Keep us all working

This post is intended to keep us all working ... period!  I will keep you informed as info is available and will pass along issues that I have seen or been through as this situation develops so that we can all be better prepared to succeed in this volatile market. If you have clients in need of financing in Hawaii or California I hope to earn your confidence and referral.

Okay, on with today's update:

As the saying goes:  "Everything old is new again".  Most of us have been through this before. Here's a few things we've learned from our own experience or from speaking with some of your veteran peers over the last few days:

Get on the phone with your buyers! 

Give them some of the info noted in the e-mail below.  They're probably nervous so just hearing from you will probably make them feel better.

Encourage them to call their mortgage contact person and make sure everything is moving forward

Make sure that they have turned in any and all documentation.  This point is especially critical if the buyer is obtaining any type of alternative financing.  We're receiving e-mails daily from our wholesale lenders telling us about programs that are being removed and establishing criteria for loans already in process but not approved or locked.  If they're missing paperwork that's holding up approval, they may not be allowed to close under that program!

Get on the phone with your sellers!

Again, update them on the current market conditions.  Changing program availability will likely reduce the number of qualified buyers so as we move forward over the next weeks and months "priced right" homes will be the ones that sell!  Do this in conjunction with your mortgage person.  Sometime's 3^rd party validation helps get the seriousness of the market conditions across and will help clients make better decisions with more confidence.

All listing clients should be pre approved for their next home. 

Ask them to call their mortgage person if they are pre approved to make sure that market conditions have not changed their approval status, program options or interest rate range so that they have current information about the financing of their next home.

Ask them to call your mortgage person if they are not pre approved to make sure that they have a way to move into their next home when you sell their current one!  A good tip here is to ask them in an e-mail: "What time would be good for me to have Jane Smith from Wicked Good Mortgage Company call you?".   When they respond, forward the e-mail to Jane.  This allows Jane to call your client even if there phone number is registered with one of the Do Not Call lists and you're not waiting for your client to make a call.  This will save you a lot of time, money and effort in marketing a property that the owner may not be financially able to move out of!

Your mortgage person (or their's) should also be assisting them with a "Seller Net Worksheet" so that they are:

Educated on their financing options and how much or how little they need to put down on their next home

Prepared for price reductions (knowing that there are options that don't require a lot of equity gives them more confidence with a lower offering price)

Prepared for the harder negotiations that will most likely come in this market (they are more prepared to be reasonable if they know what they need to, realistically to net from the sale)

Get on the phone with the co-broker!

Make sure that their listing client is all set with their financing so that doesn't delay closing or at least there's time to offer help or make accommodations if necessary.

Make sure that their buying client is doing all that's necessary in a very timely manner to clear any conditions on their loan pre approval or commitment letter or, again, there's time to offer help or make accommodations in the contract.

IT WILL TAKE THE VERY BEST EFFORTS FROM ALL OF US TO ENSURE THAT HOME BUYERS AND SELLERS HERE, IN HAWAII and CALIFORNIA CAN ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS. 

The more we focus our energy here, the better the chance that we, all of us, endure and succeed in this market.

To our success!