It’s Saturday morning, and I have been thinking about several songs that I might use to describe my 2013 business as an entry for Ms. Kathleen Daniel’s Contest this month to have a Theme Song for our Business.
I first thought about Donna Summers, “She worked hard for the money”, and then there was Bobby "Blue" Bland’s, “It’s an Up and Down World”. But, I finally decided to choose a song by Marvin Gaye and Tammie Terrell, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”. However, I prefer the version that Ms. Diana Ross sang back in 1970.
Theme: Overcoming Obstacles in my real estate business
Why: 2013 has indeed be a better year in the real estate business for me, but it seems like just about every transaction this year had an obstacle or a mountain to climb to get the deal to finally close. I was told early in my career that every deal is different, and there is something to learn with each transaction.
Early this year I had young couple, who were willing to sell their home at a lost, since they needed to move back East with family to help them with their Special Needs child. Fortunately, we were able to close the deal with them bringing less money to the table than what we had originally anticipated. Their home had gone under contract just as the movers had showed up to pack them out. Therefore, we had to close them out of state with a notary service. They were thrilled that we didn’t have to lease their home.
Then, there was that investment property that failed to close on time due to some tax issues with my seller, and the buyer wanted to reschedule the closing for another 30 days, which didn’t set to well with my seller. Therefore, he gave the first buyer a Right of First Refusal. Investor No. 2 came along with an acceptable offer, and we had to notify the first buyer to see if he wanted to exercise his option to close earlier than the second buyer, since he had that Right of First Refusal. First Buyer decided that he wanted the property, and was now willing to close the deal earlier. Talking about going through the motions, and overcoming an obstacle, we finally got that one sold and closed.
Another time, there was the deal with a military member, who had originally acquired the services of an online lender. The loan was denied a week before closing, since the online lender had made a miscalculation about the property taxes in Texas. That error caused my buyer to fall outside of the acceptable ratios for this particular lender. Now, we were able to save this deal by going with a local lender, who understood the property tax values in Texas. Many obstacles had to be overcome with this transaction, but this young couple were able to be in their new home in time for Thanksgiving.
Finally, I was representing a seller on one of those “Owner Financing Deals”. We went back and forth on the repairs that the buyer was requesting, but the biggest hurdle was that swimming pool in the backyard that needed lots of repair work to make it level again. My seller would not lower the price on the contract to compensate for that pool, and the deal was in jeopardy of falling apart. Finally, it was agreed to filled in the pool with dirt, and sod to make in a level backyard with a lawn again. There were some intensive moments when both agents thought this deal was dead, both it finally closed two weeks prior to Christmas.
Every deal can be a challenge in real estate, but understanding and knowing what the problems and issues are will help you find a solution to be able to overcome all of them. Therefore, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, ain’t no Valley Low to keep me from reaching the goal of closing transactions that get started”.
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