Financing First
I love helping people work through the homebuying/homeselling process. Some days it is stressful for sure, but most of the time it goes smoothly for my clients. I am knowledgeable on financing, negotiating, and all the intricacies of the process. I make it my job to ensure that my clients make wise decisions. I will not mislead my clients, and I will always try to make sure they are making wise decisions by analyzing the situation from the outside-in.
I do work for my clients, but I am also a small business owner. I have to operate my business just like any other business out there, and that means having a clear strategy and guidelines that I follow for every transaction.
Buyers have to work with a lender before I will show them houses. I will meet with them and talk to them every day if I need to, but I won’t show houses until they are aware and understand exactly where they stand with their lender, if they can buy, and what they can afford. That is my policy, and maybe I lose a client or two along the way, but I think (and I know from experience), that I end up saving myself and the buyers alot of trouble, heartache and expense along the way. I just don’t think it is fair to either party to be out looking at homes when they might not be able/ready to buy them. Plus, look at it from the sellers point of view. These sellers have to clean the house, pack up the kids, and leave the house for an hour with their hopes up- is it really fair to ask a seller to leave their home when the buyer isn’t qualified and ready to make an offer? If it were me, I would want the people looking at my house to be ready to buy.
Similarly, if I am working with a seller we will also evaluate their financial situation. In addition, we will make sure that any buyer who submits an offer is pre-qualified with a reputable lender.