Which offer to accept?

[peachstatehomegal]

Hmm... have you gotten a response from your agent? If so, is there a reason why you're here on 'public forum' message board polling the responses?

Hope your agent isn't reading this - a real blow to the confidence level you guys have together!

Any thoughts on accepting one and taking the other as a back up offer?

[Newton126]

Where did I state that I didn't have confidence in my agent? He is dong a fine job providing all the information we have asked for. Just because someone is a real estate agent doesn't mean they have all the answers all the time.

I thought this was a public message board to discuss real estate. I fully understand that the advice I'm receiving is equal to the price I'm paying for it. Most of the posters on this forum give great advice and are able to explain things to buyer/sellers. It may seem simple to you, but it's not always as clear to the layperson.

Regarding backup offers, we are definitely exploring the option.

[Racole]

I am interested in knowing what did you end up doing?
#1 or #2

[sll3454]

Too late for OP, but the question is still a good one.

Originally Posted by joe from dayton

I would not accept offer #2 until they produced a pre-approval letter from their bank. If they will be financed by the bank, the letter is easy enough to get. Why is cash better than a check from the bank for more money?

Two reasons that I know of:
1. appraisal - If they are borrowing money, an appraisal will be required. If the house doesn't appraise high enough, they can cancel (or you can lower the price). Cash buyers don't need an appraisal, though they can get one if they want one. The cash is an advantage if that buyer does not have an appraisal contingency.
2. "Pre-approved," strangely enough, is not the same thing as guaranteed. We lost a "pre-approved" buyer when his pre-approved loan turned out to be not approved after all. Surprise! (He was preapproved for about $20,000 more than he was paying for our house.)

[Boompa]

You have signed an agreement

[Ted Bear]

Pre-approval doesn't mean squat.

Preapproval means that based upon what the buyer told the lending institution, if it turns out to be true, that the lending institution would be prepapred, all other things being equal, to lend a certain amount of money to the buyer.

So the potential buyer walks into the bank and says they make $100,000 per year and have a perfect credit rating. The bank says, pending verification of the information (employment, salary, financials, credit history, etc.) that they are perpared to lend the buyer $200,000.

So what?

If any of the information supplied turns out to be innaccurate in a negative way, the preapproval becomes a disapproval and there is no money for the purchase, or the amount the bank might be prepared to lend is reduced.

A much higher qualification is an approval letter of a certain amount from the bank, where the information has been verified. Once a purchase deal is struck, the informatiuon is re-verified to make sure the buyer hasn't lost their job or bought a Masseratti, and the bank lends the money.

Preapproval has no weight whatsoever, because it is based on unverified information. Anyone relying on it should be prepared for a high probability that the buyer is not qualified to purchase the subject home.

[accufitgolf]

Pre-approval usually means nothing more then this person is not a known deadbeat, criminal, registered pervert, etc. Until actually numbers are presented nothing is assured.