OUCH! Every day, we see more and more PROPERTIES falling out of ESCROW . . . almost all of the problems have some basis in FINANCING ISSUES. The buyers could be supremely PRE-APPROVED, but often the PROPERTY is not. Examples of this include FHA or VA financing on older homes or manufactured homes, or a manufactured home that's been reclassified as a SITE BUILT HOME (how? drop me a line and ask . . .)

The moral of the story is, be INFORMED about the possible pitfalls of the property you choose, and make CERTAIN your FINANCING SOURCE is solid. A smart idea is to make sure the property is appraised and your loan package sent off to UNDERWRITING during your INSPECTION PERIOD. Why waste time on a deal that's not going to go the distance!

When I recently purchased property in Washington State, I was asked to make the earnest money 'hard' (non-refundable) after 5 days. No loan contingency, nothing.

Knowing that I have excellent credit and a reputable, experienced loan officer (Jayne Lasco at Bank of America, Las Vegas--the chick rocks), I was able to conduct my inspections of the property and sign off at the 5 day mark. But you can bet I had all my paperwork in to my loan person and was good to go! I didn't want to lose my 2500 bucks earnest deposit, but was resigned to doing so if unforeseen circumstances made that happen. Still, I hedged my bet with complete documentation and did not commit any of the cardinal sins during an escrow:

Buying anything on credit

Moving money

Changing job or financial status

Changing credit status (ie not paying any bill on time)

All went fine, we closed on time and I will double my money on the investment.

Since then, and I know this is done in many other areas, I have been suggesting to seller-clients that we negotiate 'hard money' at end of inspection period. The buyer should be responsible for choosing a decent loan person--then performing and cooperating with them--so they can be financed.

If their loan person drops the ball, it will cost the buyer their earnest deposit. Why should the seller suffer lost time on market with incompetent lenders or non-creditworthy buyers?

Real estate is serious business. Why treat it as anything less?