Real estate is an emotional transaction and a large one at that. There are so many moving parts that it is rare things will go exactly as you imagined.
A good REALTOR® will prepare you for this, and discuss with you the different options at every bump in the road.
Less than good REALTORS®, will disappear or do little to keep you informed, causing the deal to get more emotional elevated.
I had a hot listing in Davie where we had multiple offers the first week. We selected one with a good offer price closing in 30 days with 20% down. I spoke to the buyer’s mortgage lender who assured me 30 days would be no problem to close.
Representing the sellers, our job really is just to sit back and wait. The buyers can raise concerns on the inspection and loan commitment contingencies, so we just wait to hear from them.
The buyer never said anything about the inspection, and that deadline passed.
We got close to closing and everyone said we were totally on time to close. I contacted the buyer’s agent, the lender and the title company each day, a week before closing, checking on everything. (I am a bit more proactive compared to a lot of other agents.)
Sure enough, the day before the closing, they said they needed a week extension. I am all for playing fair, and as long as you tell me what is going on with your side, I will do my best to help. But if you are not being entirely truthful on your end, it is more difficult for me to help you.
My sellers and I talked and felt that it was fair to give them a week extension. We also expressed our concern that they need to keep us better informed on their other closing so we can all work together.
Any more time needed after that week extension, and we will charge a daily penalty for delays. All parties on the buyer’s side said that was enough time and promised to keep me updated.
I did some digging and found out that the buyer had to close on her home in order to close on her new one. The buyer did not disclose that on her contract with us and the buyer’s agent only brought that up towards the end of our contract deadline. They only had slightly alluded to it in prior discussions, that the buyer already sold her house. What they didn’t tell us was that the buyer on their deal was having issues with the condo board getting the final approval, causing delays on closing the deal.
If they had been up front about this from the beginning, we probably would have been more understanding throughout the process. Instead, they choose to say that everything was ok and kept us in the dark.
During that extension, I called and emailed all parties each day trying to get an update. The buyer’s agent kept saying that they would have the approval any day. They did not keep us well informed.
Again, we get to the day before the extension closing deadline and they asked for more time. These delays cost my sellers money since they are still paying for mortgages, taxes, water, electric, insurance and so on. We charged a $40/penalty until it closed.
We did close a week later and the penalty was paid for… by the buyer’s REALTOR®.