One of the questions that we get from potential sellers and Queens homeowners when they’re thinking of selling is, “do you work with qualified buyers?”. The answer to this is obviously yes, however, there are certain things that you should be aware with regards to when and how buyers are qualified. In our opinion, we believe that the underlying reason for this question is that homeowners just want to make sure that the people who walk through the doors of their home are serious buyer and pre-qualified to purchase.
For this question, it is important to understand the common practice in Queens and how things work (in general) regarding potential buyers for a property. So, let’s say we put a property on the market, common practice in Queens is that we would field inquiries on the property as they come in, and we would schedule viewings and showings accordingly. So for example, let’s say someone calls in and wants to view one of our properties, we would field the call (or email), whether it’s from an agent or a buyer, and then we would just coordinate the appointment To get the buyers in. A common misconception may be that the buyers are pre-qualified by the seller’s agent prior to viewing the property, but in general, this is not the case. It is definitely possible, and we have done it for some of our sellers, but it is not common practice in Queens.
It’s also important to understand how buyers come in, and who they are working with. So for example, if a buyer is working with an agent to help them find a home, then that agent most likely has already pre-qualified them because most agents will not show a buyer homes unless they have been pre-approved by a bank. On the other hand, if a buyer comes in directly through the listing agent, then they may or may not be pre-approved by a bank. This is a question that any good listing agent will ask, but they won’t necessarily require the pre-approval prior to viewing. If a seller requires a pre-approval prior to letting anyone into the home, it can certainly be done, but in our experience it can turn some buyers off and cause a delay that may lead to losing some buyers.
So, when you list a property in Queens, you or your agent will typically coordinate appointments for buyers/agents as they come in, then you or your agent would tour them through the house. After the appointment, it is important to collect feedback so that you know what the buyer(s) thought about the home. If a buyer who views the home is interested in making an offer, then that is when we would typically go into the full pre-qualifying phase. Documents that would be requested along with a written offer include things such as a current pre-approval, proof of funds for down payment, credit scores, last two years tax returns, etc.
So to recap, most agents or sellers in Queens will not require a pre-approval or financial documents before viewing a property, however, on occasion we have had sellers that tell us they don’t want any buyer walking through the house unless they are pre-approved. In those scenarios, we are happy to accommodate, but what usually happens is that we end up limiting the amount of showings and as a result, we typically end up receiving less offers.
A lot of buyers are out there, some have pre-approvals, some are just waiting for the right property before they go and have their credit run for the pre-approval. If you decide to require a pre-approval prior to any showing of the house, then just keep in mind that you will most likely limit the amount of exposure that you get.
Hope this answers the question and gives you more insight into how Queens home buyers are pre-qualified when they are looking for a home to buy. In short, yes do we work with pre-qualified buyers, but we do not always pre-qualify them prior to viewing one of our listings because that is not common practice here in Queens. If our clients want that, then we have no problem doing so 🙂