How Sweet it is!!! Tips for Having a Smooth Real Estate Transaction

I had known a client for 2 years and had shown him properties way back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth (pre-mortgage meltdown). Life took a turn and he decided not to buy at that time, but I kept in contact with him through emails and postcards.

After stepping out of his time capsule and the influences of the news media, he decided to go through the process again. We made offers on seven homes and lost out to the properties due to multiple offer situations (every offer was above asking price.) The eighth was a charm and we entered escrow 37 days ago.

Through the whole transaction, he kept asking, "When is the $h!t going to hit the fan. We've been moving smoothly and I have friends warning me that my realtor must be lying to me because every transaction has problems."

I told him that the reason we didn't get into the other 7 properties was simple- it was not meant to be...

- We had a budget we wouldn't go over

- We never countered with more than we could afford AND no more than the house would appraise at

- We had home specifications we absolutely needed

- We had neighborhood considerations we needed

- We had an FHA loan that wouldn't fund if there were items missing in the house

- We got DU approval on the loan BEFORE we made any of our offers

- We submitted ALL tax information, employment information (including phone number of human resources departments for verification of employment)

Plain and simple, we had all our ducks in a row. I told him, "It's because you trusted my judgement and direction which brings us to the close of our escrow today. You knew it would be a journey which required active participation on your part- I drilled that into you before we even stepped into the first house."

If only all our clients were this cooperative, they would come to the same conclusion of their journey...a smooth and stress free closing.

To all those realtors out there- stand firm in the requirements that you know will be in your client's best interest...even if their friends tell them otherwise!