Pre-approval?

Has this ever happened to you?       

You're a Realtor.  A prospective home buyer calls you for an appointment to look at properties.  He tells you he has been pre-approved.  You ask him by whom, and he gives you the name and number of a mortgage lender or broker you never heard of before.  You call the loan rep, and get a call back two days later.  You're told that the buyer is good, so you schedule showings.

Your buyer finds a property, enters an agreement, and makes loan application.  Three days before closing you get the phone call telling you that the lender/broker can't make the loan because of the buyer's past credit history.  Or the work history.  Or for some other basic reason you'd expect they would have figured out before signing the pre-approval.  Isn't that the point of getting a pre-approval in the first place? 

What could you have done differently?

Get a second opinion from someone you know and trust.

If you are not insisting on this then you are not providing your buyer, seller, or your office (or yourself!) the service expected of you. 

Here's something else to consider:  Is the lender who pre-approved your buyer an Affiliate Member of the Board of Realtors?  Affiliates have a vested interest in the well-being of the Realtors in the local market, unlike many out-of-state or internet lenders/brokers. 

Please keep these points in mind when you have a prospective home buyer working with a lender or mortgage broker unfamiliar to you.  Or if you just want another professional to look at the situation to give you an honest assessment.