I've Seen Fire and I've Seen Rain in the last day and a half. We had a couple of maple trees fall down during one of the ridiculously strong windstorms from a couple of weeks ago. Every time the burning got going, we'd get a cloudburst! Embers and coals stayed hot though and I kept on keeping on and finally got all the wood burnt. Since I've spent a lot of time burning wood, I've decided that burning wood is a lot like working real estate.
Let's just take buyers. First there is the monumental task of prequalifying for a loan...no wait, first there is the explanation of why it's important to prequalify for a loan BEFORE you get to ride around and look at houses. No wait, first there is reviewing agency and securing a Buyer's Agency agreement.
Buyers who are seriously wanting to purchase a home and who want to do it right will be willing to listen to these things. Buyers, if you are reading this...IT IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD! This is also the first indication that the agent you are talking to knows anything about their profession.
Lots of discussion happens next. What does the buyer want in a house...what don't they want in a house? Where do they want to live? What are they willing to compromise on to get something in their budget? What is non-negotiable? Are you ready to make this commitment?
Now the search begins...throw the wide net and start narrowing down choices. Select the top favorites only. We'll start with those. Now, we get in the car. Then we review. Maybe we found the right one the first time out. If not, let's figure out what was wrong with the "favorites" BEFORE we look at anything else. Re-evaluate parameters and go again.
Once we find "the one", jump on it. Negotiate in good faith and don't play games. If this doesn't work out, then we can look again. This is grown up stuff. Trust yourselves and trust your agent. Let them do a comparable market analysis and base your offer on recent sold houses. Work towards a good contract, if you really want this house always leave a door open for continued negotiations.
Okay, finally - you are under contract. So, Buyer, do you think you've worked hard so far? Not really. Now's the time to take care of ALL of your due diligence. If your lender or your attorney asks for something - take care of it immediately. We'll send you the names of home inspectors, pest inspectors and any other service providers you need. Get them hired and scheduled QUICKLY. Review your reports promptly and get with me for any repair negotiations (if any). If all that turns up is rinky dink stuff, ask respectfully and the seller will probably take care of it. If its a serious problem, get a realistic estimate for repair and let's negotiate (again-respectfully and in good faith) for the repair.
You are in the home stretch now. DO NOT switch jobs, DO NOT buy anything on credit, DO NOT make unusual deposits or withdrawals from your account before closing. IF the lender thinks something is odd, get whatever documentation they ask for...IMMEDIATELY.
Take care of your final walk-through right before closing. If something terrible as happened, like the appliances are missing or the lawn has been removed, we might have leverage to delay closing. However, if the lightbulbs are missing - let's not sweat that. We can run up to Lightbulbs R Us and pick something up to check the fixtures if you want. This is NOT enough to delay closing.
The great news is that eventually, deals close and buyers get into their new homes. Just like finally, the pile of maple is cleaned up. Now we are ready for the next buyer...or the next fallen tree.
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