House 1, Offer 1 Again - Made This Time

Well, after finding the VA forms on the internet, I realized that the offer period was still open on House 1, so I might as well make an offer! I just submitted an all cash offer for a bit less of the asking price. I also included the letter from my bank showing I had the funds available.

While searching for the VA forms, I also came across the instructors to the listing agent from the VA. One of the things they say they require is that the agent collects the earnest money from the buyer when the offer is accepted. I can't really believe this is done. I mean, the agent collects checks from everyone making an offer, than returns them to all those whose offers weren't accepted? Seems like a lot of busy work to me. I think what happens in reality is that the earnest money is collected when the offer is accepted or when / if the VA counters back with an offer.

Update: Just got a call from the listing agent and he told me there was "a lot of information missing." He claims the VA requires that I use an agent, so I have to fill out that section of the form. No big deal. I'll put down my agent's name. He also says the back of the form needs to be returned. (The back is page 2 of the electronic form.) This page is pure text with no spaces anywhere to sign. He says I need to initial paragraph 9c,which states the buyer will pay for title checks. I also need to fill out the sales commission section. This is typically 6%, but must be at least 3%. Since my agent charges me only 1%, this means my commission costs will be 2% less than the typical bid, which means more money to the VA, which could improve the chance of my offer being accepted.