Real Estate is a 9 - 5 Business

From the time a home goes under contract until the day that we all go to closing, time is of the essence.

The time lines in the contract are our guide.  Inspections and contingencies and the closing itself are pre-determined on the binding agreement date. 

The binding agreement;  the date on which all parties are in agreement on the terms of the contract.  It starts the clocking ticking on all of duties to be performed by the buyer, seller, listing agent and selling agent.

While agents, buyers and sellers may work together at all hours of the day and night PRIOR to the binding agreement date, the other people involved in helping the transaction get to closing AFTER THE BINDING AGREEMENT, DO NOT!

Yes, you may be able to reach your loan officer after normal business hours, but I can assure you that the loan processor and the underwriter went home at 5pm.  The "business" day is over for them.

The same goes for appraisal management companies, insurance agents, title companies, closing attorneys and the myriad of other business professionals involved.

During period  between binding agreement and closing, BUYER AND SELLER RESPONSIVENESS is extremely important.  A delay of a few hours can mean the loss of an entire business day.

For example, your loan officer calls you at 4pm on Wednesday to request a mortgagee letter from your homeowner's insurance agent.  You decide to wait until Thursday morning to make the call to the insurance company.  Instead of calling at 9am, you wait until noon, the insurance agent is at lunch and doesn't return your call until 2pm.  Since yours isn't the only file the agent is working on that day, you don't receive the mortgagee letter until 4pm.  You forward it to your loan officer at 4:15, he forwards it to the loan processor at 4:30.  The loan processor puts the letter in the stack of files on her desk to be processed the following day, RIGHT BEHIND THE OTHER 20 FILES that she will work on...TOMORROW.

You've lost a day.

I know it can be difficult for buyers and sellers to always respond right away due to jobs and family commitments...life is hectic. 

But, during your real estate transaction, it's best to keep in mind that TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE and you are dependent upon, at the mercy of and restricted by the schedules and workloads of many, many other people who also work 9am to 5pm.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net