Questions to ask your first call to a seller

[Sean Battles]

Happy Monday BP Family!

I am looking for my first property and have found a couple deals where numbers work (plan on starting with a house hack/ roommate situation). On one property in particular the seller is requesting that NO FHA or VA loans be used.

I have not called yet to see why it is being sold, and I don't want to go in without appropriate questions. Would this be one I make an attempt to see if there is a possible seller financing option? Or dig deeper into why they are not looking for FHA/VA loans?

Thanks in advance,

Sean Battles

[Tom Shallcross]

@Sean Battles - it could be for a couple reasons. My initial thought is because the seller knows the property would not pass an FHA inspection/minimum requirements from HUD and he's not looking to pay to have the necessary work done. It could also be a perceived notion that an FHA/VA will not close due to underwriting or that he cannot accept the slightly increased timeline.

Right now it's just guessworks so pickup the phone and call the listing agent directly to find out the story.  Listen to the concerns and talk through options that can work for both parties.  

If it's just a perceived blocker on his end and not something tangible, you can make an offer at X price if FHA is allowed, Y price for seller-financing and Z price for conventional. There are other options outside of FHA that will probably allow 10% down and you can look to a seller credit to make up that difference if necessary.