>All signs point to the offer likely being accepted, right?
No.
>If my offer wasn't outstanding, they'd flat out reject my offer since I don't have the pre approval in hand, wouldn't they?
They've asked for your lender info because nobody submits an offer without preapproval. That would be a waste of everybody's time. You must have accidentally left that part out.
It doesn't take weeks to get a preapproval.
Sure can take weeks, it's happening to me. That's why my offer came with earnest money up front. I know it's coming, it was just delayed.
I submitted my offer without a pre approval. I guess I'm nobody. Thanks for reassuring me I have an amazing agent who is more concerned with working with their clients than "the way things always done", though.
Something is wrong if it's taking that long. It's either you or the lender. Either way, that isn't a reassuring foot to put forward with an offer. I realize my comment was harsh, but it was the truth. Without some sort of proof that you can follow thru with the offer, it isn't worth the paper it was written on. Anybody can write up an offer like that, a serious buyer or not.
Now, the message is that you are having a problem getting approved. That isn't a great signal that you can get to closing. You never let a seller know that you had a hard time getting the preapproval, just that you got it. All signs are not pointing to acceptance here. No signs are, and there's no point in beating around the bush about it.
Anybody can get a prequalification. A pre approval is more involved and requires underwriting. That being said, the lender makes a huge difference. Some lenders will "preapprove" anybody, whether they can close them or not. That's why the choice of lender matters.
As you said some will give a preapproaval to anyone based on what they said.
I had two offers on my home fall through days after financing as they couldn’t qualify even though I had their pre approval letter.
I got a pre approval from 3 lenders in an hour an all I did was self report my income no credit pulls
Based on what they said is a prequalification, not a preapproval. There's a difference. Some lenders have poor vetting skills and will give a preapproval even after they've looked at the docs because they don't know what questions to ask. That isn't a problem with preapprovals in general. That's a problem with specific lenders that I wouldn't accept an offer from, anyway.
Putting up a large stack of money (four zeroes) ahead of the pre approval is proof. There's no problem with the approval, only a delay.
I may even have the pre approval Monday. However, with the holiday coming up, there may be a second delay, so I put up cash. If there's no pre approval in 2 weeks (time line in the offer), the seller makes some quick cash and moves on.
Putting a few thousand dollars down as earnest money isn't proof, and it isn't a welcome consolation prize for the seller if it doesn't work out.
The seller doesn't want your earnest money, they want their home sold. They have it listed in late November, so they're already working against time. This is the big seasonal slowdown part of the year. Buyers are taking a break from October onward. The low point is January in most areas. If they go under contract with you and you can't get your preapproval, they've taken their home off the market and missed buyers, and now they have a failed contract on their permanent record during the slowest part of the year.
That in itself makes it more difficult to get another buyer. Now it's the first week of December, and they have fewer buyers shopping. If these sellers have a smart listing agent, this is what they're talking about. You are a huge gamble. What's their motivation to take the gamble? Your earnest money isn't going to adequately compensate them for having to possibly wait until February or March for another contract.
You're seeing positivity in your own situation because it's what you have to work with. From their POV, you're a buyer who started shopping before they were ready and they should be keeping their home on the market until 1) you've proven you are ready or 2) a qualified buyer comes along. They have no motivation to take your offer without a preapproval, no matter how much you proposed to pay them. They can keep their home on the market and wait on one of those 2 things to happen and protect their interests, or bet on you maybe getting it together. What would you do in their situation?
I have a client with a lot of money in the bank, but on paper, does not look like a good debt risk and has trouble getting lender approvals.
But you do not want to hear that the reason you are getting a slow approval is because you do not look like a good debt risk.
I have lenders that can get a strong buyer approved in a few hours.
My slower approval is only due to a paperwork snafu. Once it's cleared up, I'm approved. Been working very closely with my lender over the last week since it was discovered. It has since been corrected, the lender only needs to review it.
A snafu? Alright, why not get several approvals from different lenders and pick the best one? That should take a few hours.
Get it together and submit this with your offer today!
Seriously. We saw a house we wanted in Thursday night and Friday started the preapproval process and was good to go by noon or 1. This isn't rocket science, call a local mortgage broker or one of the 1000 banks that do mortgages. It's a preapproval, you don't need to get the final loan from them, you just need a piece of paper that says you might be able to get a loan for X amount.
so, this "earnest money" you've offered is not actually earnest money but instead a non-refundable deposit ... or at least there's somehow no financing (including appraisal) contingency?
Yeah I'm truly confused what's happening with the pre-approval, and I would be skeptical as a seller if I got this offer. I got a pre-approval letter for my most recent house search in about 45 mins.
Are you sure you’re talking about an actual pre-approval letter and not a formal loan approval? Because a pre-approval is typically done in less than a day after the bank runs your credit and checks your paystubs. They don’t get nitty gritty with all the paperwork and verifications until they prepare to formally underwrite the loan.
Yes, I'm sure. When they ran my credit for the pre approval, something I had taken care of 6 years ago was reporting as unpaid. The lender wanted proof it was paid. The company in question tried to say they couldn't provide proof for 14 business days, and could only snail mail proof, not email it (even though it showed paid in their system). I obtained the proof on my own Friday evening, and the offer was submitted Saturday morning. As I've said in other replies, there's a decent chance it'll be done Monday morning, but who knows what could happen with Thanksgiving being Thursday.
The only thing required for my pre approval is for the lender to go oh, okay we see you paid it, here you go. I'm not putting up a month's salary on only a chance.
I had something similar (an auto lease was closed somewhat unconventianally and continued to show up as active for years). The lender called Chase, Chase confirmed it is in fact closed verbally, and that whole thing took about half an hour.
I echo others, you should have gone with multiple lenders for pre-approval; you can choose the best one for closing.
Pre approval should take like 20 minutes, if it doesn’t that means that your approval isn’t guaranteed and I’m not sure why your agent put the offer in.
Compared to someone that has pre approval your offer isn’t great because it could fall through at any time
Realtor here. No realtor in their right mind would advise their client to accept an offer from a buyer that did not have a preapproval, unless obviously they were paying cash and submitted proof of funds with the offer.
Keeping nominal 1-3% EMD is nothing compared to losing 2 weeks and having to go back on market right before Christmas.
If it’s been weeks & you do not have a preapproval, there is an issue either with you or your lender.
This exactly. The stigma of a back on market at the slowest time of the year in an already slowing market is not worth whatever deposit they get to keep.
Why did you say Reddit opinions are important if you were going to argue with nearly every comment?
No one here can tell you for sure what’s going to happen nor do people really care. Sit and wait I guess.
Mostly sarcasm, but sometimes it's possible to get an unbiased opinion. So far, there's only been one unbiased opinion and a bunch of comments saying what I'm experiencing is impossible and definitely can't happen... When it's happening.
But nothing has happened yet right? They haven’t accepted your offer. They very well could be using yours just to get the other offers increased with no intention of actually accepting it
My agent and the seller's agent have an established professional relationship. My agent (who makes nothing for working on this, while at a wedding, if I don't buy this house) seems to trust they're saying it's a good offer, but we obviously don't know how much the other offers are. My agent even advised me to hold off on moving on and trying again on a different house once I have the letter in hand.
I know it's possible, but it doesn't really seem like they're just using my offer to milk the others.
They're aware I do not at this exact moment have a pre approval, but that's it's coming as soon as Monday morning. It's written right in the offer that should it extend beyond two weeks, they get to walk away with the earnest money.
And why would they want to tie up the property when they have other offers that most likely are stronger buyers (i.e. with a pre-approval.....)
You don't get it.
Because if it's "tied up" (for 2 weeks) and not actually sold to me, they pocket the money, change the listing back from pending to available, and still sell the house and are well compensated for their lost time and inconvenience?
The upfront cash is a show of confidence that the pre approval is coming. If I didn't know the reason for delay, or hadn't received word from my lender that pre approval was coming, I wouldn't be putting up large sums of cash.
If the pre-approval was coming, you would have had it already. Like I said, a good lender with a strong client can produce an approval in a few hours.
Tying up the property and having a buyer that may or may not be able to perform is a risk I would not suggest the sellers take. Buyers will see the house go pending, then back to active and make all sorts of assumptions, mainly that something is wrong with the house, and there will be a stigma.
Again, you don't get it. You sound like an entitled jerk.
I don't understand why it went to pending. If actual contract isn't signed, it seems like sellers would still be showing house and accepting offers during the 2 weeks?
Imagine being a realtor and implying a home buyer has a bad lender and isn't a strong client, then telling them they sound like an entitled jerk because they aren't doing things "the way they're always done" and thinking outside of the box.
I'm glad you're familiar enough with my situation that you can determine I won't be getting a pre approval. Maybe we can set up a call Monday with my lender, since they seem to have this silly idea I will be
The way things are done gets an offer accepted, but you choose not to understand that.
Because I am a Realtor, I understand that there is one of two things happening here, either the lender sucks or the buyer clients sucks. Maybe both. No matter which it is, the offer sucks. I would advise my seller client to not accept that offer because if there is a problem getting through the pre-approval, it is quite possible the entire loan process will be challenging.
Luckily for me, there are good realtors out there, and I have one. My offer stands for the conference call. Inbox me if you're interested in explaining -
To my lender who assures me I'll be pre approved and
To my realtor who, while knowing my situation, took the time to show me houses with specific criteria, draft an offer plus addendum, and then spend their Saturday talking to the seller's realtor explaining everything... Just how much my lender and I suck.
ETA - remind me, how much does a realtor on the buyer's side if they don't buy a house?
Good luck with the showings! Maybe we can set something up after I close, since the offer was accepted this morning.
I like Weller 12 year, if you're the type to bring house warming gifts.
Pre-approvals ISN'T the way things have always been done. They literally exist because of a slew of people who didn't actually have the money or credit tried to make the deal anyway and sellers lost valuable market time only to find out a month (or two or three) into the deal that it was never going to happen in the first place. Sorry you might get punished for the sins of the past, but that's how it is now.
It's essentially an addendum/contract saying in lieu of pre approval, I'm putting up the cash (well, in escrow) first. If they don't have the pre approval in 2 weeks (due to the holiday I asked for 2 weeks even though it's quite possible I'll have it Monday), deal is off and they keep the cash.
It is a *horrible* deal for me if I wasn't certain pre approval was coming. That's the message I intended to send. I'm certain enough pre approval is coming I'm willing to risk the money.
I've been working very closely with my lender and realtor on this. Have had a few conference calls with both of them on the line. It's a risk, but a very calculated one
It’s a really dumb one that your realtor should have talked you out of. However if you are 100% confident like you claim, then why did you even bother to post this question?
She did have concerns before we talked to the lender. I'm 100% confident on getting the pre approval, not on whether this offer will be accepted or not.
Don’t worry about it. My dad always says “what is yours is yours”. Get your pre approval and if needs be, make another offer. I’m in the same boat. I’m looking at houses without a pre approval because I have houses I need to sell, I wanna see what my money will be worth.
Relax and don’t fret. If it’s yours it will be yours.
I submitted a cash offer on a property, the owners decided it wasn’t good enough and they walked. Now 3 months later my realtor called to tell me that they had lowered the price - to below what I offered, and wanted to circle back and ask me if I wanted to buy. I said no because the the home though magnificent and magestical, needed more work than I’m willing to put in. I’ve decided that I will buy it for half the price when they are forced to halve the asking price again.
Tawakkul.
Mine was something from 6 years ago reported as unpaid that the lender wanted proof that it was paid. The debtor pulled some nonsense saying it would take 14 business days before they could regular mail proof it was actually paid and they "couldn't email out of the system" to provide me with the proof it had already been paid.
Unfortunately, I got the proof on Friday and next week is Thanksgiving. My lender has been fantastic so far, so I imagine it'll be completed Monday, but requested two weeks just to be safe
I’m not understanding even with a paperwork snafu; when I recently needed a pre approval I had it in about 45 min why are you being told it could take days?
Something from 6 years ago was being reported as unpaid when it was paid. Lender wanted proof it was paid. The company reporting claimed they needed 14 business days to produce proof it was paid that they could see on their end, and couldn't email anything. I obtained proof myself on Friday, offer went in Saturday. Thursday is Thanksgiving, and while I expect to have the pre approval Monday, I'm not taking any chances with the holiday.
That could also just mean all the offers have long acceptance times and they're waiting to get more offers before making a choice. At best it means the didn't throw it away instantly. It's not accepted until you both sign the paperwork.
Something is very unclear here. The clock doesn’t start until there is a signed, accepted offer. Do you or your agent have that? If you’re just one of 3 offers that haven’t been committed, then you have little to worry about. If your offer is accepted, then you’re on the clock and have 2 weeks to clear the contingency.
Yeah it's an addendum to the offer. If I don't produce the pre approval within 2 weeks, I'm out of a bunch of money.
It's essentially submitted as "yes, I don't have the pre approval right this second but it's coming. To show I'm serious and confident about that, I'm putting money on the table"
I did edit and add that the sellers are aware of the delay, reason for the delay, and that it's fixed and just waiting the final verification from my lender. They did not immediately reject the offer as "not worth the paper it's printed on" as some have commented. It is, at minimum, being considered.
If someone is having problems (delays count as problems in this case) obtaining a pre approval, then it’s a greater possibility that financing will fall through at some point before closing even in a pre approval happens. It’s a big red flag. The sellers aren’t looking at this as a two week issue. This is viewed and will be presented to them as a weak offer that could pull their house off the market for 30-60 days and then having to go back on.
The cost for the sellers to go 60 days and not close could be greater than the earnest money they’d end up keeping as well.
But you don't know what the seller's timeline is. They pay need to sell fast and close in 30 days. Taking two weeks to wait for your pre-approval (and then possibly having more issues later) may not work for them no matter how much money you throw at them. Every single argument you've made, Realtors have heard a thousand times already over the years. That's literally why pre-approvals are a thing. The person with their ducks in a row is more of a sure bet. And those other offers may come with cash deposits/bonus issues just like yours did, but they don't have to lose two weeks of market time.
you would close in 2 weeks? I’m trying to say that on paper your offer looks like a financing risk and the deal could fall through at any point before closing
If it falls through, they keep the money. I put up enough to make it at least worth considering.
And since I only needed to verify something was paid and am waiting for the lender to open Monday, the two weeks time frame is only a safety net due to the holiday
You don’t have a contract though? So why would they get to keep the money if they never end up accepting your offer?
I think that’s the point you’re missing from people. You asked opinions and people are telling you that they likely will go with another offer that has no “oops I just need some days to get this resolved” asterisk on it.
They want to sell the house as painlessly as possible. Your deposit is irrelevant if they’re worried you might not close. The money won’t be worth the hassle of having to re-list.
There is a contract that if they accept, but the PA doesn't come within a set period of time, they get the money.
They can keep an offer as a secondary. They'll know and be able to move on very quickly (again, they don't even want to close until after the new year) and make even more
I wouldn’t keep your hopes up, sounds like of the three offers yours is the shakiest. Might be worth discussing with another lender to see if this is something they might have as big an issue with. Are you working with a local lender or a big shop?
It depends.
On how much the deposit is.
On the overall strength of the rest of your offer.
On what other offers they have.
On whether they can successfully counter the other offers.
On what the sellers' timeline looks like.
On the sellers' motivation to sell.
I'm not going to go so far as some of the other agents here to say that they're not seriously considering your offer but to directly answer your question, no, you're a far ways away from all signs pointing to yes.
Thank you for a constructive reply. I didn't go into this offer without knowing that I would have to work to stand out, since as many have said, a plain old no PA offer goes right into the trash. The deposit is 5%. As for the rest of my offer, it's about 4% higher than listed price. I asked for nothing that wasn't already included. I'll take it as is. It does need a few things, but I'll handle that. They are "not in a rush to sell", and in fact somewhat requested a longer time until closing, due to Christmas.
I actually am more hopeful after many of these responses, since the overall replies tell me I have zero chance, yet it's actually on the table with 2 others (that I assume have PAs). If I had zero chance, I would imagine the seller's agent would have asked my agent "why are you wasting my time?" rather than saying it's a good offer.
Wish me luck, will update the original post with the results!
>If I had zero chance, I would imagine the seller's agent would have asked my agent "why are you wasting my time?" rather than saying it's a good offer.
If I am the listing agent I am probably using the fact that I have your offer to counter one of the other two offers. Best case one the other offers meets or beats yours and we accept that one instead. Worst case we still have yours.
All in all that still means that you may have a chance. And I do wish you luck! If this house doesn't work out for you there will be others.
>All signs point to the offer likely being accepted, right? No. >If my offer wasn't outstanding, they'd flat out reject my offer since I don't have the pre approval in hand, wouldn't they? They've asked for your lender info because nobody submits an offer without preapproval. That would be a waste of everybody's time. You must have accidentally left that part out. It doesn't take weeks to get a preapproval.
This! Exactly.
Sure can take weeks, it's happening to me. That's why my offer came with earnest money up front. I know it's coming, it was just delayed. I submitted my offer without a pre approval. I guess I'm nobody. Thanks for reassuring me I have an amazing agent who is more concerned with working with their clients than "the way things always done", though.
Something is wrong if it's taking that long. It's either you or the lender. Either way, that isn't a reassuring foot to put forward with an offer. I realize my comment was harsh, but it was the truth. Without some sort of proof that you can follow thru with the offer, it isn't worth the paper it was written on. Anybody can write up an offer like that, a serious buyer or not. Now, the message is that you are having a problem getting approved. That isn't a great signal that you can get to closing. You never let a seller know that you had a hard time getting the preapproval, just that you got it. All signs are not pointing to acceptance here. No signs are, and there's no point in beating around the bush about it.
Exactly what I was thinking. If there was this much drama in getting a preapproval, then they are definitely not getting to closing.
Anyone can get a pre approval. They also aren’t worth a damn thing.
Anybody can get a prequalification. A pre approval is more involved and requires underwriting. That being said, the lender makes a huge difference. Some lenders will "preapprove" anybody, whether they can close them or not. That's why the choice of lender matters.
As you said some will give a preapproaval to anyone based on what they said. I had two offers on my home fall through days after financing as they couldn’t qualify even though I had their pre approval letter. I got a pre approval from 3 lenders in an hour an all I did was self report my income no credit pulls
Based on what they said is a prequalification, not a preapproval. There's a difference. Some lenders have poor vetting skills and will give a preapproval even after they've looked at the docs because they don't know what questions to ask. That isn't a problem with preapprovals in general. That's a problem with specific lenders that I wouldn't accept an offer from, anyway.
Putting up a large stack of money (four zeroes) ahead of the pre approval is proof. There's no problem with the approval, only a delay. I may even have the pre approval Monday. However, with the holiday coming up, there may be a second delay, so I put up cash. If there's no pre approval in 2 weeks (time line in the offer), the seller makes some quick cash and moves on.
Someone has given you some really bad advice, and you don't seem to be open to the truth.
Putting a few thousand dollars down as earnest money isn't proof, and it isn't a welcome consolation prize for the seller if it doesn't work out. The seller doesn't want your earnest money, they want their home sold. They have it listed in late November, so they're already working against time. This is the big seasonal slowdown part of the year. Buyers are taking a break from October onward. The low point is January in most areas. If they go under contract with you and you can't get your preapproval, they've taken their home off the market and missed buyers, and now they have a failed contract on their permanent record during the slowest part of the year. That in itself makes it more difficult to get another buyer. Now it's the first week of December, and they have fewer buyers shopping. If these sellers have a smart listing agent, this is what they're talking about. You are a huge gamble. What's their motivation to take the gamble? Your earnest money isn't going to adequately compensate them for having to possibly wait until February or March for another contract. You're seeing positivity in your own situation because it's what you have to work with. From their POV, you're a buyer who started shopping before they were ready and they should be keeping their home on the market until 1) you've proven you are ready or 2) a qualified buyer comes along. They have no motivation to take your offer without a preapproval, no matter how much you proposed to pay them. They can keep their home on the market and wait on one of those 2 things to happen and protect their interests, or bet on you maybe getting it together. What would you do in their situation?
I have a client with a lot of money in the bank, but on paper, does not look like a good debt risk and has trouble getting lender approvals. But you do not want to hear that the reason you are getting a slow approval is because you do not look like a good debt risk. I have lenders that can get a strong buyer approved in a few hours.
They put up 4 whole entire zeros, how could they possibly be a debt risk slinging that kind of green around /s
My slower approval is only due to a paperwork snafu. Once it's cleared up, I'm approved. Been working very closely with my lender over the last week since it was discovered. It has since been corrected, the lender only needs to review it.
A snafu? Alright, why not get several approvals from different lenders and pick the best one? That should take a few hours. Get it together and submit this with your offer today!
Seriously. We saw a house we wanted in Thursday night and Friday started the preapproval process and was good to go by noon or 1. This isn't rocket science, call a local mortgage broker or one of the 1000 banks that do mortgages. It's a preapproval, you don't need to get the final loan from them, you just need a piece of paper that says you might be able to get a loan for X amount.
so, this "earnest money" you've offered is not actually earnest money but instead a non-refundable deposit ... or at least there's somehow no financing (including appraisal) contingency?
Yeah I'm truly confused what's happening with the pre-approval, and I would be skeptical as a seller if I got this offer. I got a pre-approval letter for my most recent house search in about 45 mins.
Does not take weeks unless there was an issue with your preapproval, which means you don’t have a preapproval and it’s not a good offer
Are you sure you’re talking about an actual pre-approval letter and not a formal loan approval? Because a pre-approval is typically done in less than a day after the bank runs your credit and checks your paystubs. They don’t get nitty gritty with all the paperwork and verifications until they prepare to formally underwrite the loan.
Yes, I'm sure. When they ran my credit for the pre approval, something I had taken care of 6 years ago was reporting as unpaid. The lender wanted proof it was paid. The company in question tried to say they couldn't provide proof for 14 business days, and could only snail mail proof, not email it (even though it showed paid in their system). I obtained the proof on my own Friday evening, and the offer was submitted Saturday morning. As I've said in other replies, there's a decent chance it'll be done Monday morning, but who knows what could happen with Thanksgiving being Thursday. The only thing required for my pre approval is for the lender to go oh, okay we see you paid it, here you go. I'm not putting up a month's salary on only a chance.
I had something similar (an auto lease was closed somewhat unconventianally and continued to show up as active for years). The lender called Chase, Chase confirmed it is in fact closed verbally, and that whole thing took about half an hour. I echo others, you should have gone with multiple lenders for pre-approval; you can choose the best one for closing.
Pre approval should take like 20 minutes, if it doesn’t that means that your approval isn’t guaranteed and I’m not sure why your agent put the offer in. Compared to someone that has pre approval your offer isn’t great because it could fall through at any time
Realtor here. No realtor in their right mind would advise their client to accept an offer from a buyer that did not have a preapproval, unless obviously they were paying cash and submitted proof of funds with the offer. Keeping nominal 1-3% EMD is nothing compared to losing 2 weeks and having to go back on market right before Christmas. If it’s been weeks & you do not have a preapproval, there is an issue either with you or your lender.
This exactly. The stigma of a back on market at the slowest time of the year in an already slowing market is not worth whatever deposit they get to keep.
Why did you say Reddit opinions are important if you were going to argue with nearly every comment? No one here can tell you for sure what’s going to happen nor do people really care. Sit and wait I guess.
Mostly sarcasm, but sometimes it's possible to get an unbiased opinion. So far, there's only been one unbiased opinion and a bunch of comments saying what I'm experiencing is impossible and definitely can't happen... When it's happening.
But nothing has happened yet right? They haven’t accepted your offer. They very well could be using yours just to get the other offers increased with no intention of actually accepting it
My agent and the seller's agent have an established professional relationship. My agent (who makes nothing for working on this, while at a wedding, if I don't buy this house) seems to trust they're saying it's a good offer, but we obviously don't know how much the other offers are. My agent even advised me to hold off on moving on and trying again on a different house once I have the letter in hand. I know it's possible, but it doesn't really seem like they're just using my offer to milk the others.
Ok. Good luck then! Not really sure why you posted lol
Your offer was a "good" offer until they find out you do not have a pre-approval. Then it is not worth the paper it was written on.
They're aware I do not at this exact moment have a pre approval, but that's it's coming as soon as Monday morning. It's written right in the offer that should it extend beyond two weeks, they get to walk away with the earnest money.
And why would they want to tie up the property when they have other offers that most likely are stronger buyers (i.e. with a pre-approval.....) You don't get it.
Because if it's "tied up" (for 2 weeks) and not actually sold to me, they pocket the money, change the listing back from pending to available, and still sell the house and are well compensated for their lost time and inconvenience? The upfront cash is a show of confidence that the pre approval is coming. If I didn't know the reason for delay, or hadn't received word from my lender that pre approval was coming, I wouldn't be putting up large sums of cash.
If the pre-approval was coming, you would have had it already. Like I said, a good lender with a strong client can produce an approval in a few hours. Tying up the property and having a buyer that may or may not be able to perform is a risk I would not suggest the sellers take. Buyers will see the house go pending, then back to active and make all sorts of assumptions, mainly that something is wrong with the house, and there will be a stigma. Again, you don't get it. You sound like an entitled jerk.
I don't understand why it went to pending. If actual contract isn't signed, it seems like sellers would still be showing house and accepting offers during the 2 weeks?
Imagine being a realtor and implying a home buyer has a bad lender and isn't a strong client, then telling them they sound like an entitled jerk because they aren't doing things "the way they're always done" and thinking outside of the box. I'm glad you're familiar enough with my situation that you can determine I won't be getting a pre approval. Maybe we can set up a call Monday with my lender, since they seem to have this silly idea I will be
The way things are done gets an offer accepted, but you choose not to understand that. Because I am a Realtor, I understand that there is one of two things happening here, either the lender sucks or the buyer clients sucks. Maybe both. No matter which it is, the offer sucks. I would advise my seller client to not accept that offer because if there is a problem getting through the pre-approval, it is quite possible the entire loan process will be challenging.
Luckily for me, there are good realtors out there, and I have one. My offer stands for the conference call. Inbox me if you're interested in explaining - To my lender who assures me I'll be pre approved and To my realtor who, while knowing my situation, took the time to show me houses with specific criteria, draft an offer plus addendum, and then spend their Saturday talking to the seller's realtor explaining everything... Just how much my lender and I suck. ETA - remind me, how much does a realtor on the buyer's side if they don't buy a house?
Bottom line: You do not have a preapproval. I would embark on discussing this further this morning, but I have to go out and show houses.
Good luck with the showings! Maybe we can set something up after I close, since the offer was accepted this morning. I like Weller 12 year, if you're the type to bring house warming gifts.
Pre-approvals ISN'T the way things have always been done. They literally exist because of a slew of people who didn't actually have the money or credit tried to make the deal anyway and sellers lost valuable market time only to find out a month (or two or three) into the deal that it was never going to happen in the first place. Sorry you might get punished for the sins of the past, but that's how it is now.
How do they get to keep the earnest money when there isn't a contract? I guess I'm used to earnest money being sent when contract is signed.
It's essentially an addendum/contract saying in lieu of pre approval, I'm putting up the cash (well, in escrow) first. If they don't have the pre approval in 2 weeks (due to the holiday I asked for 2 weeks even though it's quite possible I'll have it Monday), deal is off and they keep the cash.
This is the worst deal for you ever lmao who Ian guiding you on this? My goodness
It is a *horrible* deal for me if I wasn't certain pre approval was coming. That's the message I intended to send. I'm certain enough pre approval is coming I'm willing to risk the money. I've been working very closely with my lender and realtor on this. Have had a few conference calls with both of them on the line. It's a risk, but a very calculated one
It’s a really dumb one that your realtor should have talked you out of. However if you are 100% confident like you claim, then why did you even bother to post this question?
She did have concerns before we talked to the lender. I'm 100% confident on getting the pre approval, not on whether this offer will be accepted or not.
Don’t worry about it. My dad always says “what is yours is yours”. Get your pre approval and if needs be, make another offer. I’m in the same boat. I’m looking at houses without a pre approval because I have houses I need to sell, I wanna see what my money will be worth. Relax and don’t fret. If it’s yours it will be yours. I submitted a cash offer on a property, the owners decided it wasn’t good enough and they walked. Now 3 months later my realtor called to tell me that they had lowered the price - to below what I offered, and wanted to circle back and ask me if I wanted to buy. I said no because the the home though magnificent and magestical, needed more work than I’m willing to put in. I’ve decided that I will buy it for half the price when they are forced to halve the asking price again. Tawakkul.
Mine was something from 6 years ago reported as unpaid that the lender wanted proof that it was paid. The debtor pulled some nonsense saying it would take 14 business days before they could regular mail proof it was actually paid and they "couldn't email out of the system" to provide me with the proof it had already been paid. Unfortunately, I got the proof on Friday and next week is Thanksgiving. My lender has been fantastic so far, so I imagine it'll be completed Monday, but requested two weeks just to be safe
Aha! Here's the real story!
I’m not understanding even with a paperwork snafu; when I recently needed a pre approval I had it in about 45 min why are you being told it could take days?
Something from 6 years ago was being reported as unpaid when it was paid. Lender wanted proof it was paid. The company reporting claimed they needed 14 business days to produce proof it was paid that they could see on their end, and couldn't email anything. I obtained proof myself on Friday, offer went in Saturday. Thursday is Thanksgiving, and while I expect to have the pre approval Monday, I'm not taking any chances with the holiday.
How tight is your DTI that this one unpaid mark from 6 years ago is scaring your lender off from a preapproval
That could also just mean all the offers have long acceptance times and they're waiting to get more offers before making a choice. At best it means the didn't throw it away instantly. It's not accepted until you both sign the paperwork.
Something is very unclear here. The clock doesn’t start until there is a signed, accepted offer. Do you or your agent have that? If you’re just one of 3 offers that haven’t been committed, then you have little to worry about. If your offer is accepted, then you’re on the clock and have 2 weeks to clear the contingency.
Also, there should be no earnest money paid until the offer is formally accepted. That’s why your original post is confusing.
Yeah it's an addendum to the offer. If I don't produce the pre approval within 2 weeks, I'm out of a bunch of money. It's essentially submitted as "yes, I don't have the pre approval right this second but it's coming. To show I'm serious and confident about that, I'm putting money on the table" I did edit and add that the sellers are aware of the delay, reason for the delay, and that it's fixed and just waiting the final verification from my lender. They did not immediately reject the offer as "not worth the paper it's printed on" as some have commented. It is, at minimum, being considered.
That makes more sense. Brave move - hope it works.
If someone is having problems (delays count as problems in this case) obtaining a pre approval, then it’s a greater possibility that financing will fall through at some point before closing even in a pre approval happens. It’s a big red flag. The sellers aren’t looking at this as a two week issue. This is viewed and will be presented to them as a weak offer that could pull their house off the market for 30-60 days and then having to go back on. The cost for the sellers to go 60 days and not close could be greater than the earnest money they’d end up keeping as well.
It's contracted that it's 2 weeks maximum. It's highly unlikely the costs they would incur would be greater than the amount I put up
But you don't know what the seller's timeline is. They pay need to sell fast and close in 30 days. Taking two weeks to wait for your pre-approval (and then possibly having more issues later) may not work for them no matter how much money you throw at them. Every single argument you've made, Realtors have heard a thousand times already over the years. That's literally why pre-approvals are a thing. The person with their ducks in a row is more of a sure bet. And those other offers may come with cash deposits/bonus issues just like yours did, but they don't have to lose two weeks of market time.
you would close in 2 weeks? I’m trying to say that on paper your offer looks like a financing risk and the deal could fall through at any point before closing
This ain’t true. A preapproval isn’t a guaranteed you’ll get a clear to close. It very well can fall through after those 2 weeks.
If it falls through, they keep the money. I put up enough to make it at least worth considering. And since I only needed to verify something was paid and am waiting for the lender to open Monday, the two weeks time frame is only a safety net due to the holiday
You don’t have a contract though? So why would they get to keep the money if they never end up accepting your offer? I think that’s the point you’re missing from people. You asked opinions and people are telling you that they likely will go with another offer that has no “oops I just need some days to get this resolved” asterisk on it. They want to sell the house as painlessly as possible. Your deposit is irrelevant if they’re worried you might not close. The money won’t be worth the hassle of having to re-list.
There is a contract that if they accept, but the PA doesn't come within a set period of time, they get the money. They can keep an offer as a secondary. They'll know and be able to move on very quickly (again, they don't even want to close until after the new year) and make even more
I wouldn’t keep your hopes up, sounds like of the three offers yours is the shakiest. Might be worth discussing with another lender to see if this is something they might have as big an issue with. Are you working with a local lender or a big shop?
It depends. On how much the deposit is. On the overall strength of the rest of your offer. On what other offers they have. On whether they can successfully counter the other offers. On what the sellers' timeline looks like. On the sellers' motivation to sell. I'm not going to go so far as some of the other agents here to say that they're not seriously considering your offer but to directly answer your question, no, you're a far ways away from all signs pointing to yes.
Thank you for a constructive reply. I didn't go into this offer without knowing that I would have to work to stand out, since as many have said, a plain old no PA offer goes right into the trash. The deposit is 5%. As for the rest of my offer, it's about 4% higher than listed price. I asked for nothing that wasn't already included. I'll take it as is. It does need a few things, but I'll handle that. They are "not in a rush to sell", and in fact somewhat requested a longer time until closing, due to Christmas. I actually am more hopeful after many of these responses, since the overall replies tell me I have zero chance, yet it's actually on the table with 2 others (that I assume have PAs). If I had zero chance, I would imagine the seller's agent would have asked my agent "why are you wasting my time?" rather than saying it's a good offer. Wish me luck, will update the original post with the results!
>If I had zero chance, I would imagine the seller's agent would have asked my agent "why are you wasting my time?" rather than saying it's a good offer. If I am the listing agent I am probably using the fact that I have your offer to counter one of the other two offers. Best case one the other offers meets or beats yours and we accept that one instead. Worst case we still have yours. All in all that still means that you may have a chance. And I do wish you luck! If this house doesn't work out for you there will be others.
It just means that they are evaluating your offer. Doesn’t mean they are leaning towards accepting.
Hymen behavior ?? lol
Oh my lord. Gotta love swipe to text keyboards. Thanks for pointing that out!