I need a proof of funds letter, help!

New to Real Estate · Long Beach, CA · Member since 2019 · 15 posts · 7 votes

So I have a deal on the table but the agent wants a POF letter from me to attach to the written offer. I've done some searching but I was wondering what advice the community might have on the best way to proceed with obtaining one.

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Dennis M.

Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 9k+ votes

Do you go to Walmart , buy your groceries , then stand there with an empty wallet ? Look if you don’t have any money you can’t buy the house bro

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Marc Winter
Real Estate Broker · Northeast PA · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
6y
Send in a recent bank statement that shows enough money to do the deal as written. Redact sensitive info, ie ss# .
2 Reply
Eric Mayer
Rental Property Investor · Clearwater & Daytona Beach, FL · Member since 2019 · 194 posts · 197 votes
6y
Are you trying to show proof of funds without actually having the funds? If you already have a buyer lined up, be honest and show your buyer's POF. Wholesalers with no money or Plan B who make offers are the reason wholesaling has a negative connotation.
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Barry Pekin
Specialist · Purcellville, VA · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 841 votes
6y
@Melvin J. Joseph,
To answer your question, make sure you have a lender on your team. Hard money lenders will look at your deal and if it's good, will provide such a letter since they would be willing to buy/finance the deal for you.
But I would also not be looking for on market deals. Our focus as wholesalers should be looking for off market deals. Not that you can't make it work with on market properties, that's just not where our opportunities usually exist.

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Dennis M.
Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 9k+ votes
6y
Do you go to Walmart , buy your groceries , then stand there with an empty wallet ? Look if you don’t have any money you can’t buy the house bro
5 Reply
Brian Pulaski
Flipper/Rehabber · Montgomery, NY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y
If you are wholesaling, don't go get a fake POF... tell the seller what you are doing. They may squash the deal, but I would rather lose a deal to honesty then lie and get a deal that could possibly find me in trouble if I couldn't assign/close. What happens if you can't find a buyer and the seller demands you close as you've shown proof you have the funds.
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Melvin J. Joseph
OP
New to Real Estate · Long Beach, CA · Member since 2019 · 15 posts · 7 votes
6y
@Dennis M. This isn't Twitter "bro", don't come at me like that. I'm not an idiot. You may not have meant offense, but I perceived it otherwise. That being said, I've done the research and I've got an honest creative work around or two. I've got a partner analysing the deal to see if it wants to partner (which could have been a genuine suggestion to give). If the deal falls through I won't lose sleep over it, I wasn't looking for it. Besides I've already explained to the agent that I'm a new investor and she knows the money isn't coming from me because I've explained that to her. So I'm not standing at the register with an empty wallet.
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Melvin J. Joseph
OP
New to Real Estate · Long Beach, CA · Member since 2019 · 15 posts · 7 votes
6y
@Brian Pulaski I absolutely agree, I would never use a fake POF letter. I don't do business like that! Thanks for the insight though.
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Melvin J. Joseph
OP
New to Real Estate · Long Beach, CA · Member since 2019 · 15 posts · 7 votes
6y
@Barry Pekin I wasn't actually looking for it. I was just in proximity of it and decided to take a closer look. If nothing more comes from it than the experience then that's find by me.
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Melvin J. Joseph
OP
New to Real Estate · Long Beach, CA · Member since 2019 · 15 posts · 7 votes
6y
@Eric Mayer lol don't worry. I've done the research, I have a plan B (more than one in fact). I was just looking for some extra ideas, but a buyer lined up is one of those ideas in the pipeline. I'm an ethical investor, so no need to worry about me "making investors look bad". Thanks for the insight though.
1 Reply
Dennis M.
Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 9k+ votes
6y
Originally posted by @Melvin J. Joseph:
@Dennis M. This isn't Twitter "bro", don't come at me like that. I'm not an idiot. You may not have meant offense, but I perceived it otherwise. That being said, I've done the research and I've got an honest creative work around or two. I've got a partner analysing the deal to see if it wants to partner (which could have been a genuine suggestion to give). If the deal falls through I won't lose sleep over it, I wasn't looking for it. Besides I've already explained to the agent that I'm a new investor and she knows the money isn't coming from me because I've explained that to her. So I'm not standing at the register with an empty wallet.

I’m not allowed to call you bro ? bro ? lol look you are saying how you are an investor ..yet you have nothing to “invest “so you come on here with creative ways around that to make it look like you have the money to follow through . Why do you think sellers insist on this practice ? Because they don’t want broke people wasting their time that can’t honor their commitments . Look We have all been there at first , but it is my opinion you need to stack chips to have something to actually invest .. then get into the game . Don’t be offended it’s a message board . Lighten up Melvin
3 Reply
Bill B.
Investor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 10k+ votes
6y
It sure sounded like you were looking for a lie or a fake POF letter. Maybe your question should have been "seller wants a POF letter and I don't have any funds....what can I do."
Then people might have responded look for a partner, have a hard money lender prove his funds, submit your retirement account balance, simply show the seller where your funds are coming from, offer "hard earnest money", or remove all contingencies from your offer. These are all alternatives to a POF request but none of them would be the answer to "I need a proof of funds letter help!"
Your question came off as I’m looking to scam this seller. Imagine if you were a real buyer and your offers we’re being beat out by people who didn’t even have the funds to close, you’d be almost as mad as the seller.
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Don KonipolBusiness Member
Investor · The Woodlands TX / Avon, CT · Member since 2009 · 6k+ posts · 10k+ votes
6y
@Melvin J. Joseph
You’re a licensed real estate agent, so you can wholesale legally, BUT you must be careful as to full disclosure, and open honesty. You’re held to a higher standard than other buyers/wholesalers who aren’t licensed.
I’ve never been real comfortable with license holders wholesaling, but that’s just my personal feeling, and many others believe it does not present any problem. And I guess with the exploding number of ibuyers out there, and Keller Williams getting into buying homes themselves, it might be becoming much more common.
I just think that being an agent for one party to real estate transactions as your main business, and also acting as a buyer trying to buy below market and resell to a buyer, is confusing to your market at best, and can lead to conflicts of interest at worst. But again, my personal opinion.
As to the POF letters, that can have two meanings. One is POF for a 20-25% down payment; the other is POF to obtain a loan. Or both, of course.
Private Mortgage Financing Partners, LLC
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Caleb Heimsoth
Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2016 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
6y
@Melvin J. Joseph this is very simple. Call your bank and ask them for a letter stating how much cash is in the account
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Byron Wilson
Rental Property Investor · Greenville, SC · Member since 2015 · 17 posts · 10 votes
6y
@Melvin J. Joseph
This company sells POF letters for $9. They also fund deals as a hard money lender. Found them while doing a search on Google one day.
https://cogocapital.com/lp/home/get-a-proof-of-funds-letter/
1 Reply
Mike Burkett
Lender · Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2018 · 241 posts · 98 votes
6y
@Melvin J. Joseph We pre-qualify our clients and issue proof of funds regularly to our clients if they intend on buying the property. I can't tell from your post if you are buying the property yourself or wholesaling it. If you do have the funds to qualify for a hard money loan, you should be able to get a POF.
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