Guess what? There are a lot of new homebuyers out there who don’t necessarily know how to go about the task or initiate the process of buying. I’ve been coaching my daughter and her husband through a home buying process and it occurs to me that certain real estate professionals are taking things for granted these days which could be a “hangover” from the hot real estate market we experienced a while back. I’ll suggest to you that the break-neck pace of that market sometimes required just getting things done without necessarily communicating well with the client and people got out of their good habits. Well, they need to get back into good habits, especially for new homebuyers.

This property was an REO and my daughter’s agent pretty much disappeared after the offer was finally negotiated. In addition, the mortgage broker in the transaction took the initial application and only finally communicated with my daughter when I called up to prod him a little to get things done. Well, it was supposed to close today as the agent and mortgage broker had represented, and she got a call yesterday afternoon saying it wouldn’t close until Wednesday because of the lack of receipt of an employment verification document. So, why wasn’t that addressed several weeks ago?

The kids work, it’s a three day weekend coming when they could move, the weather there is literally freezing, they have in-laws coming up to celebrate the buying of the new house and helping move in, and they have to be out of their rental having given notice and would be out on the street in their U-Haul with their dog, if this doesn’t close today. These are real everyday problems that buyers (especially ones who haven’t gone through it) face as the days wind down towards closing. Real estate pros should re-acquaint themselves with potential problems like this one or they’ll risk the wrath of a very unhappy buyer. Times are tough enough!

I got involved, called my daughter’s agent, called the mortgage broker and asked if they could expedite the documents, record special, and if not, get an authorization from the lender to move in early if all documents were signed, sealed and delivered. Well, they’ve signed the documents as of 10 a.m. today and the agent, mortgage broker and title/escrow companies and are hustling to try to close things up so the kids can move in. So, we’ll see how that ends up.

Some people may say “no big deal”, but it really is a big deal when you think about the circumstances in which the buyers find themselves. I suspect that this story would sound very familiar to a lot of new buyers or even experienced buyers. I’d just like to implore real estate and mortgage professionals to re-think their business processes especially in terms of communicating with their clients. Do it right, and clients will come back. Do it wrong, and they won’t be back. My daughter has worked in many service related jobs and is a stickler for good service and good communication. Unfortunately for these real estate “professionals”, they’ve seen the last of her.