I recently wrote Keys to Home Buying Happiness and listed 5 points that I thought would help a buyer navigate the market.
In this expansion of that post, I’m going to talk about Using Top Professionals.
Buying a home is a huge investment, but not just of money. You will be investing your days, nights, memories and experiences within the walls and around the neighborhood of where you buy. When you make this huge of an investment, it’s easy to think you might save some money here and there and do okay. You might, but what if you don’t? I’ve answer hundreds of questions on forums on Zillow and Trulia and it’s not uncommon for someone to beg for advice on how to get out of a deal on a home they hate or how to sell a home they bought for the wrong reasons. Money saved on a bad purchase is lost two to three times over trying to undo of fix what went wrong.
Who are the top pros you need when buying a home? Your Broker/Agent, Lender, Inspector and Title & Escrow Closer are the primary ones. There can be others based on the specific transaction, but if you have these 4, you should be in good hands to find the others.
Your Broker/Agent. In Washington we are all considered Brokers now, but we serve the same purpose as
always; to help our clients find, offer, negotiate and manage the sale of Real Estate with the client’s best interest as primary. It’s easy to say we put our clients first and by law we are supposed to, but I can honestly say it doesn’t always happen. Without bad mouthing my profession, the 80/20 rule applies and it could even be 90/10, where 90% of the business is done by 10% of the brokers.
There are brokers who are poorly managed, under trained, new, inexperienced, experienced but haven’t learned much despite their experience, greedy and some just unethical. Getting a license is easier than being good at using it. Learning takes effort, time and willingness to change. If the managing broker is poorly trained or ethically challenged, the brokers they manage will likely follow suit.
Now, before I get too far there are some well-trained, well experienced great colleagues out there. They are a delight to work with and while they zealously advocate for their client’s interest as they should, they do it professionally and ethically. Having a broker like this will lead to a good outcome for all involved, provide confidence in the process to those they work with and generally have smooth transactions. If you don’t have a top broker on your side and the other side does, you’ll come out poorly in the end.
Lenders are like other professionals, some good some less so. As a formerly licensed lender, I know a bit
about the process and who does a good job, has the products a buyer might be looking for and who to avoid. Working with a difficult lender can be like taking a roller coaster ride when you’ve eaten something that doesn’t agree with you. They don’t communicate, you don’t know the status of your loan, they don’t anticipate what an underwriter is looking for, they pass the buck and it’s just a frustrating process. There are some companies I advise my clients to avoid. My experiences with them have all been negative. They may eventually close the loan but they make the process miserable and uncomfortable for everyone involved. Even the seller is concerned when a questionable lender is involved. In a competitive bidding situation, the will accept another offer from a more reliable source.
Inspectors have a tough job. They must find everything that might be wrong with a house, let the buyer know what might go wrong in the future and present it in an honest, but not alarming way. All homes have issues. I regularly recommend even new construction homes receive an independent inspection and my inspectors find issues every time. 
Some inspectors are just awful. They may be licensed, but again getting a license in a profession doesn’t mean you are good at it. Some are alarmists and feel it’s their job to turn everything they find into a crisis. Some are well intended, but don’t have the time, tools or experience to really inspect every aspect of a home. I’ve had some inspectors break things, point out minor issues like creaks in the floor while missing major ones. My buyers have the right to any inspector they want. Some will choose one recommended by a friend or is just getting started in the business. My suggested inspectors are pros who I know will do a great job, has the technology, experience and capacity to explain complicated systems in fairly simple terms. When you are done, you know what you have, what you need to do to maintain it and what may need immediate attention.
Title & Escrow. These are two different professionals, but often within the same company. Title will research the history of the property and insure the property. Volumes have been written about this. It’s an often overlooked and underappreciated service. You don’t want to find out how important their function is, but when you need it, it’s critical to have a top company behind you.
The Closer/Escrow is the funnel through which every part of the transaction flows into and out of. They will collect the contract, earnest money, Title, lien history, tax records and more. It’s their job to cover countless bases and keep everyone informed through the process. My major complaint about closers through the years has been communication. When they are on top of things and communicate regularly I know the status of the transaction and whether we’re on schedule or not. When they don’t, it can lead to a nerve wracking experience, especially if things don’t go as planned and we find out after it’s too late. Contracts have dates and none are more important than the closing date. While the borrower & lender are most responsible for this, the closer is the one who brings it all together in the end. A good closer anticipates, communicates and can be the difference in a happy closing experience and a frustrating one, even when things that go wrong isn’t their fault.
Each of these Top Pros could be expanded even more, but this is long enough. To have a Happy Buying or Selling Experience, make sure you select Top Pros in each area.
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