My partner Clark had been working with clients and they were a month into the purchase contract for a home.  The home was in need of repairs, it was a foreclosure and had been unattended for a couple of years.  Clark had spent numerous hours getting estimates for repairs, the foreclosure bank replaced the roof, work toward the closing was coming to an end.   Then a call came from the listing agent.  The listing agent said "Clark I have a buyer in my office that wants to offer your client's $10,000 to cancel their contract."  Clark was skeptical but presented the offer to his client's, stating it would only be an actual benefit of $2000 because they qualified for the $8000 tax credit, and they would loose the tax credit if they canceled the contract.  The clients said "no" to the offer.  Clark relayed the answer to the listing agent.  In a few moments the listing agent called Clark "The buyer is willing to give your client's $20,000 to cancel their contract."  The client's politely declined the second offer of $20,000 and were delighted that they purchased a home with instant equity to another buyer.  With all of our years of experience, the listing agent, Clark and myself included, we never heard of this happening in a Real Estate transaction.   

Bev Dudley, Realtor

 I am writing a letter to Emerald Coast Association of Realtors today on behalf of buyer's being forced to qualify for a loan through the very lender selling the property.

Foreclosed property is owned by a bank, the bank owning the property is now requiring buyers to qualify through them before they can make an offer on their property.
 
Example:

I have a qualified buyer that has been approved through their own bank and does not plan on using another bank for financing. So if I am showing property to them on Saturday and they decide to make an offer, we must wait until Monday to get pre-qualified by the required lender listed in the MLS. Now it may be Tuesday before we can get the letter from the required lender to submit with the offer. By that time the property may be under contract. Now my buyer has another hit on their credit, this is a detriment to buyers credit. With new lending guide lines being so strict soon the buyer may not qualify for a mortgage loan.

On the other side of the coin, I am working with a buyer and they want to make an offer. As I am reading the information from the MLS stating they must qualify through the lender that owns the property, just to submit an offer. The buyers said “I just got qualified through the bank I am using?” They refused to hand their financial documents over to the very person they will be buying the property from.

I am requesting that ECAR not allow agents to advertise banks in our MLS and stop letting the banks run our business.

Bev Dudley, Realtor