A couple of years ago I scheduled a listing appointment with a woman who was referred to me by a neighbor. My neighbor said that her friend was elderly and that she was thinking about selling her home and moving to an apartment. I had a brief telephone conversation with the woman about her plans, prepared for my appointment and arrived on time.
The modest home was on a busy street in a reasonably nice neighborhood but needed some obvious sprucing up. I could tell right away that the woman was a little nervous having me there so I kept talking about our mutual friend and what a nice neighbor she was. After touring the home we sat down at the kitchen table and enjoyed a pleasurable conversation unrelated to real estate.
Of course we finally got around to the business at hand and I slowly explained the process of selling her home. She was horrified by the paperwork and daunted by the complicated tasks at hand. I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was. She said " Greg, when my husband and I bought this home nearly fifty years ago, there was one sheet of paper to sign. We both signed at the bottom and made all our payments directly to the real estate company until we paid off the mortgage".
"It's too bad it's not still that way", I said, "but I will explain every document to you so that you understand the entire process, and you will not be asked to sign any document until you know what you're signing". That seemed to satisfy her and together we worked toward an eventual smooth closing.
I really enjoyed being in this situation and having the opportunity to help educate her on the listing and selling process and disarm her fears of the burdensome paperwork involved. We might become too familiar with all these documents and assume that they are readily assimilated by others, which is obviously not the case. This sale was more fun and rewarding than most because she made me aware of my responsibly to help my clients understand this complicated endeavor and just enjoy the rewards of being a teacher.
Shortly after this experience I was fortunate to take the SRES course ( Seniors Real Estate Specialist ) and now enjoy working with the senior market regularly. This one quiet woman taught me an important lesson, always take the time to explain.
Greg Saffell
(206) 617-2247
REMAX Performance Plus
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