So you think you’re ready to buy your dream home...
Do you know how much home you can afford? Have you gotten your finances in order? Last, but most importantly, have you gotten pre-qualified?
2020 brought record sales and 2021 promises to continue the trend. The Mississippi property market is slim, with inventory at an all time low; yet the demand is still very high with some properties being snatched off the market the very day they get listed.
Pre-qualifying not only shows the seller how serious you are about buying, but in many cases, it can push you ahead in the game.
If you still need convincing of the importance of this piece of paper, consider this:
I recently had a client who had an interest in looking in a specific area, where very few homes fit his criteria. He had just started the house-hunting process when he called me for help and I immediately found a house that suited him perfectly, on the very first search.
We viewed this home the next day. It was so new to the market that we were the very first scheduled showing, which was on Saturday. He fell in love! It was everything he was looking for in one property. He wanted to submit an offer and was to call his lender first thing Monday to start the buying process.
Upon contacting the selling agent with my client’s offer, I was informed that another buyer was also making an offer. Our offer was found to be satisfactory by the sellers; in fact, they indicated they wanted to sell to my client. However, my client was not yet pre-qualified. The sellers were moving out of state and wanted the deal to be in order by the time they left town, less than two weeks from that date. The other buyer came prepared. They relunctantly agreed to give us until Monday by 5:00 pm to provide a pre-qualifying letter before accepting his offer.
Long story short: Covid restrictions slowed us down. My client’s regular banker was out of the office, he didn’t have all of his paperwork readily available and the next banker he chose just could not get it complete within the time frame we were given. We lost the deal by a matter of two hours, all because the other buyers were better prepared.
Pre-qualifying is a “must” in this fast moving, competitive market.
Contact your lender today and get that letter in hand then send a copy to your agent for their file. It can make or break a fast deal!
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