Belt Auction

Is it necessary to have a preapproval before bidding on a house? We have a credit score of 822.?

The seller's agent is refusing to present the offer without a preapproval. We are planning to put 33% down. Is this something new since the foreclosure problems? I don't remember this from the last time we bought a house.

Public Comments

1. It's up to the seller and agent what to accept.
2. Just because you say you are going to do something isn't a written guarantee that you can. Real Estate agents and sellers and such are getting a lot of "backer-outers" these days and its just a method to keep any fake or unsure buyers from wasting their time. It shows you are legally prepared to put in an offer on the house. Unless you are paying a 100% cash, then that might be a different story.
3. I bought my place almost three years ago, long before the current problems, and a pre-approved loan was a huge advantage for me! The place I bought was supposed to close twice before, but the prospective buyers couldn't secure the loan! I was able to knock 5 percent off the asking price with a pre-approved loan, just because the former owner had been burned before!
4. No you do not need pre approval,, It is just a gimmick that the realtors use to make sure you are really interested in getting into the mood to buy, instead of just window shopping with no intention to buy.. Any realtor that refuses the bid with a deposit or escrow is wrong to turn it down.. Esp if you ate putting down 1/3 of price... I gave one lady $10k cash as deposit on a bid, once and she refused to take the offer... I got her fired.. so if agent refuses the offer,, without placing it with the seller, they have not done their job, and you can go to the seller yourself.....
5. Some of the banks that have foreclosures are now requesting that a pre-approval for a mortgage loan be in place before acceptance of an offer. This is mostly banks that are selling foreclosed homes. Now the regular seller as I know it are not requiring this unless. If I was having this problem I would simply go directly to the seller and make an attempt to present my offer and go around the seller's agent. You can mail the offer or email the offer if you know the email address. You may also give the seller's agent's broker a call and tell him/her of the offer and the refusal. If the broker is not helpful you might call the real estate board of the agent and lodge a complaint against the agent as well as the broker. It is better to be pre-approved because it saves time and energy. A pre-approval indicate the amount of house you are able to purchase. It also give you the interest rate, monthly payments and make the closing faster if the primary work of mortgage approval is out of the way. I don't know if this is a new trend that seller's agents will not accept offers unless the buyers are all pre-approved. I hope this has been of some use to you, good luck. "FIGHT ON"
6. No we had to pre approve before we purchased our current house.........we were able to present the seller with 75% cash.......still needed to be pre approved...........
7. A preapproval actually isn't necessary but it can make a lot of home sellers be a bit more enthusiastic to deal with you. It should be easy for you to get a preapproval from a lender since your credit score is very good. To get pre-approved, you'll have to submit your financial information to a lender. The lender will look at your income, debts and credit history. If you meet their criteria, you will be preapproved for a certain loan, until a given expiration date, typically 30 to 90 days.