Over the last few weeks I probably have written 12 offers, 6 have been accepted, but only 2 are going to close at this point. I have had everything from Chinese Drywall to the Buyer just decided not to go through with the contract 4 days before closing. It is crazy, but it sure seems like there is something in the air.
I had one fall through the day before closing on a condo apparently the condo does not have a master flood policy. Most of the unit owners carry their own policy. The lender did not fund the loan, and needless to say we did not close. First of all Why does a Condo Building not have a master flood policy? Second of all why did it take this long to get the Condo Questionaire back? The lender should have known about this weeks ago. Crazy.
I had another one fall through because my buyers found out this particular community they were purchasing in has Chinese Drywall, and got pretty spooked. They have 2 kids and did not want to jeopardize their families health.
A third one fell through because after we agreed to the contract, the seller asked us to extend the closing date a month so my buyers said okay. Then the sellers asked us to move up the closing date a month and lease it back because they were concerned with my buyers FHA financing. My buyers reluctantly agreed, and then the last straw was they wanted a 10 day loan committment. Are they nuts. Financing takes at least 3 weeks now, and FHA is more like 30-45 days. SO the deal went south.
Well those are my stories, but I am so ready for a great week this week, and look forward to putting deals and keeping them together this week. Good luck to all this week.
David Serle
Vice President/Managing Broker
RE/MAX Services
561-912-3500 Office
561-912-3502 Direct
561-756-3104 Mobile
David - Its a totally differnet market these days. Both sides of a transaction , Listing agent and Buyers agent may "touch" the same file multiple times and months before a settlement occurs
I have been saying this for a while. I am very busy and working very hard, but it is super difficult to get anything to closing! I have heard the same from numerous agents. Good luck and stick with it!
So true....it's the keeping them together to close that we need. All we can do is do our best. It is what it is~
Portsmouth NH Real Estate
Laura, Holly & Patricia,
thank you for your comments. I guess we will have to work harder, smarter for less money. We however are very fortunate to make the kind of money we do make. Have a great 2009
David,
Keeping sales together until closing is the name of the game these days. I think every person in the transaction these days is looking for a way to get out. Just had it happen to me last week with a buyer cancelling on the seller's refusal to complete every repair the buyer requested. I knew it was going to be an issue, I even stressed that to the seller's agent when we presented the form, guess he didn't believe me. I told him again when I got the seller's response back that this particular repair was very important to the buyer, was he sure he didn't want to go back to his seller and discuss it a little more. He said no, just present the seller's response and if the buyer balked we would talk about it again. I knew when I gave the response to the buyer what was going to happen but I did as I was instructed. The Buyer got mad and walked away from the sale just like I knew he would. After I notified the seller's agent that this was the buyer's reaction, the seller came back and tried to credit the buyer at closing for the repair. The buyer refused, he was one of these people who once his mind was made up there was no changing it. Buyer's these days want the moon and if the seller can't or won't give it to them, they are going to walk. There are just too many properties to choose from and the buyers know it. They want it all or nothing.
David, great blog, very true you can always find buyers HOWEVER "back of house" qualify get the deal close 2 separate issues. Have a great and successful week