Happy problem

[Don Hines]

We held our second open house yesterday. Now I have a delima to solve.
I HAVE TWO OFFERS!!!!! Both require about the same in seller's assistance.
Both are good with one being a full price offer and 3% assistance. The offer has $0 earnest money but a prequalified buyer. The buyer has been through a "training" course similar to NACA. But, it is a state sponsored program that I didn't know about.
The second offer so far is not as good. But it is a straight up prequalified buyer offering almost $5000 less than the first with $500 earnest money. I have told their agent to have the buyer reconsider the offer and gave them till noon today.
Should I be concerned with an offer that does not contain earnest money. I really don't have any doubts this deal will go through. I want that $5000!!!
Don
PS
Both are prequalified.
Don

[J Scott]

You say "like NACA" but depending on how much like NACA should determine your answer. We *LOVE* NACA, and we have strong relationships with NACA agents who bring us a lot of buyers. NACA appraisals are easier, the buyers are pre-qualified, so there are no underwriting worries, and the whole process takes less time than FHA. On the negative side, they are strict about repairs that are needed (this doesn't bother me, but could hurt rehabbers who don't do thorough rehabs).

That said, the program you're talking about isn't NACA, so you need to determine if these advantages still exist or not. Some other loan programs are just the opposite -- underwriting takes longer, appraisals are tougher, etc. So, which is it for this program?

Also, are you having the buyers get pre-qualified through your mortgage broker? If so, he should be able to tell you which has the better financial situation and which is more likely to close without any issues.

In general, when we have multiple offers, we let our mortgage broker determine who gets the contract -- and while $5000 isn't a trivial amount, we'll generally forgo $5K for a substantially better buyer (or at least counter the offer to try to get it up somewhat).