Real Estate Buyers Etiquette-#2 During the Sale!
5 Tips To Help You Survive!
Ok, you've driven around with your realtor endlessly, looked at every dump, shack and shanty from here to Brazil, and you've finally found it! BY JOVE! It's the one! You've made your offer, negotiated back and forth and back and forth and back again. Eureka! You're in escrow!
The hard parts over right? I mean, what else is there?? . . .
Whoa there buckaroo-the fun is only beginning. Finding the right property was just the tip of the iceberg. Here are some tips-to help you (and your realtor, lender, escrow officer, etc) cope with all the twists and turns of the escrow process.
Tip #1: Be Realistic:
By this I mean, understand that while you may have purchased property before, the process changes quickly- very quickly. Laws change, rules change, people change. We constantly have new paper work to fill out, more information to give and more to do. Just because you have only spoken with your lender and your agent, doesn't mean that they are the only two people in this process. There are a lot of people doing their part to make your home purchase move forward toward the close. These include, but are not limited to: Home inspectors, pest inspector, escrow officers, escrow assistants, title officers, lender, underwriters, appraisers, appraisal departments at the lender, funding department, not to mention your realtor and anyone else they need. There is quite a bit, so sometimes, things don't move forward at the speed of light. The whole team trying to close your escrow are good-no doubt, but give them some slack especially when things so sideways . . .
Tip #2: Things Always Go Sideways:
Seriously, in the smoothest escrow, where the buyers are cash and the seller is great-things can still creep up. Things you've never imagined. A pipe can burst during escrow, there is some sort of cloud on the title no one knew about! Things happen, it's life. But expecting everything to run perfectly then freaking out when they don't-isn't advised. It doesn't help your nerves or anyone else's. Believe me, it is hard enough to close a good escrow-it's even harder when expectations are unrealistic. So, just learn to expect the unexpected- I know, much easier said than done.
Tip #3: Do Your Best:
This sounds strange, but there is really very little for a buyer to actually do in escrow. They have to gather paperwork and read and sign everything under the sun, but there is very little to 'do'. With that being said, please, please PLEASE for the love of your agent. READ ALL THE DOCUMENTS. Now, I know there is a lot of reading. A LOT, but it is in your best interest to read it. As weird as it may be, it is not your realtors job to read it for you. There is no substitute for the real thing. There is nothing worse for the agent or the buyer to find something out AFTER you purchased that you are not OK with, that was actually disclosed. With this in mind-do one more thing-turn all your documents in on time. It is important! So important, in fact, that it states it right in the contract that "TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE" which means that everyone will do their very best to make sure everything is done in a timely fashion. This isn't grade school-the teacher isn't going to ask you where your homework is every day, they are just going to expect you to return it ASAP. Some things are hard to find-your lender may ask for documents that you have filed away or the escrow may want information you don't have yet. Just do your best. The better you do your part, the better everyone can do theirs.
Tip #4:
Do Your Research:
It is your agents job to get you comps for the property, to make sure that they hire the inspectors and pest people you want, organize everything, help you negotiate and etc, etc. You can rely on your agent for wide variety of things, BUT, the agent can't drive by the home at night to see what the parking situation is like, or how loud the soccer game is at the park next door (I mean, they can but they can't experience it for you). There are some things in a transaction that can only be experienced by you. What your agent might think is minor-you may think is major or vice versa. For example, selling a home near a busy road may be difficult due to noise-unless the buyer used to live in the air path of LAX. It's all relative. Do your research. If something is important to you-such as day time noise, barking dogs, parking, etc. Make sure you visit the neighborhood at different times of day to obtain the experience you can't get from paperwork.
Tip #5: Be Honest:
Ok, so, I'm not assuming that all buyers are liars, (hey I'm a poet! haha), but sometimes people are not as willing to share information with their agents as they probably should. If you have an agent you trust (and you should!). You should tell them everything that is important. I do realize, that many people leave details out purely by accident. Many times people don't tell you information because they don't know that it is important or that it means anything. But, I always recommend people to give me their full story. I know, sharing financial or family information with someone you don't know well is weird. But it can be imperative! I've had clients neglect to tell everything from the fact that they were selling their home to buy-(they changed their mind mid-escrow) to telling me they were paying all cash when in reality they were getting a home equity line of credit! Not realizing how these things affect their current escrow can prove disastrous. Many times people just don't know what they don't know-and that, is hard to know! So when in doubt-spit it out!
I know that purchasing property can be hard. It is an emotional process and it's hard to make sure that you remain calm and collected. But, if you are able to follow just a couple of these tips, you will be able to make rational good decisions that benefit you in the long run and get you the house you want.
Till Next time!
G
Comments
Post a Comment