Jeff, back to the basics. Back to the basics. Back to the basics. Or, maybe, back to the future.
AJ.... well, thank you very much. I read one that Rob Rauf wrote a few days ago and I agreed with him. And I wrote this over a year ago, that I wanted to see more details with everyone. thanks again for the polite compliment.
FRED.... well, we should have never left the basics before... yes, some loan officers are getting weeded out... and I am not perfect, but there should be some that are still out there that should have never been a loan officer.
Jeff - Looks like maybe you used the 'ReBlog' button? Glad you clarified that. I was not able to do it yet, but thought it was a good idea based on the post from Jason Crouch. I think many agents have it confused, which certainly means that the homeowners do not always know the difference. Anyway, thanks for the post.
Very important information. I try to get all of my buyers to get a pre-approval from a local funding lender. I receive pre-qual letters with offers on my listings that come from loan officer and brokerages, I have never heard of. Most without a signature. Not very strong at all. You can guess what the percentage of those will not make it to the finish line if their offer is accepted.
I don't care if the loan officer gives me a pre-qual or pre-approve letter. I just want to know that they've looked at the credit report and not said "Eeeekkkkk"!
The letters don't mean much other than the point that the buyer took the first step to have their credit checked.
Jeff, we have some differences in definitions and the problems of pre-qual and pre-approval letters in our states. Bear with me here... pre-qual letters mean zilch here. It just means the buyer called the bank and TOLD them how much money the make and all their personal information, but the bank checks NOTHING in a pre-qual letter. So basically, pre-qual letters are useless pieces of paper.
In light of that information, it goes without saying the real estate agents want a pre-approval letter. But here's the real problem. The banks don't want to issue a pre-approval letter... pull credit, verify income, etc., without a contract. Do you see the problem? REALTORS don't want to show properties to a buyer who doesn't have a pre-approval letter, but the buyer can't get a pre-approval letter until they've found a house. We can't win! So we end up relying on pre-qual letters or hopefully we'll find the ONE in a milliion lending officer that will actually do the minimal work of pulling a credit report and making a few phone calls, so we don't end up wasting time showing houses the buyer can't afford, or working with buyers who can't buy anything at all.
Oftentimes people use these terms in an interchangeable manner. Unfortunately that is very dangerous to their planning.
Jeff, thanks for your expert advise.. It seems people in the industry confuse these 2 a lot.. Thanks again for the clarification..
Jeff, you know how some posts just catch your attention? This one did for me. Great Post! AJ