There is no “return policy” on home purchases!
Published September 30th, 2007 in Finance.
I don’t know if it was naivete or wishful thinking. Yesterday I had a call from a consumer who was looking for homes for her mother. She had found something she thought was suitable and she wanted to see it that night. I had never met her before, so part of my job is to pre-qualify a buyer before I inconvenience a seller with an unnecessary showing. After all, who wants to schlep the family out during dinner time for someone who can’t really buy the house, right?
So I asked the woman, let’s call her “Joy”, if her mother had spoken to a lender.
Joy said, “No, but I know her credit is great. I am not at all worried about her qualifying for a loan.
Me: “Is her current home on the market?”
Joy: “Yes, but she is doing a program with the bank where she gives it back to them after 3 months.”
Me: “That is foreclosure.”
Joy: “No, it is a program called Deed in Lieu, where the bank just takes the house back.”
Me: “It is called Deed in Lieu of foreclosure.”
Joy: “Oh. I don’t think my mother understood that.”
Bottom line: Banks don’t want houses back. They don’t have special programs that make losing your home a non-event. A home is not a returnable purchase. There are generally repercussions, and walking out with a perfectly unblemished credit history is not typically one of them.
Game Plan For the Future: If you find yourself having gone through a foreclosure and wishing to buy a house, SoundBiteBlog has some great advice about how to reach your goals.
Technorati Tags: foreclosure, deed in lieu, deed in lieu of foreclosure
Return Policy by El Ramon
______________________________________________________________Written by Maureen Francis
SKBK Sotheby's International Realty, 248.430.4450
Visit Website
Search for homes in Oakland County
_____________________________________________________________
Maureen, good article as usual
It does make you wonder if the borrower simply didn’t hear what she didn’t want to, or the Bank didn’t explain things clearly. in either case “..walking out with a perfectly unblemished credit history” will not be the result of a Deed In Lieu” agreement.
Good for you in pre-qualifying that caller over the phone. It’s never a good idea to run out and meet a stranger at a house, vacant or not. It’s unsafe for you and the of the owner of the home and, as you know, is often a waste of everyone’s time. It’s amazing to me that people expect us to still do that. If a Buyer is serious about one of my listings, they’re not working with an agent or they can’t make it to the public open house, I expect them to meet me at the office first and bring a pre-approval letter and picture ID. Once I am certain they are who they say they are and are qualified buyers, I will then take them to the home to view. That’s just common sense. Doing that and asking the right kinds of questions protects everyone’s time and safety.
Marlow, your policies are how we all should be doing it. Unfortunately, I don’t think it is how it happens much of the time.
Of course, I am not sure that public open houses are really that safe for us either.
Your article is very entertaining. I like the picture of the no-return-policy.