FOUR YEARS LATER, MID-AFTERNOON

Well, here I am, four years after my last post writing in the middle of the afternoon.  The last time I wrote it was about 3am and the heater had awakened me.  Today, I decided to view my blog, a forgotten link to the outside world, and begin to write again. 

Many things have changed since the time I last wrote on my blog.  I finally graduated and received my Real Estate certification, passed the real estate licensing exam, and was issued a license in June, 2010.  I have been working in the industry for the last two and a half years and have learned quite a bit since I began.  This blog is about the five most important lessons about the real estate industry, and human nature, that I've learned.  I'm only going to cover one point per blog because all five at once is just too much to write about.

1.  There is nothing that can't happen in a real estate transaction.

Since I've been working primarily with buyers, the examples given are from a Buyer's agent perspective.  
It all appears easy on paper - buyer finds a home, makes sure they are preapproved for a loan, makes an offer, offer is accepted, contract goes mutual, escrow is established, inspection of home is performed, any inspection issues are resolved, buyer and seller mutually agree to move forward after inspection to closing, contract closes, property title is recorded, buyer gets the keys and becomes the new owner.  Voila! 

Well, not so fast.  From the time the offer is submitted to the time we get to the voila portion of the process, there can be, and usually are, any number of stumbling blocks that can slow down the closing and sale.  There can be anything as simple as a signature missing on contract paperwork, to a house with a foundation crack found at inspection that needs to be repaired to the tune of $20,000 by the seller. Or, there may be an uncooperative buyer and/or seller, or BOTH!  Human nature and personalities play a huge part in all transactions of life, and selling/buying a home can bring out all sorts of personality traits, some that can help to sink the purchase and sale process.

The best way to begin the transaction is with clear and concise communications via telephone and email with all parties involved. Setting this up at the beginning of the transaction can help to prevent any misunderstandings along the way.  Clear, concise and correct paperwork is another way to state the contractual agreement between the two parties and help to avoid any disagreements that may occur.

There isn't anything that can't be remedied with a bit of ingenuity, experience, cooperation, negotiation and a smile.   This is not always the case and not everything can be overcome.  However, working along with a  cooperative listing agent, a proactive Closing Agent who can be an ally in the mix and,  even more so, cooperative and understanding buyers and sellers, can hasten the closing of a transaction and have a happy outcome for all.