I had the most awe-inspiring experience with a local Realtor recently...and not awe-inspiring in a good way. I had a buyer, represented by a very close Realtor friend of mine, who put in an offer on a condo for sale by an owner/agent...who just happened to be the mananging broker of his office and a 3rd generation Realtor. My client submitted my pre-approval letter with her offer. My letter was contingent on:
1. No change in her employment prior to closing
2. Clear title to the property
3. An acceptable appraisal on the property
Now, these are pretty standard conditions and should not have been an issue. But I got a call from the listing agent/owner asking me to remove all of the conditions before he would ratify the offer. What???!!! In shock and trying to recover before I called him a lot of unpleasant names, I addressed the appraisal first. Did he have a cash buyer? No. Then how did he expect me to get around the appraisal condition? He didn't care, but he didn't want the loan contingent upon an appraisal. Hmmm? (What I didn't know is that he had left this same message for my Realtor about the contract...wanted the appraisal and title contingencies removed from the offer as well). And what exactly was the problem with the contingency requiring clear title? Nothing specific, he just didn't want it as a condition of the loan. And the employment...was he aware that underwriters for A-paper loans typically do a telephone verification of employment just prior to issuing a clear to close? Yes, but he wanted it off the letter.
Well, what was I to do? Tell him to go get bent? That's what I wanted to do, but I calmly explained to him that these conditions were not negotiable and that, unless he had a cash buyer with no contingencies waiting in the wings, he would be well advised to let these requests go and evaluate the offer carefully (it was a good offer). The offer got ratified, the title and appraisal were fine, my buyer kept her job and we all closed happily.
I just can't understand what would possess an agent to request such things. Was he just trying to test me? Was he just trying to freak us out? What was the point? He's been in this business all his life, as were his dad and grandfather...surely he had to know that what he was asking for was not only ridiculous but impossible, right?
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