on Lane Realty Logo for web site)

Tammy Lankford, Broker/Owner

 

Broker License # 169695  Lane Realty License # H-11420

Real Estate Instructor License # 355089

Call me today for all your Lake Sinclair real estate needs.

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Carla Muss-Jacobs, RETIRED
RETIRED / State License is Inactive - Portland, OR

Couldn't have said it better myself.  Sellers want to see a strong offer, and going to the lender and getting that pre-approval means the buyers ARE qualified. 

May 18, 2011 01:48 PM
Cal Yoder
Keller Williams Elite - Lititz, PA
Homes For Sale in Lancaster PA - 717.413.0744

Great, sound advice. What is taking so long? They must definitely have some issues to work out or a mortgage person who is not doing something correctly.

Cal

May 18, 2011 03:00 PM
Donne Knudsen
Los Angeles & Ventura Counties in CA - Simi Valley, CA
CalState Realty Services

Tammy - THANK YOU!!!  THANK YOU!!!  THANK YOU!!!  The more that buyers hear this from Realtors/agents/MLO and everyone else that we're telling these days.  I simply can not emphasize this enough, as soon as you start thinking about buying a home, long before you ever see one property - GET PRE-APPROVED!!!

May 18, 2011 04:02 PM
Kristine Ginsberg
Elite Staging and Redesign, LLC - Short Hills, NJ
NJ Home Stager

Tammy - excellent point! Not being preapproval ends up wasting everyone's time and can lead to a big letdown! BTW - yes, when I wrote my blog on Networking (cut, copy paste comments) - I was so thinking of you and your priceless comment - still laughing about that one!   

May 18, 2011 05:12 PM
Susan Goulding
Crown Key Realty, Inc; Tracy & Mountain House Sales and Property Management - Tracy, CA
Northern CA - Tracy & Mountain House Real Estate

AMEN!  I used to say "I took them out to establish a relationship"  USUALLY what happened is they fell in love with a house and lost it due to not being prepared.

May 18, 2011 07:17 PM
Coral Gundlach
Compass - Arlington, VA
Real Lives. Not Just Real Estate.

Yep, get it done before you fall in love with a house!  We all break our own rules sometimes though don't we.  Hope they get it together soon for you!

May 19, 2011 12:16 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Valerie- I suppose I always will.  So many times when clients come to me they don't have that paper but I just know... when they are seeking to buy a second home and they say the right stuff about the 20% down ect...  and I've never not had a closing of a vacation home due to loan being denied.  It's the primary home buyers I insist get qualified.

Carla- you're right, even when it's not an REO if there are two offers and they are close and on has the pre qualification... guess which one I'm gonna advise my seller to take.

Cal- there were things on this persons credit that brought score down that didn't even belong to them... not their debt, took about a month to clear all issues.  Usually I know something in a couple of days from the LO, but they were making "challengest" to improve score.

Donne- I agree.  I often point out other articles to my buyer via email that say this very thing.  They can't hear it enough.

Kristine- I can't let myself get an ulcer holding in my feelings can I?  LOL 

Susan- I have only been working with them since they have been working with the LO.  I really thought it would have gone quicker, but I guess issues sometimes take time to work out.'

Coleen- a former buyer turned agent, now retired did that for me because I say it all the time.  If you are "ready" sometimes you can't go home and think about it.

Coral- ah, approval in my hands now... now back to the drawing board on a house.

May 19, 2011 01:25 AM
Margie Kopp Sorrell
Coldwell Banker Lake Oconee Realty and Lake Country - Greensboro, GA
Lake Oconee Real Estate

Tammy- good advice for a new agent like myself to heed so thank you. I'm working now to establish relationships with lenders that I feel like will get the job done as well. I have learned that one of the first questions I should ask when someone comes in wanting to buy property is "have you been pre-approved?"

May 19, 2011 01:36 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Margie- Do you ever work in the Sinclair office?  if so stop by and meet me sometime when you drive by... would love to meet you.  And I'd be happy to share my "lender list" with you too.

May 19, 2011 05:28 AM
Robert Rauf
CMG Home Loans - Toms River, NJ

I always tell my RE partners to call me first, it only takes me a few minutes to figure out what they can or can not do, while you know you will end up losing at least 1/2 day with them in the car once you head out with them!

May 19, 2011 08:20 AM
Liz Flint
Century 21 Hardee-Team Realty - Houston, TX
Houston\Tomball Realtor (832)816-8066

Hi Tammy, how many times have I heard, "But I just want to see the house first, and then I'll decide if I want to buy it."  Now I have a great story to tell them why it is so important to get the prequal first.

May 19, 2011 11:06 AM
Cindy Marchant
Keller Williams Indy NE 317-290-7775 www.marchantteam.com - Carmel, IN
"Cindy in Indy" , Realtor, Fishers Real Estate

I did this same thing...showed houses, they fell in love, it sold...that was three months ago...they still aren't approved...argh...

May 19, 2011 03:27 PM
Jane Peters
Home Jane Realty - Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles real estate concierge services

I love the needlepoint, Tammy.  Did you do that with your own fair hands?

May 19, 2011 03:59 PM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Robert- good idea

Liz- hope they "get it" when you explain it.

Cindy- not all folks can be qualified in a matter of minutes or even days.

Jane- bahahahaha.  oh no lady, not me.  But now... I see it as a dare so I'm going to needlepoint.... something.

May 19, 2011 04:18 PM
Ann Hayden 636-399-7544
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties-St. Louis Missouri - Des Peres, MO
SelectAnn.com

Tammy,

Yes, know what you can afford before you look!!

Ann Hayden in Wildwood, MO

May 19, 2011 04:40 PM
Allen 2222
Austin, TX

Very very wise advice! I've wasted time on buyers that were working on the pre-approval only to have it never come in! Talk about everyone losing out - especially the buyers who didn't have, and couldn't get, their ducks in a row to purchase.

May 19, 2011 05:39 PM
Robert Rauf
CMG Home Loans - Toms River, NJ

There are very few buyers that will take time to work on a pre approval.  most can be sorted out pretty quickly... there are a few that will need tax returns reviewed to be sure, and that can take time for them to get back to me with detailed info so I can be sure, and then there are the SMALL percentage of buyers that are on the edge, or just outside of the box - where it will take some time to put more pieces together, but in reality that is Very Very few... and they should never be taken out until some one like me says "GO"!

May 20, 2011 03:37 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Ann- and then be REALISTIC about it too.

Alison- well in this case the LO did tell me it was complicated and time consuming sometimes to get things that don't belong off a credit report, but after a couple of weeks it was done. 

Robert- you're right that LO on a normal day tells me within 24 hours they are good to go or a no go.  This one... was one of those rare few.

May 20, 2011 06:15 AM
Simone Bercu
Metro Referral - Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Not state specific Real Estate - GRI, e-PRO, AB

Ann, especially in today's environment it is essential to find out if the buyer can get a loan, before we drive around with him.

May 21, 2011 01:24 PM
Ann Wilkins
Golden Gate Sotheby's International Realty - Oakland, CA
Oakland, Berkeley, Piedmont CA

Most of my buyers come to me with a preapproval. Sometimes, they just walk into their local bank branch and talk to a lender.  I usually try to have them talk to one of the lenders that I know and trust especially if it is going to be a competitive situation.  It seems the listing agents would rather work with a buyer who is using a known lender or company.

May 21, 2011 08:20 PM