Q re: proof of funds

Q re: proof of funds

Contractor · Boca Raton, FL · Member since 2011 · 3 posts · 2 votes

Apologies in advance if this question has been addressed, or answered, elsewhere in the Forums. (If it has, I wasn't able to find such an answer.)

My wife and I are new to REI, doing some wholesaling in South Florida. We've been submitting our offers to purchase using the "as-is" FARBAR contract. We've ticked option (a) of the Financing clause, which reads:

"Buyer will pay cash or may obtain a loan for the purchase of the Property. There is no financing contingency to Buyer's obligation to close."

Our buyers to date have been solvent fix-and-flippers who have been glad to provide us Proof of Funds letters to facilitate deals. Their stock letter reads:

"To Whom It May Concern,

This is to verify that we have made an offer to lend [Our Land Trust], [Our RE Corp], Trustee up to $[XXX,000.00] at closing for the purchase of the above named property.

The loan will be for one year, interest only at [XX]% with a monthly payment due and payable on the first of each month.

This loan is subject to our usual property inspection, lien search, title clearance, signed documents and verification of insurance. We can usually close within 72 hours of title clearance.

The subject loan is to be backed by a first mortgage, and is contingent on the following:

The property does not undergo any changes resulting from fire, vandalism, collapse, other serious damage, liens, pending lawsuits, government restrictions, or acts of God. Loan is subject to final approval of the investor.

If any additional information is required, please feel free to call us at [XXX-XXX-XXXX]."

We've encountered on multiple occasions licensed sales associates, who, it seems to us, should know better, responding "Hey, this isn't a cash offer; it's financing-contingent, so if your lender up and dies Seller and I are out of luck;" to which we say, in essence, "Um, no; what about this doesn't look like a loan commitment? This is what is meant by 'hard money' in the first place. Freddie Mac accepts such a PoF; why not you?"

What's the "sticking point" here? Is this something you folks have encountered before? What's to be done about it? Is there a weakness in the wording of our PoF that triggers this reaction? Or if it's just that some agents are unfamiliar with the concept of hard money, what do you do to, shall we way, expedite their education on the topic?

Thanks in advance for your responses and suggestions!

0Reply
59 views

Most Popular Reply

Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
14y

Hard money isn't cash. Its a loan. That letter is fully of "ifs" that may cause the lender not to fund the loan. There is no "commitment" in that letter. "Proof of funds" is a bank statement in the same name as is on the offer. Write your offers as financed with a financing contingency. They won't be as strong as a cash offer, but they correctly reflect the situation with a hard money lender involved.

See this reply in the discussion

5 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Private Money Lender · Orange, CA · Member since 2012 · 3 posts · 1 vote
    14y

    Mark,

    What we've found is that the most successful POF letters contain as few contingencies as possible. Mainly, the lender should have the following: "Loan subject to lender's final review of executed purchase agreement and borrower's acceptance of lender's final loan terms." Everything else about the specific terms of the loan, the property getting damaged, payment terms, etc is irrelevant. Short and sweet is the best way to go.

  • Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
    14y

    Hard money isn't cash. Its a loan. That letter is fully of "ifs" that may cause the lender not to fund the loan. There is no "commitment" in that letter. "Proof of funds" is a bank statement in the same name as is on the offer. Write your offers as financed with a financing contingency. They won't be as strong as a cash offer, but they correctly reflect the situation with a hard money lender involved.

  • Contractor · Boca Raton, FL · Member since 2011 · 3 posts · 2 votes
    14y

    @Todd: Thanks; copious "weasel wording" sure does give the whiff of contingency.

    @Jon: What language does a Proof of Funds, one that is to your liking, contain; and what does it avoid? Your answer can be construed as, "You can't wholesale and make a cash-or-hard-money offer with anyone else's $ but your own." Is this so? If it is, I've been lied to more than once since starting this journey!

  • Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
    14y

    Proof of funds means just that: "I the buyer named in this offer have the money to close this offer." These proof of funds requirements exist because the big sellers - banks selling REOs - where burned too many times by "cash offers" that fell through. As a wholesaler you're not going to be able to make strong offers. You just don't have the cash to do it. A strong offer is cash, with a bank statement attached, a certified check for 10% of the offer price, a two week closing and no contingencies at all. The bank's addendums will almost certainly include an inspection contingency (as long as its not HUD.) State that EM is to be delivered in certified funds within 48 hours of offer acceptance. If you can't close in two weeks, you lose the EM. If you can't do that, you can't really be making a cash offer.

    If you're truly buying using hard money, which I have, make the offer with a financing contingency. Include the pre-approval letter (which is what you have) with the offer. Your offer is much weaker, but much less risk. EM can be more like 1%, but still delivered with certified funds once the offer is accepted. Closing will be longer, at least with the HML I've used.

    A loan approval letter is simple. It states the borrower (you) is approved for a specific loan amount. It typically states an appraisal will be done to determine the property value. If the property appraises, and the puchase amount is below the approved amount, it closes. Yours has that "Loan is subject to final approval of the investor" language that I would read as "this approval letter means absolutely squat".

    I do realize you are saying you're wholesaling these properties. You're making offers claiming you're willing and able to close when in fact you're really just brokering the property for someone else. Why not just get a license and make the offers as a real estate agent? Have you any success with that letter?

  • J ScottPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2008 · 18k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    14y

    Given the wording of the contract, I would think this loan letter is sufficient. The contract states that you'll either:

    1. Pay cash; or
    2. Get a loan.

    But, in either case, there is no financing contingency.

    Assuming you choose to go with #2 (which is a valid option), a loan pre-qualification or pre-approval letter is more likely than a proof of funds in the buyer's name.

    I'm not sure why the seller has an issue with the letter if he's okay with you getting a loan?

    It sounds like the seller doesn't like that you have the option to pay cash or get a loan and would prefer you just to pay cash. That's something you'll need to negotiate -- one option is to offer a larger earnest money deposit; without a financing contingency, the seller will get to keep that if you can't get the loan for some reason.

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.