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Homes under contract ( subject to home inspection and buyer financing) are not active listings. They usually cannot continue to be shown per the terms of the contract. Home sale/close contingencies are the exceptions.
The house I closed on in early July and moved into a month ago was marketed up until the instant I closed on it, and even after I moved in it was still up on the listing agent's website. I am almost positive the sellers had a backup offer. My sellers insisted on the house continuing to be marketed up until the day of closing.
The house I closed on in early July and moved into a month ago was marketed up until the instant I closed on it, and even after I moved in it was still up on the listing agent's website. I am almost positive the sellers had a backup offer. My sellers insisted on the house continuing to be marketed up until the day of closing.
I was also going to say they the OP didn't say that the house went off the market once they were under contract - only "my agent took the house off the market"?? When?? When there was a verbal offer, written contract? Did anyone see money? Seems like a lot of foolishness occurred frankly. Lessons learned I guess.
The house I closed on in early July and moved into a month ago was marketed up until the instant I closed on it, and even after I moved in it was still up on the listing agent's website. I am almost positive the sellers had a backup offer. My sellers insisted on the house continuing to be marketed up until the day of closing.
Homes may continue to be marketed but not shown, unless the contract permits it, ala a home sale/close contingency.
I'm selling my home in Northern California. Got an offer and I immediately suspected the buyer was a flake. I searched their name on the internet and found he was in some "marketing" business that seemed real flaky to me.
I expressed this to my agent and was reluctant to sign the offer. I wanted "bank approval" My agent assured me they were "strong buyers" and they were placing "$50,000 as a down payment. Had anyone actually seen this down payment? NO!, but hey, those buyers wrote it down and told the bank that would be their down. In the meantime, the agent took my home off the market.
Two weeks go by and at my growing concern for request that the buyers be approved, my agent FINALLY demands we get something from the bank. In comes, a fax, with no bank officer's name, no details, just a one page "commitment letter." What the hell is that I ask? What good is it? Again, my agent said all would be fine. A commitment letter, as it turns out is a nice gesture from a bank that basically says, a buyer stopped in and said HI TO ME! It's worthless as nothing has really been verified!
Everything is going forward and I move from my home, place all my stuff into a large storage facility and write up an offer on my new home. I am now 5 days from closing. The buyer and I were still haggling out a few MINOR inspection details, I agreed to all their requests, everything on the report and had it all done. They just needed to sign it.
Well, as you guessed, the underwriter took a 5 minute look at these fine people and DENIED their loan. Turns out the buyers were in some borderline scam multi-level marketing business. DENIED!
Just as I knew would happen all along. So, the buyers who were yet to sign off on final approval of the negotiating of the inspection report despite being only five days out, got a full earnest money refund because they "did not approve of the inspection findings." BS!! And to boot, they demanded I pay for the inspection! I told them to sue me, not a chance.
Moral of the story? Realtors are all about stats and generally do not give a rat's behind about you. It's all about making themselves look good. I told my agent all along I did not feel good about these con artists and we needed to check them out and demand financial approval. But ooooohhhhh no, she knew best!
Needless to say, my home is now once again being sold, only this time, by myself. And I put right in the ad, that no offer will even be looked out without financial approval! My homes is priced $40,000 below market and will sell quick. Why should I pay an agent $18,800 to write and ad and screw the deal up?
Why realtors think they are so damn important is beyond my comprehension.
Wiiliam,
WOW. Sorry for the ordeal. I would suggest getting a limited listing where you pay a small flat fee to have your home listed on the MLS. Offer to pay the buyers agent. If you've priced your home under market, full exposure will get your home sold in no time. Don't let one bad apple ruin your confidence of agents altogether. There are really good hard working agents out there that will look after your best interest. Unfortunately sometimes you go through a few to find the one. Hope you sell your home.
I have always had a Buyer's Agency contract with a realtor as we looked at houses. I want the realtor to represent ME, not the seller. Realtor's have a contract with the Seller. But ultimately, as the Seller, your agent is your representative. When s/he does not do as you request - and the request is legal and legit, then you should have questionned why not? They are supposed to be YOUR agent.
Well in defense of realtors, mine kept insisting I submit my pre-approval letters with all of my offers, even those that didn't require it like the REO's do. I was getting frustrated knowing that they weren't going to accept my offer anyway and each time I got a new pre-approval letter (I've been looking a LONG time ) they would run my credit report and potentially hurt my FICO score. I was reluctant to keep updating my pre-approval letter but my realtor insisted so I did as I was told. Not all realtors should be depicted as you describe them. Many are very conscientious.
Sounds like that was a buyer's agent and she/he wasn't protecting you at all...just protecting his/her interests in making sure the offer was considered. YOUR submitting pre-approvals doesn't protect you one bit. It's to make the seller take you more seriously and move the deal along for your realtor. In fact, like you said, it dinged your FICO. Lame.
Any home can continue to be shown when it is under contract if the seller requests/requires it. It must be disclosed, however, that the house is currently under contract, and the seller cannot enter into a second contract without releasing the first. It is typically customary to mark a home as PENDING and take it out of active status once it is fully under contract, however, I have also seen it done in other ways.
The important factor here is that the realtor does not seem to have done his/her job at verifying information, understanding underwriting and financing guidelines, speaking with the loan originator, etc. There are still way too many people who think they are real estate professionals but who are not willing to learn the business as they should to represent the interests of their clients. These people give the real professionals a bad name and it is my wish, and that of other hard working REALTORS, that they go away soon!
I think the most pertinent piece of information learned from this is that RE agents are really nothing more than advisors/contractors that assist you with completing a transaction. Some offer great advice and make a transaction go incredibly smoothly. Others are complete crap. The thing to remember is that you need to go with your gut and your better business sense. If you had so many misgivings you should have insisted the agent get the proof you wanted, or just flat out reject the offer until a more stable buyer came along.
Sounds like that was a buyer's agent and she/he wasn't protecting you at all...just protecting his/her interests in making sure the offer was considered. YOUR submitting pre-approvals doesn't protect you one bit. It's to make the seller take you more seriously and move the deal along for your realtor. In fact, like you said, it dinged your FICO. Lame.
This is an old thread but the topic is always relevent. When representing the seller, we do not consider offers without a income verified pre approval. When representing buyers, we provide the same.
I do not want to waste anyone's time if there is unreasonable certainty about financing. Absolutely no one's best interests is served, when the buyer's ability to acquire financing is uncertain.
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) they would run my credit report and potentially hurt my FICO score. I was reluctant to keep updating my pre-approval letter but my realtor insisted so I did as I was told. Not all realtors should be depicted as you describe them. Many are very conscientious.
