Yes Timmy, There Is A Santa; But No, We Won't Be Home For Christmas...

Holidays unleash a myriad of emotions for new home buyers

I'm the type of guy who reads e-mails and then replies. Not "reply to all" but just a simple "reply" to the sender. I also get really, really mad when someone forwards my emails to other people without my acknowledgment. Case in point. A couple of weeks ago, I sent an email to a listing broker letting her know that my clients were getting fidgety because their lawyer said that he was waiting for some documentation that hadn't yet been received from the seller's attorneys. I urged the listing broker to have a conversation with the relevant parties on her side to help facilitate the buyers' attorney's requests (tongue twister).

Well, what ensued was the unleashing of Hell. Not only did my email get forwarded, replied upon and re-replied upon, but a bigger issue came up in that the buyer's lender who had been uncomfortably silent, finally spoke up and said "No Commitment Letter For You..." despite a conversation literally 20 minutes before stating that the loan had been approved and a commitment letter would be forthcoming. You can only imagine the barrage of e-mails that ensued.

But there is a human (emotional) aspect to all of this. When all the boxes are checked and documentation filed, will we have forgotten that my buyer clients are the innocent victims of the mass confusion caused by service providers that are stretched too far and not on top of things? I'm talking about the short sale negotiator who doesn't know the file and repeatedly ignores the closing attorney's requests for some form of acknowledgment by the primary lien-holder that the second lien-holder and seller have agreed to settle the extinguishment of debt for more than what the primary has offered. Or the lender for the buyers asking for information about the proceeds from the sale of a car over six months ago (lender has had this file since August).

We were supposed to close on November 30, then December 14, then today. Because no one is playing nicely, we don't have a loan commitment, the short sale approvals need to be extended, as do the purchase and sale contracts.

Where are my buyers in all of this? Well, they already packed up their apartment and moved out. Most of their possessions are in storage. They are living with friends and the three year old son keeps on asking "when are we going to live in our new home?"

I know that this scenario is common place. That's why I want to syndicate a new Realtity TV show called "Buyers Gone Wild". Here's the first segment, written compliments of my buyer clients when they heard that Larry, Moe and Curly were back at it last week.

"That is unacceptable, we will turn this down if that is the case. My house is packed, I'm living out of boxes, I have a distressed three year old who doesn't have a Christmas tree. I am leaving on vacation to see my parents on the 28th and am swamped with work until then. Jxxx and I have jumped through every hoop we have been asked to. We were promised a Dec 14th close and I expect someone to do something about this immediately. I understand that this is a short sale, but there is no reason that we shouldn't have been able to close this deal in the allotted time. If there is something that the underwriter needs for closing we should have been made aware of that immediately not today. I'm tired of being pushed around and I will not have my sons Christmas be ruined bc people are not communicating effectively. Someone needs to get in touch with me or Jxxx immediately to discuss this...."