Five years ago when a potential buyer called requesting a showing of one listings I didn’t ask if he was pre-approved for a loan. I just scheduled the appointment and showed him the Spring Texas home I had for sale. Then if he liked the home, I told him the next thing we needed to do was get him pre-approved for a loan.
Loan pre-approval was after thought because it seemed as if the lenders were approving anyone and everyone. I even joked if you could fog up a mirror (meaning you were still alive and breathing), you would get approved for a loan. Loan documentation that was not a problem either because there were no documentation loans.
Fast forward to 2010 and onto 2011 and the pendulum has drastically swung the other direction. It is now much more difficult for potential buyers to get home loans. Exactly how much more difficult?? According to a recent Wall Street Journal article that analyzed the 10 largest mortgage originators’ data for 2010, the national average was 27% of all mortgage applications were denied. In Texas, the loan denial rate was over 35% for 2010.
Due to the higher loan denial rate, I had to change the way I run my real estate business. I can’t run out and show Spring Texas homes to unapproved buyers anymore. I know some buyers don’t like the change. But I just can’t take the risk of potentially wasting my time showing a house to someone who may not be able to get approved for a loan.
