Find out about Real Estate on the Monterey Peninsula

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Perhaps I’m the only one who feels this way, but I find Countrywide’s insistence that I get my buyer pre-approved through them BEFORE they’ll even look at my offer to be an unfair negotiation tactic. Other banks and private sellers are content to accept a pre-approval letter from a reputable lender, why not Countrywide?

How fair is it to know EXACTLY how much money the buyer has BEFORE an acceptable price is negotiated? Why not agree on selling price first, THEN insist on looking at financials before going to escrow? Because Countrywide wants to know how much they can counter offer the buyer. That’s not an arms length negotiation, that’s one where one side has an advantage.

Will Countrywide share with the buyer how much net they will accept BEFORE agreeing to purchase price? Of course not, they want the buyer to guess, hoping they will bid over that amount. Will Countrywide share with the buyer what the current "highest and best" offer is? Of course not, they are hoping the buyer will desperately overbid to get the property.

I find it highly ironic that now Countrywide insists that buyers be "properly qualified",  when they were the leaders in poorly written mortgage loans. Why didn’t Countrywide check employment history and financials themselves during the sub prime heyday? Chase Manhattan did. Instead they relied on Mortgage Brokers who’s best interest was to see that buyers got approved and bought homes.

Chase Manhattan insisted on underwriting "safe" loans. They certainly didn’t have the profits that Countrywide had, but they also don’t have the number of foreclosures that Countrywide has to liquidate. Countrywide got greedy and paid the price. How interesting that the few foreclosures that Chase Manhattan has to sell don’t require  the buyer to get pre-approved by Chase themselves…..