Seems like my clients fall into two categories: The ones who check with me on every detail, and the ones who don’t. Neither category is better than the other… until we have a day like today.

I can’t blame anyone for what happened but me. My client was a first-time home buyer who was doing her best to go with the flow. She had followed all the advice I gave her from the day we met all the way up to closing, which was today.

Last week I went over with her what to expect this week. I told her there would be a walk-thru with the builder, that there would be a re-walk with the builder, that she needed to contact her utility companies to establish services, and that I would be calling her to set a time to go over the settlement statement as soon as I received it from the attorney.

Several times this week I contacted the builder’s agent and the attorney to let them know I wanted to see the settlement statement and asked when they thought it would be available.

This morning I was still trying to chase it down.

I’ve never worked with this builder or this attorney before – and I don’t work this way. I make sure my buyers know how much money (if any) they’re bringing to closing and I make sure they know exactly what they’re signing before they ever sit at the closing table. Showing up blind at the closing table is a no-no.

At the re-walk an hour before closing I let my buyer know we were still in the dark on the settlement statement, and she said she’d been getting calls for the last day or so from people telling her she needed this much, no that much, no this much money for closing.

I was already upset I hadn’t seen the settlement statement one hour from closing. Now I find out everyone has seen it but me.

On the way from the walk-thru to the closing attorney’s office I called the closing attorney – again – to see why I still didn’t have a copy of the settlement statement. She said there had been changes to it since my phone call one hour earlier.

No wonder people think buying a house is stressful: NOBODY SEEMS TO KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON!!!

When we got to the attorney’s office I got a copy of the settlement statement and sat down with my buyer to go over it with her privately. Sure enough, there were still mistakes that had to be corrected. Closing was delayed 30 minutes. The buyer’s stress level soared higher. This is not professional.

When everything had been signed and it was time for the buyer to hand over her check, the attorney refused to take it because it was a money order. Real Estate 101 says money orders are not accepted at the closing table.

Who had been calling my buyer for the past day and messing her up? How am I supposed to keep her straight when I don’t know someone else is giving her bad information?

From now on, my buyers will know right up front to HANG UP when someone other than me calls and tries to advise them on closing… and delete the e-mails! Today would have been a pleasant, enjoyable experience had I been allowed to do my job. Instead, my buyer spent three hours waiting around the attorney’s office, then the rest of the afternoon trying to get her money back from the money order she’d been told she could use at the closing table.

She never even went to her new house.

Don’t let your closing experience get sabotaged by people who don’t have the answers – even if it’s the attorney calling, your lender, or the builder – regardless of what they’ve said, call your REALTOR® to confirm. Everyone else means well, but she’s the only one who’s been with you from the beginning, who knows what you’re thinking, who knows where you are with things, who knows what you need to know, and who knows what you don’t need to know. She’s going to troubleshoot for you, find the mistakes, and FIX THEM so you have nothing to worry about but packing boxes.

This was the feedback from an agent who showed one of my listings this week:

Stephanie, we ended up not looking at this home. Buyers don't want to be in a neighborhood with HOA where they have to pay the fee and are so restricted.

Surprising? Not really. Lately I'm hearing the same thing from the buyers I'm working with.

Whether they've had a firsthand negative experience with a neighborhood HOA (Home Owner's Association) or they've heard horror stories at work and from friends, HOAs are fast becoming the least desirable "feature" for today's home buyers. What once seemed like a good idea to prevent "eye sores" from cropping up in the neighborhood has become a pestering bureaucracy that keeps people from enjoying home ownership.

HOAs have a tendency to transform would-be neighbor-friends into tattle tellers. Rules are enforced by someone the organization designates to ride through the neighborhood looking for infractions (who wants that job?), or neighbors report each other for breaking the rules. Doesn't sound very friendly, does it?

Because of the way the system works, some home owners say there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to who gets fined. Houses full of tenants might get overlooked as the grass grows out of control and the garbage can sits for days on the side of the road, while owner-occupied properties receive letter after letter that demand they power wash their home, remove a parked car from the street, or change the color of their window coverings.

Maybe the HOAs target owner-occupants because they think they have a better chance of collecting the fines they send out? It's possible, but if an HOA fines a home owner for an infraction and the fine is not paid, the HOA can - and often does - place a lien on the property, which means the owner can't sell the property without paying the fine. The HOA knows they may not get their money today, but they'll get it eventually.

The original purpose of HOAs was to preserve property values; however if what I'm hearing continues the way it's going, I'm predicting they will start to have the opposite affect. Which do you prefer? HOA or no?

I'll be on vacation next week. Yes, you guessed it; I'm writing this post to avoid packing. For the last three days I've been making lists at my desk and in my mind, racking my brain and running every scenario I can fathom to be sure all my t's are crossed and i's are dotted for my clients while I'm gone. I'm exhausted. I'll probably never feel ready to let go, but I will.

Another agent will be covering my business for me while I'm gone. I'm lucky to have a peer I trust to share all my client names and contact information with and disappear for 8 days. He'll be able to contact me by text message only. My clients are thrilled. The last time I left town one of my listings went under contract.

I'm writing this to encourage you. You can do this too! Let me rephrase that: You NEED to do this too! I haven't left yet and I'm already feeling the benefits of getting away from my business. I'll come back on June 13 ready to hit the ground running. In fact, I've already scheduled two appointments! The burnout will be cured, my mind will be fresh, my clients will be BETTER SERVED, my business will GROW!!

Over the years I've placed more than a handful of tenants in rentals all over town. It's usually a thankless job that takes up way too much time for the amount of income it provides.

A couple weeks ago I helped a man apply for and rent a house listed by a company and agent I'd never heard of. I sent the application over with an e-mail, the application was approved, and the man moved in over the weekend.

The co-broke check was in my mailbox this morning when I arrived at the office. Enclosed with it was a thank you card from the listing agent. WOW! What a wonderful surprise and a great way to start my Tuesday!

Until now, I've always saved my thank you cards and personal notes for people I know well. But why? This small act of kindness from a perfect stranger has taught me to let go of that idea. What power! What a concept: Spread kindness without restriction!

What would happen if we all did that?

Last week a woman called me, desperate for help. We’ll call her Natalie. She had gotten my contact information from her sister, who had gotten it from a friend who is also a friend of mine. (Thank you!) Natalie was in town for one week and needed to find a place for her family to live.

Finding a place to live is very stressful, especially when you’re in a new town and you only have a week to do it. I believe our job as real estate agents is to ease the stress. We do this by providing solutions. When I get a call like this I’m ready to spring into action.

Apparently, there are a few agents who don’t share the same enthusiasm. Natalie was hopeful but skeptical as we talked. She told me another agent had said it wasn’t worth the gas money to drive to the part of town Natalie wanted to see.

Don’t you just hate it when a few bad apples spoil the good name you’re working to build for your industry? I’m shocked when real estate agents lose sight of the fact that we are here to HELP people. There’s always a chance we won’t get compensated for our time, but if we invest in our clients and focus on their needs with a servant’s heart, the money will come.

It’s been tough to make a living in this market. I’ve spun my wheels trying to help many families who couldn’t be helped. So what? It’s part of the job. My goal every day is to help someone move one step closer toward a dream, and I think there’s a good number of agents who share that same attitude.

If you’ve been burned by an agent in the past… please don’t write us all off. There are still some of us left who will welcome the opportunity to invest our gas money in your dream. Just ask Natalie; I’ll even pick you up.

This week my eyes were opened to a new trend starting with new home communities: The builders are having buyers pay deed stamps at closing.

The fee for deed stamps has always been part of a seller’s closing costs – the majority of a seller’s closing costs – and now builders are passing the fee on to the consumer. In South Carolina the fee is $1.85 for every $500 in the sales price, so on a $100,000 it’s $370; on a $500,000 house it’s $1850.

Having to pay deed stamps may not be enough to stop the show for you if you’re buying new construction, but it’s a fee you may not be expecting when you accept the builder’s offer to pay $3000 toward your closing costs. That $3000 gets eaten up pretty quickly, especially if you throw in a surprise $1000 fee for deed stamps.

Share this article with your Realtor® if you’re buying new construction so you can negotiate who’s paying the deed stamps right up front. It’s spelled out in the builder’s contract but it’s not highlighted or brought up when you’re signing, which means if you and your agent don’t read every word it could become a show stopper at closing… not good!

Call me at 843-870-0890 if you’re buying or selling anywhere in the world; through my network of agents in The Leading Real Estate Companies of the World I can help you move around the corner or around the globe.

How well do you know your REALTOR®? Does it matter?

Lately when I meet new clients I don’t spend much time talking about myself; they already know where I’m from, what I like to do, and how long I’ve been practicing real estate. Last summer I was showing houses to a couple I had just met. We were walking up to the front door of the second house when out of the blue he said, “So what made you join the Army?”

As you can imagine, there was more than a slight hesitation as my mind raced to figure out how he knew I was in the Army when I hadn’t had a chance to say a word about it.

Then it hit me: I’d been Googled.

This is becoming more and more common with the people I meet. Consumers today are doing their research online long before they make decisions about everything from cars to lawn fertilizer, and real estate is no different.

According to the National Association of REALTORS®, 90% of home buyers used the Internet as an information source in 2009. Since you’re reading this article you probably fall into that 90%. While you’re looking up addresses, neighborhoods, and interest rates, let me encourage you to follow the trend and add REALTOR® to your research. In my experience, hiring the right one can mean the difference between closing and not closing.

As an example, consider this: Just about anyone can show you houses or list your house for sale. Closings come from successful negotiations. Your agent may know the market well, but how does he handle conflict? Gathering background information on your agent can help you determine that. Things can get pretty hairy during the course of a real estate transaction. Great agents don’t get caught up in power struggles. They stay focused on everyone’s common goal: closing.

When you hire an agent, you’re hiring a representative of you. In other words, you’re agreeing to have that person act on your behalf. She becomes your face, your voice, your attitude, your brain. Everyone involved in the transaction forms their opinion of you based on the actions of your agent. If your agent is professional and courteous, people think you are too. If not, well, they think either you’re not or you haven’t done your research. And they’ll treat you that way.

Besides Google, a good place to start your agent research is Zillow’s agent reviews. The feedback is pretty basic, but at least you’ll know if anyone is willing to vouch for the agent, and it gives you a way to contact the reviewers if you want to ask specific questions.

As you plan your next move, increase your chances of achieving your goal by hiring the agent that can get you to the closing table. Do your research… arm yourself with a great REALTOR®… and start packing!

For more help in selecting the right agent, call me at 843-870-0890 or see these posts: Today’s Real Estate: Longer Contracts, More Work. Better Hire a Pro, and Is Your Agent Working FOR You or AGAINST You?

There are a handful of questions that come up consistently when I’m counseling home buyers. The process of buying a house can be very overwhelming. Terms like earnest money and down payment get confused with each other, and the time line can sometimes seem impossible.

I’ve taken a few of the common questions I get from home buyers and started a new video series, called Home Buyer Basics.

This video series will be a great resource for anyone thinking of buying a house. The idea is that one specific question about the home buying process will be answered with each short, one-minute video.

So far I’ve recorded five videos:

• The buyer’s agent role and fees
• Why do I need a pre-approval letter (buyer perspective)
• Why do I need a pre-approval letter (seller perspective)
• How much should we offer
• How much time is there between contract and closing

These are just a few to get the series started. Next week I plan to add a few more videos: What is earnest money? How much of a down payment is required to purchase a home? What are the fees required to purchase a home? What happens if the house doesn’t appraise? If I decide not to buy the house, will I get my earnest money back? and What’s a short sale?

Eventually there will be a rather large library of information in the series to help clarify the home buying process for anyone out there thinking of buying a home. If you have a home buying question, please send it to me so I can add it to the series.

Coming soon: Home Seller Basics!

There’s such a pity party that goes on behind the scenes in this line of work. Every day real estate agents are moping around because someone they know didn’t think to hire them when they needed help with buying or selling a house. Hurt feelings turn to anger and then fester and cause resentment toward the acquaintance who “betrayed” the agent by hiring the agent’s competitor.

If you and I have had a conversation and I have failed to share with you how I can help you achieve your goals in real estate and wealth building, is that YOUR fault? If another agent has demonstrated his ability to help you and I haven’t, does that give me a reason to be upset with you? I don’t think so.

In my experience, agents lose business because they’ve failed to communicate. Either they’ve lost touch with the person, the person doesn’t know the agent is a real estate expert, or the person isn’t aware of the agent’s scope of services. In any of these three cases, the agent has no one to blame for the missed opportunity but himself.

If someone I know chooses to work with another agent, I choose not to feel rejected. It’s a learned skill (that I prefer not to practice!). Chances are, the person’s agent selection had nothing to do with me… which is why I’m the only one to blame.

No matter what the market is like, successful negotiations are always a win-win for everyone involved. Buyers who try to take advantage of a seller will lose every time.