Friday Diary of a Charlotte Realtor® | 22SEP17
Another wonderful week in Charlotte! The weather has been perfect for lunch meetings and dining on outdoor patios of some fantastic SouthPark restaurants, showing homes, clients doing their final walk-throughs, Closing on their dream homes and an inspection this week!
The lesson of the week is a repeating one and you'd think that my list of Worst Lenders in the US would be complete by now but, another one managed to rear his ugly head...
One of my wonderful sellers, relocating to Florida, was due to Close yesterday in Charlotte, then fly to Florida for Closing on his new home there. Every single thing about this transaction had been wonderful - the agent on the other side, the buyer and seller, the inspection report, the fact that the home was sold at our Open House and my seller sold above list price...everything was perfect!
Evaluating the Offers and interviewing the lenders prior to the seller accepting the perfect Offer, the buyer who ultimately purchased the property, had an out of town lender, necessitating our waiting until Monday to finalize the Contract - the lender wasn't available until then. The pre-approval process had been completed and the buyer 'has impeccable credit, a great DTIR and doesn't have to sell his home....well qualified.' He seemed a bit taken-aback with my question, "How many of your loans Close ON TIME?" but, did answer, "Unless there's something unforeseen, always."
Good answer? Maybe, but, what is 'unforeseen?' To him, it was "an unexpected last minute LARGE purchase or job loss." Good enough and my seller loved the Offer so, okay, this is the one!
My seller quickly went under Contract on his home purchase in FL and worked with the seller there to coordinate Closing 24-hours after Closing was scheduled here on the sale. Yes, we all know that this can be hairy sometimes but, it DOES work and I've rarely not been able to accomplish it - at least on my end!
The appraisal came in right on the money - we're almost there! Ten days prior to Closing, the package was reportedly sent to the attorney to put together the CD and the number-checking began. Four days prior to Closing, I checked in with the buyers' agent to be sure that the CD had either gone out for the buyers' approval or was going out within the next 24 hours. Yep, that was done!
WOW, never in my life had we had an easier transaction! 24 hours prior to Closing, I get a call from the buyers' agent. The package isn't at the attorney's office! WHAT? "WAIT! You said it was there 8 or 9 days ago!" Well, the numbers didn't match and according to the paralegal, it was a 'sloppy package' and had to be re-done. The BA had phoned the lender and the lender said he would 'TRY' to get everything to the attorney in time. I'm sorry, 'try' just doesn't get it! So, I asked her if she minded if I phoned the lender and she encouraged me to do so.
He did answer his phone - I'll give him that - but, he was flippant and a complete jerk to me on the phone. He even repeated (twice), "I never know when the Closing is, I just get the docs out when they're ready!" O M G! I really thought my head was going to explode! Hey, if you messed up, you work late and FIX whatever it is you need to and you OWN the issue. Sadly, I needed him to get the job done, so I didn't say what I really wanted to say to him.
I hung up, phoned the BA back and the more we chatted, the madder I got with the lender so, I phoned management and found that I hadn't been the first in this transaction to escalate a complaint to management - evidently, he had made the buyer's life so miserable, he had already done so! The manager assured me that the attorney would have our package by the end of the day - no ifs, ands or buts!
At 4:45, the attorney notified us that they were going to be staying late to complete everything for our early morning Closing - they had the package! Everyone had to stop what THEY were doing to take time out of their days and even away from their families, to cover for the lender's actions. Sadly, I believe in my heart of hearts, he doesn't know that, nor would he care if he did realize this.
One more lender has been added to my list of Worst Lenders in the US - seriously. And, the good news is that my seller Closed on his Florida purchase today, as planned!
Another thing - my seller was not aware of the issue with the lender - he was packing to move and had enough on his own plate with his FL home having some exterior damage and a new appraisal having to be completed before they could get to Closing there. I was not about to bother him with anything unless I absolutely HAD to...and I didn't, thank goodness!
Yesterday, I Closed with a wonderful past client who purchased a fabulous renovation and they couldn't be happier! They used one of my preferred lenders from Bank of America's private banking group and had a flawless transaction. Again, wonderful buyers & sellers, great agent, nearly perfect inspection but, minor issues happily addressed by the sellers, spot-on appraisal and we even Closed 5 days early because the lender and both parties were ready!
Let me just add, Jose Diaz with BOA is AMAZING and did such a wonderful job with this transaction. He is most definitely on my BEST Lenders in the US list!
Happy clients, happy agents! #LifeIsGood
Personally, I have nothing to add but, I did try another first on my Big Green Egg - a Boston Butt. It turned out perfectly but, took 14 hours to smoke it and it was torture smelling that thing smoking all day! ;-) We're trying to decide what our next experiment on the grill will be!
The finished product...
I'll leave you this week with food for thought...
Have a fantastic weekend everyone!
© Debe Maxwell | The Maxwell House Group | CharlotteBroker@icloud.com | Friday Diary of a Charlotte Realtor® | 22SEP17
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