So after several months and a multitude of viewings of homes, you have finally found your first starter, or move up or at last, your amazing dream home.
You put an offer in. The other party asks for your prequalification letter or proof of funds. You aren’t paying outright for your purchase, so proof of funds isn’t as critical (but many times some listing agents will want you to show proof that you have the “out of pocket” money as well as your lender’s letter showing you’re qualified and approved for a mortgage, pending your appraisal for the final written commitment.
You immediately call your mortgage person on their office number; but it’s Friday after 5 pm and he or she is gone for the day and you don’t have their cell, because either they didn’t provide it to you (which they should have in advance) and you didn’t ask for it, which you should have done at your first conversation! Your offer was excepted pending that most important lender letter of your pre-qualification. Your mortgage person doesn’t call you back until
Monday (not the most action-oriented lender whatsoever) and you finally receive the letter. You now have that most important document you then forward over to the listing agent or your agent that is representing you and then call them too.
To your dismay and sadness, someone else has also put an offer in and because
they were more prepared, they ended up getting not only the agreed and
accepted but the inspection was completed on Sunday, the day before your
lender received your call about your much needed, prequalification letter. I have seen the unfortunate situation so, so many times in the past (I had learned the hard way 25 years ago how crucial that letter is right up front because I too had lost a
sale due to my client not having that most critical piece of paper in their possession as well as my own copy for our records.
Well never again did that ever happen, because I began to understand that “if you snooze or your client snoozes, they lose and so do you!” So I began to make sure to convey to everyone
(as well as outside agents who were showing my properties) the necessity of having that oh so important piece of paper; especially at the time of placing an offer.
All those days and months of showing to end of losing a deal for your client as well as a
very lucrative commission check; for what? Because you or your agent didn’t ask for a very simple document that would have made your sale happen.
The pain that occurs is sometimes very psychologically disappointing and depressing, especially when today the inventory is less than optimum ( more than 5.4 months and
normal inventory as I have said in previous columns is 6-7 months) and many
buyers are still very picky and sometimes have specific, “needs and wants.”
So to lose that one home that you finally “fell in love” with due to a single piece of paper is heartbreaking and sad for not only the purchaser but for the agent too, especially if it is a new agent who hasn’t completed a transaction yet or it may have been several months since their last deal.
This could have been prevented if everyone knew what to ask for in advance of presenting their offers! This is why training and constant mentoring is so crucial, especially for a new “green” or fairly new agents who need to be cuddled and groomed to become strong producers.
It is tantamount to their path to success in earning an excellent living. The real
problem is that many who earn their licenses do not grasp the gravity of what
they have to do in this or any business when so many have come from or are still
in a job position.
Of the approximately 1.4 million realtors in the U.S. almost half have jobs and most cannot perform this business full time. But then again, if many learned how to treat the real estate business like a real business, would they really need a job? Probably not!
However, there are exceptions to those who are fortunate enough to have been able to grow their pensions over the years, so those individuals could not jump ship until the time would be right, it’s called retirement!
I believe in general, due to the lack of proper training and mentoring, by both agents and brokerages, this contributes to a greater than normal dropout rate after the first and second years!
But then again, many think and believe that the road is paved with gold; yes, if they work smart and work very hard, it surely is! Treat it like a business and it will pay you like a business, but treat it like a second job or ancillary income and that is all you will receive.
Philip A. Raices is the owner/Broker of Turn Key Real Estate at 3 Grace Ave.
Suite 180 in Great Neck. He has earned designations as a Graduate of the
Realtor Institute and a Certified International Property Specialist.
He can be reached by email: Phil@TurnKeyRealEstate.Com, or by cell: (516)
647-4289.
