WHEN THE REAL ESTATE AGENT STOPS TALKING
So I find myself today pondering why the Real Estate Agent stopped talking. I have a transaction for purchase of a bank owned property. The buyer was pre qualified and I had been working with her for over six months to be sure she was ready. Then she wrote several contracts and the one that stuck was a bank owned property.
I had no prior experience working with the selling agent, but she seemed to be a great communicator from the onset for which I was thankful.
I explained to the buyer that bank owned properties can be difficult in the best of situations, but knew my loan side was in order so she should not doubt she can get the loan even if there are hurdles associated with the property being bank owed.
The contract took over two weeks to convert to the bank asset form. So two weeks down the drain, but we still had ample time. Then the buyer decided to request $500 in repairs, two weeks again down the drain. During this time the listing agent was not communicating at all but the selling agent was great.
The selling real estate agent and I communicated regularly throughout the process. I invited her to lunch which she ended taking a rain check for. I was anxious to find out more about her because she seemed to be a great communicator and really care about her client. I wanted to send her more business.
The appraisal was ordered with special notice given to the listing agent that all utilities needed to be turned on for the inspection. The appraisal report came in after 10 days and noted the water was not on. We had to contact the listing agent and request he get the water on so the property could be inspected again. The selling agent willingly agreed to pay the re inspection fee of $150.00 because she wanted the buyer to have a positive experience. Kudos to her! Wow! Another week lost.
While waiting on the final appraisal I contacted the listing agent for some seller docs we had been waiting a few weeks for whereupon he told me to call the seller (bank) for the information. I called his seller, Wells Fargo and they said requests had to go through the listing agent. When I explained I had been waiting a few weeks, she gave me what I needed in less than a minute.
The re inspection came in, the loan was approved and we could actually close three days early. Not what the buyer wanted from the beginning, but with all the delays not bad at all. Closing was set the HUD1 created and then the fun began.
The seller did not send a deed or the correct funding so we had to postpone. Then the deed came, but they disputed the taxes and fees from the city. Things that should have been handled way before the closing.
When I discovered the deed problem I notified the selling real estate agent in writing and verbally. No response, not even a whisper. Perhaps she was busy or out of town. Then I followed up over the next few days with constant communication. No reply. She has stopped talking.
I can only assume at this point the selling real estate agent stopped talking because she thinks I did something wrong. She is talking to the buyer, she is talking to the title company, just not talking to me. There was never communication from the listing agent, but I had great expectations for the selling agent.
As I surmise today I am being blamed for a missed closing where I put every effort forward to get done early I am reminded that the lasting impression at closing is so often out of our control.
What makes this situation especially hard to grasp is that over the last two weeks I lost a brother, a cousin and a long time feline friend. I have not dropped the ball on this file for a moment. I did not even share this loss with my buyer; there was no need. I was not missing work; business is business and personal is personal.
While I kept my emotions in check over the last few weeks it appears the selling real estate agent has misplaced some blame and let her emotions take over. That is all I can imagine since she has stopped talking.
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