Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
As you say -- it depends on the part of the country. But please refrain from calling me a liar because of how it works in my area. Just as my experience may not illustrate your area, your experience does not illustrate my area. Nothing I said was incorrect -- a verified proof of assets, in addition to providing ability to make a serious offer, has the added benefit of being generally a good way to screen would-be burglars or tire-kicking voyeurs who have a hankering to see "how the other half" lives. For the one listing I made an exception on, on a phone call from a potential buyer, I got a weird "vibe", and asked the husband of a friend, a policeman, to accompany me to the showing in uniform. Guy saw the policeman, who I identified as "oh, that's just the security now that the house is on the market" casually walking around the outside, and it was the shortest showing in history for a 12,000+ sf house. Never could verify his identity, phone disconnected, etc.
We had the seller's realtor request proof of funds after we made an offer that the seller had accepted. Our realtor believed us when we told her we were paying cash but did mention that we would be asked for proof of funds at such time that we had our offer accepted. After our offer was accepted our credit union provided a letter stating that we had sufficient funds to cover the purchase price. That way the seller has no idea of how much money we really have in that account, which is none of their business. But they do know we can cover the cost of the house.
Sounds like it's different all over. In TX, I purchased a condo for cash with no proof of funds. When I sold it, my buyer was not required to provide any either. OTOH, in UT, we had a goofy offer from a guy supposedly drawing from his 401K, paying cash. When WE asked for POF, poof! He disappeared.
As to cars, we drove up to a Toyota dealership in a low-end Saturn, which died right on the lot. We weren't planning to buy that day, just looking. So we ended up buying a new Rav4 with a personal check that I told them was not good for a couple days until we could transfer some funds.
I don't know what they checked, but they were happy to make the deal! We drove off...
I know what a pre-qualified letter looks like from a bank. What would a proof of funds look like to be official?
I'm asking because I have a small problem with the request. If the OP wants to purchase something for $30K cash, and the OP's bank writes a letter saying "There are sufficient funds to make a $30K purchase..." or however it is done. But if the OP has an account worth $200K, I don't think that's the realtor's or anyone else's business involved in the real estate transaction by asking for a bank statement.
I'm also concerned about the request that the realtor wants to know how much money the OP really has available to try to sell the OP something more expensive.
Very well said!
Those commissioned sales people should not know your wealth as all they want to do is up sell to increase their commissions. Never, ever give them your banking information or account balances. This is why you don't sign an exclusive buyers contract as they will have locked in when you need to get rid of them.
As you say -- it depends on the part of the country. But please refrain from calling me a liar because of how it works in my area. Just as my experience may not illustrate your area, your experience does not illustrate my area. Nothing I said was incorrect -- a verified proof of assets, in addition to providing ability to make a serious offer, has the added benefit of being generally a good way to screen would-be burglars or tire-kicking voyeurs who have a hankering to see "how the other half" lives. For the one listing I made an exception on, on a phone call from a potential buyer, I got a weird "vibe", and asked the husband of a friend, a policeman, to accompany me to the showing in uniform. Guy saw the policeman, who I identified as "oh, that's just the security now that the house is on the market" casually walking around the outside, and it was the shortest showing in history for a 12,000+ sf house. Never could verify his identity, phone disconnected, etc.
Didn't call you a liar and I think it is pretty evident that the first line in my response was directed to the post I quoted first.
Quote:
I also doubt that you'd find a GOOD realtor that didn't ask for this info in advance.
"Simply not true. "What is standard in some areas of the country isn't in others.
Purchased a new-construction house in a 55+ community in North Idaho. The real estate agent didn't care if I showed 'proof of funds'. I've been working with him for several years and we have a good, honest working relationship. However, the builder and operator of the community required that I show 'proof of funds'. This was required soon after the commencement of the escrow process.
I forwarded a redacted statement from my 403(b) account to my agent. Don't think he actually showed it to the builder, just gave his 'word of mouth' that the funds were more than adequate. The final funds actually came from various sources, not just from the 403(b).
Some of you seem to fail to understand the difference between working with "your" agent or referred agent vs. calling up a random agent and asking them show you a vacant house. That being said - why are so many of you getting up in arms about having to prove you have the ability to purchase a home?
Heidi - please enlighten me on how the big bad real estate agents are able to talk you into more expensive homes. I'd like to learn this trick. Or are you saying you're smarter than that but you think everyone else is so dumb the agents can trick them? Waiting...
We paid cash for our new home this past December and were never asked to provide proof of funds. The title company told us to just bring a cashier's check to the closing and that's what we did.
A couple of years ago we sold a rental property to a cash buyer. Same thing for him - no proof requested, he brought a cashier's check to the closing.
I'm not saying prescreening cash buyers is a bad idea, just that it's neither mandatory nor universal. That said, if I were selling a $1 million plus home while living in it, I would tell my realtor to prescreen before showings to avoid lookyloos disrupting my daily routine.
We are in our mid fifties and in an extremely hot real estate market coming back from the dead.
We had decided to inquire about a home last year and called the listing agent to make an appointment to see the house.................well this was late Friday afternoon heading into the weekend. She requested a pre qualification letter from a lender. We were told that this is the norm now. This stopped us dead in our tracks!
In all the years we have looked at houses and purchased a few this was the first time we have ever been asked this, hence the info on our ages.
Relating this to a few friends and this is how it works now in our area.
I also work with quite a few much younger people and I would not say that some realtors try to sell them on a much more expensive house, but quite a few of these couples purchase right at the top of their pre qualification amount. Not that there is anything wrong with that!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
