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I think it is a good idea for sellers to require it. That way you are only showing the house to buyers that are ready to buy. Otherwise, they are just wasting everybody's time, including their own. Why would a potential buyer even want to spend time "window shopping" for a house, if they haven't even contacted a bank to see what they qualify for?
I would never do it as a seller. I'm not looking to eliminate potential buyers. And as far as "wasting time" goes I certainly don't care if the buyer wastes time. And it was never a hassle to leave for a bit for a showing. And really, its not hard to get a prequal anyway. Does it really mean a whole lot?
I live outside a small town in a very unique custom home. I requested that pre-qualified only was added to our listing from the beginning and it was not. We were getting between 2 and 6 showings per week with zero interest or offers. I assumed that I was right, and they were mostly nosy locals. We have women in my small town that go to every single open house and look through cupboards and gossip about people's homes. Since I added pre qualified showings only, we have had exactly 0 showings.
We are on a large property with animals and multiple buildings that need to be prepped before each showing. We also have to load the car full of dogs and take them with us each time. We also both work full time, and I have been having help come each week to help keep the house and property spotless and manicured. It is a big hassel to get everything ready and leave for 1 hour each time.
My mother is a realtor and she proclaimed that I need to open up the home to anyone who wants to see it "because no realtor would waste their time showing homes to people who are not qualified." I disagree with her as I have seen it happen all the time - she likes to BS me. I think the fact that the showing stopped dead after requesting qualified buyers, is proof that it was being shown to non serious lookers.
We are in no huge rush to sell this house btw. I am just curious what people feel about "pre-qualified."
Thoughts?
(the market for higher dollar homes in my area is almost dead due to lack of jobs. This is not a region where homes sell in 2 weeks with multiple offers.)
I agree with FLgirl727, but I don't see how it would work. For example, pre-approval letter states $amount, and for every single offer I made I asked my lender to revise that amount, so I would prefer not to disclose my approved amount before I am ready to make an offer.
Realtors I used before always asked me if I was pre-approved, but never asked me to show it on paper. So, buyers with realtors doesn't mean anything.
If you were a realtor, wouldn't you want to know what your client is pre approved for? Otherwise you are wasting everyone's time, including your own, showing homes to them.
I have noticed that most potential buyers have no idea what their FICO score is, and they believe that they can buy much more house than is realistic. My mother has worked with people for a week getting them into the bank, etc., and by the time they are done dealing with the bank, they find out that could never get approved to buy any home - People literally have no idea what is going on with their own finances, but they want her to jump right into finding them a home.
I wonder how many realtors actually ask people for bank qualification before investing too much time into them?
I live outside a small town in a very unique custom home. I requested that pre-qualified only was added to our listing from the beginning and it was not. We were getting between 2 and 6 showings per week with zero interest or offers. I assumed that I was right, and they were mostly nosy locals. We have women in my small town that go to every single open house and look through cupboards and gossip about people's homes. Since I added pre qualified showings only, we have had exactly 0 showings.
We are on a large property with animals and multiple buildings that need to be prepped before each showing. We also have to load the car full of dogs and take them with us each time. We also both work full time, and I have been having help come each week to help keep the house and property spotless and manicured. It is a big hassel to get everything ready and leave for 1 hour each time.
My mother is a realtor and she proclaimed that I need to open up the home to anyone who wants to see it "because no realtor would waste their time showing homes to people who are not qualified." I disagree with her as I have seen it happen all the time - she likes to BS me. I think the fact that the showing stopped dead after requesting qualified buyers, is proof that it was being shown to non serious lookers.
We are in no huge rush to sell this house btw. I am just curious what people feel about "pre-qualified."
Thoughts?
(the market for higher dollar homes in my area is almost dead due to lack of jobs. This is not a region where homes sell in 2 weeks with multiple offers.)
I agree. I am currently in the situation where I am looking to buy a house, hopefully will find one soon and expect to close over the summer. The house I am currently renting will go on the market, the lady that owns it will sell instead of renting again. It puts me in an interesting spot, because how would I keep my boyfriends crazy, stalker ex-girlfriend from contacting the realtor for a showing of the house I'm currently living in. Creeps me out to think she could just go in anytime (under the guise of being a potential buyer) with a realtor, when I'm not there. I think a pre-qualified letter would solve that problem, and the problem of any other snoopy neighbor, criminal element, or other person that has absolutely no intention of buying the house.
Do people realize how easy it is to get a pre qual letter?
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