noob question from first time buyer

**avo81** · 05-14-2009, 10:43 AM

I'm looking for my first house and I have no idea what I'm doing yet. I contacted one agent about a house I am interested and he asked if I was pre-qualified. When I told him I had not yet been he said he wanted to set up an appointment to get me pre-qualified. I had assumed that that was something I would do with the bank that I choose to finance the mortgage, which I would shop around for before making my decision, not with the real estate guy selling me the house. Does this seem weird to anyone? This was all over email, I haven't called him back yet because I want to make sure I know what I'm talking about before he tries to sign me up for a mortgage I could get a better deal on elsewhere. Any input is appreciated, I really have no idea.

**RedCarpetSchool** · 05-14-2009, 12:24 PM

[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]Your real estate agent most likely has a relationship with a preferred mortgage broker that he or she like to refer new or existing borrowers to. I recommend that you still shop around and don

**markbrian** · 05-14-2009, 04:48 PM

Honestly I ask if you are pre approved or pre qualified so I do not get your hopes up to only be dissapointed when you find out you cannot buy your dream home. OR waste my time showing you a home you cannot buy.

**REITrainingWhse** · 05-14-2009, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by avo81

I contacted one agent about a house I am interested and he asked if I was pre-qualified.

You will find this one of the questions that ALL Realtors ask... And that is why I don't go after listed properties.

Heck I once came with PRIVATE MONEY to the deal, and the Realtor wanted a pre-qual letter... Excuse me, I have CA$$$H, so they wanted a copy of the bank account... Umm, no, I my private lender is not going to do that either. Well, AFTER going around the Realtor, and to the title company and the seller's attorney, I got the deal done, since without the pre-qual letter the Realtor was not going to let the deal go to closing; even though I said I had the $$, I had $10K down in earnest, so IF I WASN'T going to close, I would lose that.

Okay, enough ranting... I just prefer to deal with motivated sellers, they don't worry about such trival things.

Later!

**markbrian** · 05-14-2009, 05:33 PM

I have to disagree with REITrainingWhse because a seller, especially a motivated seller, needs to know when they are taking their property off the market for your offer that it will close. A seller needs to see if you have the ability to pay for it/close the deal.

**REITrainingWhse** · 05-14-2009, 06:02 PM

Okay, maybe I need to qualify my responce... I generally can close within 24 hours, maybe a week, but most of my deals are within 24 hours, due to the types of deals I conduct. Private money, subj-2s, etc.

So, when I get an agreement with the seller, IT IS A DONE DEAL.

I do what I say, and say what I do... Makes my life real simple.

Later.

Edit: And before I get questions on the deal that I mentioned that I had to go around the Realtor, let me state that in THAT case I was dealing with a REO property, and the deal was worth going after... $30K accepted offer, $40K rehab, $120K FMV... And that is the only time I will deal with listed properties... When I can SEE BUKU bucks at the end, otherwise there are far too many FSBOs and motivated sellers out there to deal with some the Realtors out there and their unncessary frustrations.

Later... Once again!

**avo81** · 05-15-2009, 03:20 AM

Okay, so he just wants to know I'm serious and can afford it, that makes sense. I think I can probably afford twice the asking price so in this case it's no issue, but he doesn't know that yet.

I guess the question is is there any harm in getting pre-qualified through one lender and then later deciding to use a different lender? Is this a situation where

a) I am pre-approved for a specific loan with the understanding that I will finance with that loan when I choose a house, and therefore switching lenders later in my search would getting prequalified a second time for another deal and starting over, or

b) I am pre-approved to borrow so much money, that just proves how much I can afford, and it is generally accepted that I will continue to shop around for a better mortgage as I continue to look at houses?

Thanks again.

**markbrian** · 05-15-2009, 05:49 AM

No harm in finding a lender that gives you the best terms/deal on your mortgage, if done within reason. Sadly, they are all going to sound very similar and the little fees/charges are hard to decipher for the average consumer. This is of course done for a reason, to make it hard to decipher who is actually giving you a straight answer on exactly what they are charging you.

There are proposed changes to make comparing loans easier but the last article I read said it would be 2010 before these changes went into effect.

REITrainingWhse, I do not think your rant helped the first time buyer. Anecdotes about Sub2 or private money deals, anti-Realtor opinions and/or whatever/however you do your deals is not helping to answer the original question. Only possibly confusing the person. Get a blog if you want to do nothing but talk about you/your deals/your opinions and not try to help answer the original questions.

**Greg** · 05-15-2009, 06:04 AM

Originally Posted by avo81

Okay, so he just wants to know I'm serious and can afford it, that makes sense. I think I can probably afford twice the asking price so in this case it's no issue, but he doesn't know that yet.

I guess the question is is there any harm in getting pre-qualified through one lender and then later deciding to use a different lender? Is this a situation where

a) I am pre-approved for a specific loan with the understanding that I will finance with that loan when I choose a house, and therefore switching lenders later in my search would getting prequalified a second time for another deal and starting over, or

b) I am pre-approved to borrow so much money, that just proves how much I can afford, and it is generally accepted that I will continue to shop around for a better mortgage as I continue to look at houses?

Thanks again.

There is no harm getting pre-qualified from a different lender than the one you eventually use. You won't need to get pre-qualified, although all it takes is a phone call. It is not a big deal. Just don't let them pull a credit report.

If you want to get the best deal on a house, your best bet is to find the lender you want to use and go ahead and submit your loan application. This way you can get "pre approved" for a loan. This will make your position stronger when you try to negotiate a better price.

As for some of the comments above:

All lenders do not have the same loan packages. Some lenders have access to money that other lenders do not. So it is possible to find a lender with better rates than others have. Always watch for the junk fees. This is where a referral comes in handy. The only clients of mine who ever paid any junk fees on their loans are the ones who did not use one of the lenders on my list.

If you are going after a bank owned property, you have to provide proof of funds or a pre qualification letter for the bank to even consider looking at your offer. Some regular sellers want to see the same thing. Every buyer who calls a real estate agent claims they can easily afford to buy this property. Some of them can and some of them can't. If you want to be taken seriously, just show them the proof, talk is cheap.

**Greg** · 05-15-2009, 06:07 AM

Originally Posted by REITrainingWhse

. And that is the only time I will deal with listed properties... When I can SEE BUKU bucks at the end, otherwise there are far too many FSBOs and motivated sellers out there to deal with some the Realtors out there and their unncessary frustrations.

Later... Once again!

Translation. Sellers with agents can't be taken advantage of as easily as fsbos.