earnest money just to make an offer

[Mel Hayes]

Hey BP, an agent found me a decent deal here in Los Angeles for a buy and hold.  I told her I wanted to make a cash offer.  She started asking me to see my bank accounts, etc... My question is, is this standard just for making an offer?  She said I needed to show a bank statement with 3% of my offer price.  Before I do this I wanted to come to the Forums and get more information.  Is this the agent trying to figure out if I'm legit or is the standard procedure just to make an offer on a property.  I don't get why she can't just make a verbal offer, being that I'm offering well below asking price, just to get a feel for if they might say yes.