Much of our time in real estate is waiting for something that you have set in motion to come to fruition. This might be a small or large item in the scheme of your work day, but there it is. You have to depend on others to follow through. Most often there are things you can do to speed along the process, whatever it is. Here are some examples of what "waiting" can happen in any normal day:
1. New listing on the MLS: You hold your breath to see who will respond.
Obviously we don't just throw one out there and see what happens. We do some advertising, blogging, calling our client base who might be interested, hold an open house or broker's open. So this is not a normal "waiting game" because you can do plenty while waiting. Most agents have a well oiled machine for this task to get buyers to come out of the woodwork. Still, you wait for those offers to come in, not just generate traffic and interest.
2. Waiting for offers to come in when promised.
Agents will roll their eyes when an offer has been promised. Talk is cheap. So you wait.
3. Having buyers contact you.
The first thing to find out is "when", is their search just starting, how soon do they have to move into a new home, do they have their financing lined up. Sometimes it takes the buyer some time and soul searching to buckle down and get serious about looking. I don't know about you, but I don't go out and help my clients look until they have their ducks in a row. The good, well priced homes go under contract quickly. So what's the point? There can be lots of waiting there.
4. Once you have made an offer.
This is probably the most intense waiting period of all, to see if your buyer's offer has been accepted. I try to make this period short, sometimes giving the seller only a day to respond. This gambit does not always work, but it's worth a try.
5. Your buyer's offer has been accepted.
Now you have a whole lot of tasks to perform in a relative short period of time. If you are getting loan, the lender will put you through your paces. It helps to have your financial side in order so that you can forward what they need pretty much instantly. Better yet, have all that organized and possibly already at the lender before you find your dream house.
6. Your seller is sitting on pins and needles:
If there is an inspection and appraisal contingency in the contract, the waiting period for these to be done and signed off on by the buyer can be nail biting.
7. Communicating with everyone:
Through all of these waiting periods, we, the real estate professionals have to be calm and cool and make sure both sides of the transaction does what is spelled out in the contract. And sometimes you need to prod, beg and cajole to get it done in a timely manner.
What's the answer to the waiting game?
ORGANIZATION
You see how each part of the transaction has its moments of "waiting" but in our business we never actually STOP to wait. There are so many moving parts to a transaction, we just fill that space with the many other items that need to be done that maybe someone else is waiting for!!
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