The Oklahoma Real Estate Commission is looking at several home sales handled by sales associates for RE/MAX Associates in Edmond and Century 21 A Northwest Realty in Oklahoma City, a commission spokeswoman confirmed Friday.
In the transactions under scrutiny, buyers obtained loans for more than the actual asking price of the homes, the Daily Oklahoman reported.
Questions were raised during a routine audit by the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission concerning the sales in Edmond’s upscale Oak Tree neighborhood, the spokeswoman said, confirming the report by the Daily Oklahoman.
An associate for RE/MAX Associates represented the sellers and an associate for Century 21 A Northwest represented the buyers, the spokeswoman confirmed Friday.
The homes sold at prices above those fetched by comparable homes, the Daily Oklahoman reported. Though this is not unusual in a hot housing market, in the transactions under scrutiny, buyers obtained loans for more than the actual asking price of the homes, the Oklahoman said. The loans included expenses for renovations, the Oklahoman reported.
All parties knew the details and loan terms, RE/MAX broker-owner Ruth Boss told the Oklahoman.
“We believe that it is imperative that all terms of a real estate contract are spelled out in the settlement statement,” Boss told the Oklahoman. “This way, all parties – buyer, seller, title company and lender – are fully aware and have an opportunity to approve all costs associated with the transaction.”
The Real Estate Commission spokeswoman confirmed that the agency looked at the transactions. She said the agency and the FBI had discussed the transactions. But she said no complaints had been registered at the commission and no state investigation was started. The FBI’s policy is to neither confirm nor deny any open investigation.
John Presley, broker-owner of Century 21 A Northwest, told the Daily Oklahoman he did not know the sales were under scrutiny.
If everything was noted on the settlement statements – the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s form HUD-1 – then no wrong occurred, Presley told the Daily Oklahoman.
Presley and Boss said a thorough appraisal would detect the renovation portion of the home loan and not confuse it with the home’s sale price, the Oklahoman reported. Boss said many homes in Oak Tree, started in the 1970s, need renovation, the Oklahoman reported.
“Many times when a property has been on the market for a long period of time or needs a considerable amount of renovation, a buyer will seek a loan that will ‘fold in’ the renovation expenses in the loan so they will not be out of pocket for these frequently considerable expenses,” Boss told the Oklahoman. “Any anomaly such as this is noted in the MLS.”
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