Preparing For Successful Negotiations

I n today’s real estate market with tightened lending requirements a seller or a listing agent may wonder if it is lawful to indicate in the lisitng that a potential buyer must bring a preapproval letter from a specific lender for the seller to even consider the buyer’s offer?

The answer is yes it is lawful and in fact is a good protection for the seller in not wasting valuable market time with a non-qualified buyer. The seller’s requirement for a buyer to be preapproved by a particular lender is not a requirement that the buyer purchase services from that lender. Seller is not “tying” the purchase of his property to the buyer’s purchase of services from a particular vendor. However a prudent seller and listing agent is recognizing that in today’s current market place there are many opportunities for buyers to get misinformation from lenders who may not even be in business by the time the anticipated loan is ready to close or who are not reliable as to their assessment regarding a buyer’s financial ability to purchase and successfully close on a deal.

A seller may have a trusted lender upon whom they are relying to filter potential buyers for assurance that if seller takes the property off the market for a buyer, the buyer has the true capacity to close the transaction. There is nothing unlawful about a seller seeking that level of assurance.

Similarly, more sellers are demanding to see proof of a buyer’s available cash resources for down payment and closing costs. This too is a reasonable approach for a seller who is considering taking their property off the market to give a buyer time to close a loan, in a market place where the availability of loans changes daily.

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