I received an email inquiry from New Zealand.
Canadians coming home.
They asked for a current list of one bedroom condo’s in Victoria, preferably with a view, in a concrete building, and something not needing to much work. I replied to ask about Price range, Size , and do they need a rental or Pet allowed rule, Plus are you pre qualified for a mortgage.
Their replied came back quickly with their wish list and said : “We went online and found a mortgage broker and yes they were pre approved “. I always ask “Do you have a letter from a bank from the broker saying you have been pre approved and telling the terms and conditions of the pre approval and mortgage” The Buyers response was “Yes”.
They indicated they would be in Victoria in about month and they would contact me before arriving to plan a day to view Condo’s. Over the next month I forwarded them Condo listings on a regular basis.
When the Couple arrived we planned a day to view Condo’s. Nice people they had been traveling around the world for a few years. The Lady is a coach for Figure Skating and very much in demand from Europe to the Orient, their last contract was in New Zealand.
On our first day we found a great one bedroom condo, with a lot of nice updates, and recently remodeled, with great views of Victoria and across the road from Victoria’s Beacon Hill Park.
We prepared an offer subject to the usual Subject conditions such as approval for a mortgage within 7 days(as suggested by their mortgage broker) I said” lately the mortgages have been taking closer to 10 days for approval, however their mortgage broker said he could do it sooner…with the hair up on my neck, I made it 8 days, as something was telling me to do that.
I then I called the Listing Agent to say “I have an offer”, she said “another offer had been accepted the day before”, she said “she will call me if it does not go”, and said “there are others wanting to write an offer too”. I asked if the Seller would look at a back up offer and she said “yes”…I have won a few purchases doing this when the 1st offer runs out of time to remove their subjects.
We proceeded with our offer and it was accepted subject to the first offer collapsing . Building inspection and Financing approval within 8 days.
I submitted the accepted Contract to my Buyers mortgage broker.
Sure enough the first offer collapsed and we were in first place and we now had 8 days to get financing confirmed and a building inspected done. The Building inspection came in with flying colurs. I’m now at day 7 and no news from the mtg broker who said he only needed 7 days. My Buyer and I both called him, he said no News yet. I was now wondering about the written mortgage pre approval I asked my Buyer to show me his copy… We both read it over.
I looked to see who the Lender was..TD Canada Trust Bank and a name and number of the TD mortgage rep..You guessed it we were on Day 8 and I called TD. The Lady said she just received the application that day ….Yeaks !!
I told TD Rep my story and said we were running out of time with the Buyers Subject to financing. She replied “sorry I need another day to complete the application”.
I called the Listing agent told her the story and asked if we could have another day, She replied with “ I thought you said these people a pre approved” I replied with “so did I, the mtg app was not sent to the bank” she called her client and they agreed to giving us another day to confirm financing, The Mortgage approval came through.. positive news.
Conclusion: The Broker had dropped the ball, and did not realize banks were now taking longer to process mortgage apps and he could no longer expect a 1 day approval…
Moral of the story…listen to your gut feeling and market knowledge and follow through…I knew I should have asked for 10 days for mortgage approval and I let the MTG Broker suggest a shorter time which added unnecessary stress to my clients and the sellers.
Testimonial: While out of the country for over a year it was time to return back to Canada and buy a new condo in a new city. I found Fred Carver's webpage on line. It was current, personable and he was a long time resident of the area we wanted to move to. We contacted Fred and received a prompt and positive response. We answered his numerous qualifying questions and immediately he proceeded to send on line, possible appropriate properties options. Upon arriving in Victoria we met Fred and he showed us all that we had selected .We found a place that ticked all the boxes of what we desired.
Fred’s professionalism, patience, experience, and thorough knowledge of the market was key to us finding and buying our dream condo. Thanks Fred, we love our new home. We would not hesitate to refer Fred to anyone who needs a professional and results oriented realtor in Victoria. Sincerely, Judy and John
