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In Pennsylvania: I was recently told that an offer cannot be submitted to a seller's agent without documented proof of necessary funds attached to the offer? Is this actually the law now?
I can understand a buyer wanting proof within a few days of an offer that has been accepted etc, but it could be a lot of hoops to jump through to provide that just for an offer. So does ANY type of offer have to have proof of mortgage approval or funds at the time of an initial offer, nowadays?
Thank you in advance for any response to these academic questions.
Last edited by corpgypsy; 06-25-2017 at 06:44 PM..
It is not a law, but it is an expectation. You can make the offer without the proof of funds (if you can find an agent willing to waste their time), but you have a 0% chance of it being accepted. No seller is going to take their home off the market and risk finding a legitimate buyer without having proof that you can purchase the home.
It is not a law, but it is an expectation. You can make the offer without the proof of funds (if you can find an agent willing to waste their time), but you have a 0% chance of it being accepted. No seller is going to take their home off the market and risk finding a legitimate buyer without having proof that you can purchase the home.
Excellent points.
When I was a realtor, I would not present an offer without proof of funds to the seller. It would be a complete waste of my time, the potential buyer and the seller. On top of that, my broker would not allow it as all transactions had to be approved.
How can a seller take you serious if you can't even show them that you have the cash to make a cash offer? Many people submit cash offers to beat out other offers, and then turn around and finance, pushing the closing date out. It's a huge risk for a seller to accept something without knowing if the buyer can actually perform or not.
No law needs to be in place for common sense... well... you would think...
Screw all the silliness. Your agent should make the offer. The seller can decide to say go away until you show the cash, accept conditionally if you show the cash, or accept and demand proof of cash within the week.
Interesting enough if it is a couple of million deal they will wait a week. If it is 200K they want it before accepting.
Screw all the silliness. Your agent should make the offer. The seller can decide to say go away until you show the cash, accept conditionally if you show the cash, or accept and demand proof of cash within the week.
Interesting enough if it is a couple of million deal they will wait a week. If it is 200K they want it before accepting.
First, there was no mention of a buyer's agent. It was the seller's agent who was saying that the offer cannot be submitted without proof of funds.
Second, I absolutely agree with the listing agent. You can put any amount on the offer you want, but it's meaningless to me until you show me you can actually pay it.
Third, there is no way it should take a week to get proof of funds. If it was a situation where there wasn't any activity on the house and this was the only offer in months, I would suggest to my client to give you 2 business days at most to come up with a letter or a statement. If you can't do that then you're just wasting everyone's time.
Proof of funds needs only to be a letter on your bank's letterhead saying you have enough cash on hand to purchase a house at $XXX. They don't - and shouldn't - say what your deposit is.
I advice my sellers to not consider any offers without proof of funds. You don't want to be locked into a contract, and find out they don't have the money to buy. Often these types of people are "hoping" to get an inheritance, sell a property they own, or have a parent lend them the money...all which usually never occur.
If you have the liquid assets to pay cash, you can get proof of that in about an hr. No reason NOT to be able to provide it with an offer.
Location: Danbury CT covering all of Fairfield County
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Absolutely. If I get a cash offer on my listing, I need to have proof of the money before I let my clients sign off the sale.
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