What Questions Should a Listing Agent Ask the Loan Officer About a Buyer?

A listing agent should call the buyer's lender before presenting any offer to the seller. That conversation covers responsiveness, verification of income and assets, credit status, automated underwriting results, and loan commitment timelines. Most agents skip this entirely. They receive an offer, forward it to the seller, and ask, "What do you think?" without gathering a single piece of intelligence about the financing behind it. In South Florida, where roughly 15% of contracts fell through nationally in late 2025, that shortcut puts sellers at unnecessary risk.

Why Calling the Buyer's Lender Before Presenting an Offer Protects Sellers

A preapproval letter on its own tells you very little. It confirms that a lender looked at the buyer and decided to write a letter. What it does not reveal is whether that decision was based on verified documents or a casual phone conversation. Some lenders pull credit, verify income, and run the file through Desktop Underwriter before issuing the letter. Others hand one out after five minutes of unverified self-reporting from the buyer.

The only reliable way to tell the difference is a direct phone call. On the Discover South Florida Podcast, Larry Mastropieri walked through why this step is non-negotiable for his team:

"We want to get on the phone with the lender or broker and just tease out information. There's a list of questions I go through. First off, if I pick up the phone and try to call the lender, does he answer me? That would be a good start. Believe it or not, there's a lot of people that don't answer the phone."

How Lender Responsiveness Predicts Deal Problems

Responsiveness is the first filter and the easiest to evaluate. A lender who does not return calls on a Saturday afternoon is going to cause problems when the underwriter needs a document at the eleventh hour. If the lender proactively emails the listing agent after the offer is submitted and says, "Hey, anything you need, give me a call," that is a green flag. Silence or delayed callbacks signal the opposite.

Larry also watches for whether the lender reaches out on their own when the buyer's agent CCs them on the offer. That small detail reveals whether the lender treats every deal as urgent or just waits to be contacted. In a market where timing can make or break a transaction, that distinction matters enormously.

Verification Questions Every Listing Agent Should Ask the Buyer's Lender

Once the lender picks up, the conversation needs to shift from pleasantries to substance quickly. A strong listing agent avoids yes-or-no questions. Open-ended prompts pull far more useful information out of the conversation.

Larry described this technique on the podcast:

"I say, 'Hey, talk to me about this buyer.' And the lender will chat. We just let them talk because they tend to give information. You ask open-ended questions, you get open-ended responses, you get information you otherwise wouldn't have thought to ask."

After letting the lender talk, the follow-up questions get specific. Here is the checklist that separates a prepared listing agent from one who is winging it:

• Have you verified the buyer's assets and liabilities with actual documentation, or are you relying on verbal self-reporting?
• Has a full credit check been completed, and does the buyer's score support the loan program named in the preapproval letter?
• Is a Desktop Underwriter approval complete, or is the file still waiting for automated underwriting results?
• Has the buyer filed their most recent tax returns, and has the lender received and reviewed copies?
• Can you meet a shortened loan commitment period of 14 days instead of the 30 days written in the contract?

What a 30-Day Loan Commitment Request Really Tells You About the Buyer

The loan commitment timeline question is the most revealing item on the list. A lender who has already verified income, pulled credit, and completed the DU should be able to commit in two weeks or less. When the answer is "I need 30 because I'm still gathering documents," the file is incomplete. That is not a preapproved buyer. That is a buyer holding a letter that has not been fully backed up.

Larry gave a concrete example from the podcast:

"I saw the contract said a 30-day loan commitment period. I ask, could you do 14? Could you do 7? 'No way, can't do it.' Well, why? 'I need this information, that information.' So you haven't got everything. And then, 'Oh, he hasn't filed his tax return yet.' Got it. Now I understand where we're at."

That one exchange hands the listing agent a clear picture of the deal's risk. The seller deserves to know whether the buyer's file is buttoned up or still being assembled before signing a counter offer.

How Top Listing Agents Call the Buyer's Agent to Uncover Negotiation Leverage

The lender call is only one piece of the intelligence puzzle. A thorough listing agent also calls the buyer's agent and runs the same open-ended playbook. The two conversations together reveal the buyer's financial position, their flexibility on price, and how motivated they are to close.

Larry Mastropieri contrasted this with the standard approach most agents take:

"The classic agent gets an offer, sends it to you, calls you, and says, 'Let's talk about it. What should we do?' It's like, well, have you talked to them? No. You don't have any idea. How can we make a decision when I haven't gotten all the information?"

The One Question That Gets Buyer's Agents to Reveal Their Hand

Larry shared a specific example from the podcast that illustrates how much a single question can shift the negotiation:

"I ask, 'Hey, why'd you choose that price?' And they say, 'I know, I know it's a little light. They have flexibility. Just get me a counter.' Now I know they're flexible. Most agents just give up their hand when you ask that question."

That response reshapes the entire counter strategy. The listing agent now knows the buyer is willing to come up. Instead of guessing at the ceiling, the seller gets a counter recommendation backed by real intelligence. This kind of work happens before the listing agent ever dials the seller's number, and it is the difference between an agent who facilitates and one who actually advocates.

Sometimes it takes two or three rounds of calls before the full picture emerges. A tax return might need to be filed. Bank statements might need to be submitted. The lender circles back to confirm progress, and only then does the listing agent brief the seller with a complete report.

How Listing Agents Should Present Offer Risk to Sellers in South Florida

After gathering intelligence from both calls, the listing agent presents the offer to the seller with something most agents never provide: a risk profile. The offer is not just a price on a contract. It is a price with context. How solid is the financing? What documents are still missing? Where could this deal fall apart?

Larry described how that briefing sounds in practice:

"I'm going to say, 'We probably should take this because we don't have a better offer right now. But here's the risk profile. They need to get from their accountant this and this for the loan to pass through. The lender's telling me they're great, he's going to knock it out. But this is a flag and it could become a problem.' That's my recommendation. And so you're going into this saying, 'If this blows up, Larry at least told me in advance.'"

Why Informed Sellers Make Better Counter Decisions

That level of transparency transforms how sellers respond to offers. They are not blindsided if the deal unravels at day 25. They understood the risk before the counter was signed. They weighed the price against the probability of closing, which is the only way to evaluate an offer honestly.

Sellers listing homes in Delray Beach, West Palm Beach, or anywhere across Palm Beach County deserve this level of diligence on every offer. A home's price matters. But certainty that the buyer can actually close at that price matters just as much. Both answers come from the same source: the phone calls that most agents never bother to make.

List Your Home With an Agent Who Does the Homework Before You Decide

We do not forward offers and ask what you think. Before you hear a single number, we have already called the lender, called the buyer's agent, and built a complete picture of the deal's strength and weaknesses. That is how we protect your equity and keep you from wasting weeks on a buyer who was never going to close. Reach out to The Mastropieri Group, Realtors®. Call (561) 544-7000. Tell us about your property, and we will show you what a fully vetted offer process looks like before you list with anyone.