When are agents most exposed to potential liability?
Tomorrow I'm offering a free info webinar on transaction management courses I teach to real estate professionals.
In thinking about the benefits of taking the classes it occurred to me that most disputes arising from clients and agents occurs during the pending sale transaction period.
In discussing this with several associations of realtors, they agreed wholeheartedly with my assessment and added that most disputes were a result of lack of education on behalf of the agent.
I know there is a lot of focus with new agents to teach them marketing skills to get the listing or buyer. Certainly this is an important stepping stone to developing a solid business plan.
However, I believe that clear instructions should be given to the new agent on how to manage their pending sale transaction. There are so MANY tasks that must be coordinated, a lot of negotiation and working together as a team.
In my 16 years experience as a coordinator and office manager, I have seen agents destroy perfectly good deals due to lack of knowledge with contractual law, the inability to create win-win negotiations, and work as a positive contributing team member.
Transaction management is COMPLEX. Agents must understand not only what the role is of the other team members and provide them with the tools necessary to do a good job, but they must also know what part THEY play in the transaction.
Contractual obligations such as contingency removals are so important because they can make or break a deal and put the buyers and seller in vulnerable positions.
Understanding the ramifications of removing a contingency is also important and protects not only the clients but the agent and broker as well.
Finally, having some sort of system to keep the agent on track with the many tasks and contract timeframes is always good practice whether an agent is working on one or fifty transactions at once! I use a computer software program to track my transactions and at least 100 tasks are assigned to an average pending sale file (Ok, Ok I'm a teeny bit obsessive compulsive!).
What kind of training/tools have you received thus far in your real estate practice to help you successfully close pending sale transactions? Perhaps it's time for brokers to consider investing a little time and effort into this important aspect of real estate. Think of all the millions of dollars worth of deals that could be saved through reduced liability and successful closes!
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