Last spring I ran into an agent at a social event who was so angry at the mortgage industry, “Why are you allowed to lie?” she asked me. She had a jumbo purchase with an expectation of a 30 day closing. We at Fairway had told her the transaction would take 60 days. However, two other lenders told her they could deliver in 30 days and now she was on a second extension with no closing date in sight.
“We told you the truth” I replied. She chose to work with two lenders who were less than truthful about their ability to perform.
I watch this real estate market catch fire with bidding wars on many properties, multiple offers going well over asking price (some 100’s of thousands of dollars over), sellers demanding that offers be contingency free, that inspections be done prior to making an offer, and I feel afraid…
Afraid that if we don’t get this market under control the market will break.
And like the story above, we hear tales of buyer frustration mounting and buyers backing away from the market.
I am concerned about our lending environment. The lending system will break because buyers who cannot pay cash will be forced to remove their mortgage contingencies in order to be competitive with multiple offers and then they will press the system for rapid approvals that are not POSSIBLE in today’s environment.
Many lenders will say yes with the presumption that once they have the loan in process there is nothing anyone can do if the dates are extended. As a result contracts and spirits will be broken, extensions will be required and sellers will be angry. The buyers who can pay cash, even if they never wanted to, will stress the mortgage system by demanding that we meet unrealistic seller’s expectations in terms of closing and commitment dates.
This system will break, promises will be broken, money will be lost and people will be angry, UNLESS…
We unite together to allow the process to work! Allow mortgage contingencies, reasonable dates for performance, and allow everyone to do their due diligence. Give all of us time to insure that all are comfortable in the transaction, that we can meet all the dates and perform as expected.
Our business model at
Pushing this market could break it, it is fragile. Listing agents beware; sellers beware; buyers beware; lenders beware! These are exciting times, but if we are not respectful of buyers, of the lending system, of the timing required to complete a transaction the right way, we could all end up getting burned.
Last spring I ran into an agent at a social event who was so angry at the mortgage industry. “Why are you allowed to lie?” she asked me. She had a jumbo purchase with an expectation of a 30 day closing. We at Fairway had told her the transaction would take 60 days. However, two other lenders told her they could deliver in 30 days and now she was on a second extension with no closing date in sight.
“We told you the truth” I replied. She chose to work with two lenders who were less than truthful about their ability to perform.
I watch this real estate market catch fire with bidding wars on many properties, multiple offers going well over asking price (some 100’s of thousands of dollars over), sellers demanding that offers be contingency free, that inspections be done prior to making an offer, and I feel afraid−afraid that if we don’t get this market under control the market will break.
And like the story above, we hear tales of buyer frustration mounting and buyers backing away from the market.
I am concerned about our lending environment. The lending system will break because buyers who cannot pay cash will be forced to remove their mortgage contingencies in order to be competitive with multiple offers and then they will press the system for rapid approvals that are not possible in today’s environment.
Many lenders will say yes with the presumption that once they have the loan in process there is nothing anyone can do if the dates are extended. As a result contracts and spirits will be broken, extensions will be required and sellers will be angry. The buyers who can pay cash, even if they never wanted to, will stress the mortgage system by demanding that we meet unrealistic seller’s expectations in terms of closing and commitment dates.
This system will break, promises will be broken, money will be lost and people will be angry, unless−
We unite together to allow the process to work! Allow mortgage contingencies, reasonable dates for performance, and allow everyone to do their due diligence. Give all of us time to insure that all are comfortable in the transaction, that we can meet all the dates and perform as expected.
Our business model at Fairway is to be completely transparent up front. If we do not get a loan as a result of telling the truth at least we sleep well. You know the condition of the mortgage environment; don’t allow yourself to be fooled by empty promises that will ultimately put you and your transactions in jeopardy.
Pushing this market could break it, it is fragile. Listing agents beware; sellers beware; buyers beware; lenders beware! These are exciting times, but if we are not respectful of buyers, of the lending system, of the timing required to complete a transaction the right way, we could all end up getting burned.
