Feel free to argue if you want, but I’m the one doing deals every day – on the buy side and the sell side, telling you that this is the case.
You simply can NOT “win” in multiple offers when you have a condition.
It’s that simple.
So if you’re still unconvinced, as a potential buyer, let’s look at it from the seller’s perspective to see just why they won’t take your conditional offer…
Perhaps I dove into an entirely different subject at the end – why the “mortgage specialist” at your bank often has his hands tied by five levels of management above him that dictate he must bring all loans up for approval on a conditional basis.
Or maybe it’s just that the banks don’t feel the need, or have the time, to complete an actual pre-approval.
I know some fantastic mortgage specialists at banks. In fact, one of my regular blog readers is one of them.
But my recent experiences with buyers who have gone through banks have been poor, and the advice they’ve received has been even worse.
So if it’s a condition on financing, a condition on a home inspection, or a condition on the sky not being blue, you have to realize that if you’re competing against six other buyers, you will NOT be successful with your condition.
The seller always takes a firm deal.
Always…
–
–
I suppose now is as good a time as any to plug my own mortgage broker:
Joe Sammut
Mortgage Architects
1-888-575-4403 x21
joesammut@mortgagegate.ca
Marina
at 9:23 am
Unless you work at a bank and get an employee discount, there is no reason to not at least talk with a broker.
When we bought, our broker got us a preapproval, a better rate, and a hire preapproval amount.
Our bank gave us some crap about lowering the rate when we bought, and approving when we bought. And is was a bank branch at Yonge and Eglinton – they should know that this crap won’t fly in that market.
JC
at 9:52 am
The bank would be the LAST resort based on my experience. My bank made me jump through hoops after 40 years of being a customer (yeah, I’m old), AND still made it sound like they were doing me a favor by “granting” me a mortgage.
People, before you even call a Realtor, go to a Broker and get pre-approved. Otherwise, you’re wasting everyones time. Multiple offers with any conditions? Ditto.
Network Admin
at 11:15 am
Just keep in mind that if you have a “pre-approval” it doesn’t mean that you have any guarantee of getting a mortgage.
See this http://www.canadianmortgagetrends.com/canadian_mortgage_trends/2013/06/the-intricacies-of-mortgage-pre-approvals.html for details.
Quote:
Virtually no lender actually offers a pre-approval that matches the marketplace’s definition.
David Fleming
at 12:08 pm
@ Network Admin
You are technically correct – any lender can pull a financing commitment at any time. I’ve heard cases where deals were set to close – only days away, and the lender has pulled the financing.
But once again, I feel this is an advertisement for a mortgage BROKER. If a broker shops 40 lenders, and one pulls financing, the broker can get another lender on board in a day, or in some cases, in only hours.
People feel like if a bank, who did their pre-approval, pulls financing, then they’re screwed. This is what the bank would love them to believe…
ScottyP
at 12:06 pm
I liked the slo-mo effects of David in “reviewing offers”-mode.
AndrewB
at 2:04 pm
When we started the process, we immediately went to a family-used Broker. She had us get all of our finances into places to minimize time for conditions on financing. When we put an offer in on a multiple situation, we made sure we had a nice deposit and all finances in order and made sure we had as few conditions as possible on the unit we put an offer on. The bank is the last place I would be going to get mortgage financing and pre-approvals.
Philip
at 2:34 pm
Fuck the banks. A number of 3rd party lenders like Equity FInancial and Street Capital are growing rapidly to fill that void left by the retarded practices the banks are employing. It’s the soft way the banks are reducing underwriting exposure.
They will feel it in the end as a result of missed earnings opportunities.