In Real Estate Closing is Everything.
Sales is all about checks, contracts. You really can’t have one without the other and I suspect that from the beginning of time there have always been some people that have been more motivated than others to get things done.
When I first started in sales roughly 35 years ago, it never ceased to amaze me how my company’s”priority to keeping the promise” or the “lack of urgency” quickly defined what kind of company we were in the customer’s eyes. Great company’s develop great cultures and the best salespeople are the facilitators and provide to their customers exactly what they need and want as promised. It is pretty much that simple.
Did you ever notice how, people that are very good at what they do make it look easy. So easy in fact, that bystanders get this false sense of confidence and think that they are going to get the same results the first, second or third attempt. I see it all of the time. It is an… “if she can than I can do it” to mentality. The problem is that she has been doing it well for a long time and you are now just trying it for the first time and maybe you shouldn’t expect your results to be quite the same. It is called experience and when you need to accomplish anything worth while you might want to seek out the help of the best people that know a thing or two about what you want to accomplish.
Which leads me to the topic of the day. “Closing”. It is a simple concept. In real estate, “Closing is when the buyer gets the Deed and the seller gets the Cash”. Up and until that point the process is just a symbiotic relationship where the seller wants to sell and the buyer wants to buy. It IS PRETTY STRAIGHT FORWARD, but you would be surprised at how many houses that never make it to the closing table because the process was not understood or worse was not respected by either the buyer, the buyers real estate agent, the lender, the seller or the sellers real estate agent.
There are lots of reasons that sales fall apart and NOT everyone of them can be attributed to a real estate agent, but most of them are in fact because of a lack of EXPERIENCE and RESPECT for the processes that gets the seller and buyer to the closing table. I know it is harsh, but some real estate agents stop participating once an offer gets accepted and forget that their purpose is akin to the front line of a curling team in an olympic match. It takes a lot of effort from a lot of people and your agent should be out in front removing all of the obstacles and be alert to every detail of that process.
Who is responsible for what and when is probably one of the biggest mysteries of the process and often times it’s when contract is handed off to title by opening escrow that the mischief begins.
What Happens After the Offer is Accepted?
Offers, counter offers, addendums all make up the purchase and sale agreement and detail the terms an condition of the sale. Once that document is ,
disclosures, lender criteria, credit reports, credit updates, inspections, inspection reports, requests for repairs, appraisers, appraisals,
The speed at which files move from one place to another is arbitrary at best. Timelines, like the terms and conditions of a contract are only as good as the intentions of the people that enter into them.
Without getting into the nitty gritty detail of each failure, in real estate every sale should have at least one champion. at least one champion.
Escrow by design, is a painful weeding out process of sorts. The filter that either brings the house to closing, or not. Left to its own devices, I suspect most real estate transactions would eventually close, but if it weren’t for the commitment of the really good real estate professionals (investors, lenders and agents alike) on one or both sides of a sale, I know there would be a lot more delays or outright failures. What the industry needs is solutions. Not necessarily in technology, but in humans moving mountains, because that is the promise that they made when they accept a client. I would venture to guess that over 35% of all of my hundreds of real estate transactions were delayed or killed by the lack of action because of one or both real estate agents.
I admit that I am hard on real estate agents because sometimes I think that real estate marketing is better at selling the concept of using a real estate agent then is the effort employed by most real estate agents to represent their clients all the way through to closing. Part of that is the lack of an effort after a seller accepts an offer and the other part of it is the flaw in the design of the model that 90% of a real estate agents employ”. Peter Westbrook
I write these articles because I have been seated on both sides of the closing table as the buyer and the seller. I know what the best real estate agents can do to get through closing and I know what the average real estate agent does that can kill the deal. You heard that right. Simple things that they should know… like follow up and honesty and professionalism and a desire to see your CLIENT accomplish their goals through the signing. You know, Deed and Cash Stuff.
Let’s start at the beginning… it starts with hiring the best at every step of the way. When you hire professionals at every step of the way the your chances of achieving your goals are virtually guaranteed and the outcome is anticlimactic. If you hire mediocrity, you get delays, lots of drama, finger pointing and the 11th hours jitters. There is nothing pretty about mediocrity and yet seller and buyers unknowingly seek it out every day.
Sales and Marketing are Not the Same Thing
Sales as a profession is universally misunderstood and oftentimes confused with marketing. In real estate, the confusion is rampant because in general there are just so many disconnects between the two, that many real estate agents actually believe that they are sales people. From the extent that they are cold calling either by knocking on doors and making phone calls to get listings, it is true, but the vast majority of what real estate agents are supposed to do is marketing.
The marketing is what gets the phone to ring and people viewing houses. The selling is what checks and contracts are made of. In an industry where approximately 87% of all real estate agents wash out in the first five years, it’s no wonder the disconnect is there. It also explains two other facts;
- 72% of all people that hire a real estate agent, hire the first real estate agent that they talk to regardless of their experience or expertise and
- Nearly 40% of all listings with real estate agents expire before there is an accepted offer
From a sales perspective that is a very poor performance and it says three things;
- the bottom 40% of the real estate market is grossly underserved
- the homeowners that want to sell their houses are part of the problem based on the way that they hire real estate agents with little or no due diligence
- Most real estate agents have a difficult time with marketing houses and targeting buyers
The statistics bear that out. There are so many weaknesses at the grassroots level that make it difficult to sell houses. So much so that I can assure you that unless you are hiring the best real estate agent in your market, you are not getting what you pay for. Most sellers believe that they were paying for great representation and a marketing machine backed up by a billion dollar logo, with a billion dollar plan. In reality the real estate agent is it… there is no billion dollar anything to step in and save the day.
Lets just be honest, closing starts with hiring the right people. As the seller you need to know that you are the frontline and it’s up to you to pick the best real estate agent if that is the route that you go. If you only hire the best you frontload the probability of the outcome every bit as much as if you chose the worst. That one effort to get the best representation guarantees that you’ll get buyers in the door and that really starts with the interview process. Who said finding the best real estate agent was easy? But if you want this effort to be successful, you need to find the best qualified real estate agent that understands how to get the job done.
The Offer Has Been Accepted… Let’s Close!
Not so Fast. What about the details?
Sell My House Fast Stockton Closing is Everything
I have witnessed two agents steadfastly refusing to do what each viewed as the others job, all of the while, not recognizing that neither were representing their clients. I have witnessed loan officers ignore contractual timelines because they were inconvenienced or worse yet they used the timelines as a shield not to close ahead of schedule.
The Alternative Sale With a Built in Closing Date
In real estate it is known as the “sure thing”. An all cash offer with no inspections, no contingencies, no lenders, no inspections, no appraisals, no repairs no upgrades, no cleanup and it comes with confirmed closing date with no backing out.
My name is Peter Westbrook and I am a real estate Investor and a cash home buyer in Sacramento, Stockton, Manteca and Modesto. It should come as no surprise that not every house is going to get a fair shake on the market have the best representation or even going to get a top of market offer. The real estate industry has changed and it might be clear that there are many ways to cash out of your house.
We Buy Houses in Sacramento, Stockton and Modesto is a great solution for selling your house that needs a lot of work, why not at least consider an all cash offer. We buy houses in any condition and we pay fair market value minus the cost of repairs and some holding cost. In a lot of cases the balance sheet is on our side especially if your goal is to spend the least amount of money while putting the most amount of your equity back in your pocket.
I admit that we may not be for everyone, but I would like to talk to you about how we do business and how we can help you. While no one can promise that they will buy your house sight unseen for whatever amount that you want, we will sit down and make a fair cash offer that will in most cases exceed what you can get if you chased the market conventionally. No Commissions, no frustrating meeting with real estate agents, no marketing, no cleaning, no fixes, inspections, no appraisals and no contingencies.
Give us a call at (209)481-7780. What have you got to lose, you may just find out that selling directly to us is your best alternative. In either case you will be get a better picture of your options, understand your houses worth and be able to make more informed decision. We’d love to earn your business.
