All is Well that Ends Well

A Realtor does not just work with her clients but with a team of individuals. Yes, my client is the centerpiece of everything, but there is a lot happening behind the scenes. One of the frequently asked questions is about closing; why does it take 30 to 45 days to close? For many the consensus seems to be that once you’re under contract you are done, especially in the current market where everything seems to be waived by the buyers, why not able to close in a day or two. Sometimes a quick closing is an option, usually two weeks, but that requires everything to click in seamlessly, there is no room for hiccups or bumps in the road. So, what happens between signing the contract and closing.

When everyone has accepted and signed, and we have done our happy dances and hoorays, that’s when it all really starts. I mean looking at homes with clients, narrowing down what they are trying to find and getting their offer accepted can be time consuming, and sometimes extremely frustrating especially to your client. It may seem like it’s and endless flow of ifs and maybes, and getting your offer accepted is many times quite nerve racking, but for us agents the nerve racking part often comes after. Sometimes we see shadows in places there really isn’t any, but a deal isn’t done until its signed and recorded, and there are about a gazillion things that can go sideways before the date of keys exchanging owners.

"quite often there are either minor or major problems"

First comes the preliminary title, and if all goes well there is nothing interesting about the title. However quite often there are either minor or major problems needing to be taken care of, in order for the title to change ownership. Legally, a home can not be sold unless it has a marketable title. Sometimes it’s that grandma or grandpa that gave the home to you in their will and are still officially the owners even if they are long gone, or it could be that the spouse was never taken of the title during a divorce. Is there an easement? Has it been recorded properly or are you just allowing your neighbor to drive through your property? Has the seller paid their taxes? Did the seller pay their child support? All these things can end up clouding the title, things a buyer has no way of knowing about until they are under contract. Yes, you have seen the home, you liked it and you won the fight for it, but in all reality, you know absolutely nothing about the seller. Many times though, these things may came as a surprise to the seller too. Making sure the title can be transferred from one owner to another can take anywhere from a couple of days to weeks.

In the olden golden days, when we still used to have inspections – well we still do, sometimes – jumping through the hoops of inspecting and negotiating the results takes time, and so do the possible repairs. With many properties, an inspection may mean a series of inspections, and one inspection might start a chain reaction of inspections. I’m currently working with a buyer purchasing a rural property, and on top of inspecting the condition of the home itself, we have been also inspecting the septic system and the well. It would be awesome if everything always passed with flying colors, but the reality is that most times there is something. Make a wild guess, do you think a lender is willing to lend for a home without a bathroom, with mold or no running water? Ummm… no.

"we will try to negotiate the situation with the seller"

So, we make sure the home can be sold. We make sure it is indeed in livable condition and that the bank thinks it’s a great deal too. The bank will also want to make sure the property is worth the money you are planning to pay for it. Sometimes this will end up being the problem. Will the home appraise? Especially if you ended up paying a 100k above the listing price. You loved it, you wanted it but does your lender agree? What can you do if the bank disagrees? Is there anything you can do? Oh, yes there is. Realtors are known to sometimes being able to turn the head of an appraiser by presenting additional facts to support the purchase price, and if that does not work and you did not give up your financing contingency we will try to negotiate the situation with the seller.

Many of these things happen behind the scenes with two realtors, escrow and the lender, working on patching up things. Yes, we keep our clients informed and ask for their opinion when it is needed, but at times we want to come up with possible solutions prior to reaching out and causing undue despair. Wouldn’t you want to hear the possible solutions with the bad news?

There was a buyer, just a couple days out of closing where the lender suddenly informed the realtor that they were no longer willing to lend due to something that came up with the property. It was of no fault of the buyer. Neither was it the fault of the lender, but there it was just a few days prior to closing the buyer was no longer able as much as they still were willing. What happened next, was the lender contacting the realtor, the realtor contacting the listing agent, and the realtor contacting escrow. All these things happened prior to letting the buyer know there was a problem. By the time the buyer was informed the lender had a worked up a couple of new options for the buyer and the realtors had already talked about pushing the closing date. There already was a solution and no panic was needed.

All is well that ends well. But a lot of things happen before you get to closing table.