Picture this... 

It's the week before you're scheduled to close on the home of your dreams. As you're packing boxes, the phone rings.  It's your loan officer, hostile, because they still haven't received from you a document the underwriter had requested.  If that paper is not received today your closing will be delayed.  Your call-waiting buzzes in, your realtor is calling because your title search was never ordered.  Your insurance agent is calling your cell phone because your "dream home" is located in a flood zone and your insurance will now be double.  You drop the phone, start running in circles, panic-stricken with all warm, fuzzy thoughts of your new home going down your throat along with the Pepto-Bismol you just chugged. 

Okay, now you can wake up.  It was only a nightmare. 

Experiences like these happen to individuals who are not choosing the proper professionals to handle their life event.  You choose your team members, (Realtor, loan officer, insurance agent, etc.), because they are reputable and trust worthy. My question to you is, are they and will they work as a team for you? 

The key to a superb home-buying experience is having team members that work for you and work together like a well-oiled machine. The ultimate goal is for the customer to enjoy a smooth process, and happy-ending closing.  Why?  Our largest clientele is simply based upon referrals! We like to keep our clients for life.  If you had work done on your car, and the mechanic did a terrible job while raking you over the coals for your money, would you refer them to your friends and family?  Absolutely not. Same concept with your realtor, insurance agent, title company and loan officer.  It only takes one break in the line of communication to cease the working engine. When the engine fails, so does the home-buying process and so end the referrals, thus ceasing any future relationships.

Make key choices on choosing your professionals.  Ask friends and family, or ask co-workers.  Call these professionals, ask to see testimonials and ask for references.  Every single choice of professional is yours.  Your realtor should be working for you and in your best interests.  Your loan officer should be concentrating on your goals and needs and match it with a suitable mortgage.  This loan officer should be notifying your realtor of the loan amount you are comfortable with and guide you towards homes in that prices range.  You should never be swayed into buying a home you cannot afford by anyone.  I always tell my clients, "you have to be comfortable with your monthly mortgage payments as I will not be paying your mortgage, nor anyone else." Then you should be choosing a title company who is reputable and efficient, and insurance agent with knowledge and who will assist your needs.  All of your choices should be communicated immediately to your realtor and loan officer so there is no confusion.  Please don't forget, you as the client must also communicate and provide your professionals with the information they need, or that too could pose problems.

In the end, if you have a great team of professionals, working for you, communicating with each other, and most of all, the client, you're sure to have a smooth home-buying transaction.