Anne Meczywor

The Realtors in our area work very closely with the lenders and the attorneys. Preapprovals here were not automatically handed out to every buyer who walked through the door. Our local lenders were always pretty conservative, and as a direct result our market stayed relatively stable while other markets had trouble. Our foreclosure rate is very, very low. Don't get me wrong; we have foreclosures, but not nearly on the same scale as our neighboring counties or areas elsewhere in the country. As Reatlors, we have the obligation to do our best to clarify a buyer's financial limit as well as their comfort zone, but the actual financials are the hands of the LENDERS where they belong. The Realtors are NOT the ones who make the approval decisions on loans, nor can we force consumers to heed sound advice.

I redirected several clients who were avoiding local lenders because they didn't like what these lenders told them about their financial position. When they came to me all giddy with preapprovals from on-line lenders or out of area, unknown lenders that were "to good to be true", I told them that they were on dangerous ground and that they should work with the people who were willing to tell them not what they WANTED to hear, but what they NEEDED to hear. The ones who didn't listen did have trouble down the road - please note that they didn't buy through me. These buyers typically went off without any representation, or bought FSBO. Two sets of my buyers worked with the local lenders to clean up credit issues and ended up buying with me a bit later. They are still very happy home owners. A few others ran into trouble with unforeseeable job losses/hour cutbacks. The local lenders were willing to work with them to keep them in their homes. I was NOT alone in this. The professionals in our market consistantly have done the right thing by our buyers, even though sometime the buyers are upset and disappointed by it.

We are not home inspectors, or lawyers, or marraige counselors, or mortgage lenders. The scope of our job is limitted. The Code of Ethics demands that we stay within our area of professional expertise. We help sellers present their homes at their best, price them correctly according to market conditions, and market these properties effectively where serious buyers are looking. We help buyers determine their real needs, prioritize their wants, become the calm, objective voice of reason in a sometimes emotionally difficult situation, and act as match makers. Then we work through the myriad of details from the signing of the P&S to the door hitting the attorneys backsides on the way out of the closing room. The buyers have to act like adults and take responsibility when they ignore good advice and get themselves into trouble. It has nothing to do with a Realtor who didn't do a preapproval themselves. It has everything to do with professionals (agents, lenders, attorneys, etc.) all along the way doing what's right in the interest of the consumer - and the consumer's willingness to accept good advice. - Fri Dec 4 2009, 17:45