Few rules, shady characters, and the survival of the fittest characterized the Wild Wild West in the 1800's. You needed a Posse you could trust to help you make it back alive. The same holds true in our current Real Estate market.
I have the perfect real life example to illustrate my point. A smoking hot deal popped out of the MLS in Anaheim, CA. It was THE one for my client. Of course, it was a bank owned property and it happened to be priced WAY below market. Of course, I suspected that the listing office was shooting for the E-Bay effect: A bidding war. We submitted an offer 21,000 over list price within 4 days of it hitting the MLS. The offer was 30% down with close to a 800 FICO and a 30 day close, a highly qualified buyer.
My client had to jump through hoops to have a complete offer. The listing office required a pre-approval ONLY from their lender and would not submit the offer to the bank until this was done (which I believe should be illegal). Who wrote these rules? Where are the regulators? Why should my client have to provide his personal information over and over again to "required lenders?" Whew, calm down partner!
Six weeks passes by (not 30) and finally it pops up as a closed sale for 22,000 less than my client offered. OUCH! Oh, and the selling office was the list office. They double-ended the commission. It is quite clear that my client's offer was not submitted even though it was an A+ buyer offering 22,000 more because the listing office wanted to make an additional 4% ($12,000) in commission.
Who was the bank? FNMA, who we all now own as U.S. taxpayers after the government took her over. In addition, the poor homeowners in that development now have an insanely low comparable sale which has lowered their home value by at least 22,000. And, despite having a posse to fight for him, my client lost his dream home.
Little regulation, too much control, and no accountability are obstacles that only the strong, well informed, and well supported can overcome. So, partner, put on your hat, hop on the saddle and prepare yourself for a wild ride!
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