Canadian buyers disappearing as U.S. dollar strengthens

Editor,

I’ve been a Realtor in South Florida for over 20 years, and worked with thousands of Canadians. They’re a very good clientele and mostly cash buyers. With the recent drop of the Canadian dollar, however, my three short sales contracts failed. I was expecting those three closings in November 2008.

1. The first one, a cash buyer, didn’t get bank approval within the 60 days. As per his contract, the buyer then had a chance to get out. Believe me, he got out fast. He’s not interested in buying any more.

2. The second one couldn’t get a mortgage, even with 30 percent down, good credit and a great income.

3. Third one, a cash buyer, is trying to get out of the contract after the bank approved the short sale.

I had lots of prospective Canadian buyers that contacted me in August. I was expecting them to come down to Florida starting in October, but not a single one is coming. The dollar dropped and the stock market too.

In this time of crisis, the Canadian dollar should be at least equal to U.S. dollar. If so, more Canadians would and buy foreclosures and short sales. That would increase sales and help the U.S. economy.

Marguerite Huet
Ocean View International Realty Inc.
Hollywood

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