Yes I Trust as Soon as I Verify

In many areas today it is a buyers market with purchasers enjoying many advantages and liberties from sellers that have not been seen for the last decade I have been selling real estate. Buyers today are getting historically low interest rates and enjoying more bargaining power during negotiations giving them a leg up on sellers. There may be no better time to purchase a home than right now. However, buyers can't take it to the extreme and think that they are outside of the normal and reasonable scrutiny of their qualifications to actually purchase the home. To put this in its proper light, as the listing agent I do have an obligation to verify. No matter how much buyers or thier agents assure or insist a purchasers ability to actually buy must be verified.

Cash buyers should expect to show proof of funds available to close in order for their offer to be taken seriously. Buyers using a mortgage to purchase the home are expected to submit a pre-approval letter or pre-qualification letter form their lender. At that point my job obligates me to verify the authenticity and veracity of those documents beyond the normal verbal assurances of the buyers agent. This nearly always entails actually calling the lending officer providing the pre-approval letter and asking some relevant questions. Here are just a couple as an example.

• Has the income and employment been verified for the purchaser?
• Has the borrower's credit been verified?
• Has the borrower been run through your applicable underwriting software?

Recently an offer came in which wan contingent upon the purchasers selling their current home. A pre-qualification was submitted with the offer but it was from a mortgage broker. It was not from a direct lender and a key point was the amount indicated on the lender letter was less than the amount offered on the property. This immediately caught my attention. When questioned the buyers agent offered assurances that the offer was fine because the purchasers had extra money available to put down. This may have been true and good but my job as the sellers agent is to verify. Especially in todays Denver market that has stiff competition from other homes on the market and mistakes can cost clients tens of thousands of dollars.

This being said, I called the listing agent for the property the buyers were selling. The one that was under contract with a strong buyer in place. Next I called the lender issuing their pre-qualification letter and spoke with their loan officer directly. Without disclosing specifics I did get the information my clients needed to make their decision on the offer which was to decline. The buyer was disappointed to the point of actually calling me directly.

Todays environment requires due dilligence in the verification of a buyers qualifications to determine whether or not I can advise my clients on the strength of an offer. Time off the market under contract with a purchaser who can't close is not permissable. It may be a buyers market however due dillegence by the listing agent can not be overlooked or ignored. My job as a listing agent is to verify that a buyer can perform to the terms of the contract and advise my clients accordingly.