Wait, You Mean To Tell Me I Need Money To Buy A House?

I had a home buyer call me after we had been corresponding for about 4 months about purchasing a project for him to buy. He was looking for something in just the right location that he could work on. It didn’t have to be perfect or even a complete home. The location was the primary focus, and everything else was secondary. If it needed work then so be it.

I almost always pre-qualify buyers before I ever show a home. I have to be very careful with my time. I’m busy all the time with my business and I have a family and friends who need my attention at times too. So being very careful about who I work with and when is an important part of what I do. However, in this case it was all a matter of answering some emails so I didn’t do any pre-qualifying.

During our conversation the buyer informed me that he thought he had found the perfect home and location and wanted my opinion. So I stopped by the home on the way back from an appointment. It was indeed exactly what he was looking for and I felt very confident that he was going to love it so I took a bunch of pictures while I was there and sent them to him by email.

He responded with an email breaking down the terms of the offer he would like to make on the home. For the record, it’s a foreclosure and banks can be tough to work with for obvious reasons. But it’s been on the market for well over a year so I was hoping he could get a good deal since it’s an unfinished home and hasn’t had any attention.

I responded asking him to forward his proof of funds so that I could merge it with the offer when I sent the offer over for his signature. His reaction shocked me. He immediately called me and asked me what I was playing at. Having no idea what he was talking about, I politely asked him to explain what he meant. He was apparently upset that I would be “so rude” as to ask to see his financial statements. I explained to him that the bank or any seller would require proof of cleared funds or a mortgage pre-approval before they accepted his offer.

The conversation was going nowhere unfortunately. He was upset and didn’t think it was the bank’s business how he planned to pay for the house. Of course, this sent up a red flag for me. When all was said and done it became apparent that he didn’t have any money, couldn’t get pre-approved for a mortgage, and really had no way to buy a home. I honestly have no idea how he planned to buy the home. Call me crazy, but I always assumed it was obvious that if you wanted to buy a home you’d have to pay for it....I pay for mine!