Having a Buyer who is both Ready to buy the home you have found for them, and Willing to write up an offer to purchase that home... these are good things !
But in order to make the whole thing work... three things must be in place.
First... you must have a buyer, or pair of buyers who have good credit. These days... having good credit scores is more important than ever.
Second... you must have a buyer, or buyers, who have sufficient credit to support the mortgage payment. This is also a good thing !
But... Third... your buyer must have sufficient up-front cash to close... enough cash to bring to the closing table to cover their down payment (if any), their closing costs, and their prepaid items.
In short... they must Be Able to Buy. This can often be a problem... especially for first-time buyers.
If numbers One and Two are there... decent credit, and sufficient income... but the buyer cannot perform because of insufficient cash... then having the seller pay some, or perhaps all of the buyers closing costs and prepaids can turn a "non buyer" into an "able buyer."
Many times when making an offer for my buyers... I have as part of the contract that the seller pay most of, or even all of (if the type mortgage allows that degree of "seller contributions") my buyer's prepaids and closing costs... I get read the riot act from the listing Realtor.
It goes something like: "I presented your offer to my seller, and they absolutely REFUSE to pay your buyer's closng costs. They feel it is not their responsibility to pay any of the buyer's costs. They said they had to pay their own costs when they bought, and that their buyers need to do the same."
Whew... nothing quite like a good "chewing out !"
There is nothing wrong whatsoever for a buyer... instead of making an offer that asks the seller to drop their price... to ask the seller to pay all of their closing costs... to make the sale work.
Bottom line... paying buyer's costs takes a willing buyer and makes them able to buy. Having a seller pay the buyer's closing costs and prepaids is something I always suggest to my sellers when I make my presentation to them on a listing. It usually works.
What do you think ? Would you recommend that your seller pay most of all of the buyer's closing costs to make the sale work ?
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