Pre-Approval letters aren't worth the paper it's printed on....unless you know the lender

Pre-approval letters aren't worth the paper it's printed on... unless you know the lender. 

Ok, now I'm annoyed.  I've been in escrow on one of my listings for two weeks.  Everything seemed to be going smooth; buyer's offer was great, appraisal was done and came in above list price, inspections turned up zip, zilch, nada.  The house is in good shape.  That's when the phone rang....... 

The call I received was from the buyer's agent.  She explained that her client no longer qualifies for the loan.  What?  I was confused, I just talked to the lender a few days ago.  Well, turns out, after I hammered the lender for about 15 minutes,I found out  that the lender never really "pre-approved" the buyers.  

Pre-approval letters aren't worth the paper it's printed on... unless you know the lender. 

You see, the buyer "forgot," and I use that word very loosely, to tell the lender that just six months ago, he filed for bankruptcy and did a short sale on his house.  Ummmm... hello.... don't you think those are two pretty important questions to ask your client?

So now you can see why, Pre-approval letters aren't worth the paper it's printed on... unless you know the lender. 

Every deal I've done with my lender, and there have been some challenges, has closed!  I realize loans are hard to do and business is hard to come BUY, however, wouldn't it make sense to do a proper consultation with your client before putting them in your car?  This is me thinking out loud by the way.... 

Anyhoo, I've decided that I'm never going to let this happen again.  From now on, every buyer who writes an offer on one of my listings is going to be required to be pre-approved through my lender.  I want to know that buyer is solid. The buyer, of course, will get the option of choosing the lender they would like to work with. I mean, after all, I am reasonable. :)