As homes continue to fly off the market, what can you do to stand out in multiple offers? This spring the housing market has picked up and I am seeing my borrowers getting into multiple offers and homes selling before they can even write an offer.
I had a friend tell me that she listed her home, a for sale sign went into the yard and before the home was listed online, she had a buyer drive around the neighborhood. She was outside and they asked if the home was for sale or sold, she said it was for sale. She ended up showing them the house, they called her agent and bought the home before it even hit the computer. I've had several clients getting into multiple offers. This past weekend I had 3 buyers write up purchase agreements.
With the market moving quickly, you need to be approved and ready to go before you start looking. Contact your loan officer and make sure you are approved. Make sure your lender has copies of your paystubs, w-2's, bank statements and anything else they may request for your approval. Once they have the information, make sure they run your file through a desktop underwriting system so you know you are approved. You will still need to have your file go to an underwriter for the final approval, but if your loan officer is thorough, you should not have an issue. If there is something that the loan officer is questioning, ask them to get a full underwrite by an underwriter. It may take a few more days, but it will answer any questionable issues.
I have had clients that were approved and due to changes in their tax returns for 2012, they were no longer eligible for the same amount of a mortgage. If there are any changes in income or debt, you will want to make sure your lender is aware of the changes. For my clients, they didn't realize the changes they made to their tax returns affected their qualifications.
Make sure your lender has given your realtor an approval letter. I have given generic approval letters without a proeprty address on them but with a mortgage amount so the agent has something. If you are writing an offer on a weekend, you may need to contact your loan officer to get a letter. If they have something ahead of time, at least they can submit the offer. The listing agent may want a more specific letter but at least you can get an offer written without having to wait.
Make sure you know how much you are approved for and if you are close to the limit, verify that the taxes and insurance won't put you over the limit. Interest rates have been rising, so talk to your loan officer and make sure you will still qualify.
Once you find a home you love, you want to be able to write an offer right away. If you have been approved, you should be able to do that! There are little things you can do to help you – if you don't need the seller to pay closing costs, that can help. If you can use conventional financing, it may give you an advantage over someone with FHA financing due to possible work order concerns from the appraisal. The more down, typically the stronger the buyer so that can help – so can a larger earnest money check. Talk to your agent and your loan officer to make sure you are writing the best offer you can!
Leslie Vanderwerf, NMLS ID#335509, American Mortgage & Equity Consultants – Email – Website
