The last few days of a transaction are critical! Communication is …

The last few days of a transaction are critical! Communication is always important!

I have found that often the last two days of a transaction can make the difference if you have a happy buyer or seller. Often times it makes the difference if you will get more referrals from the buyer or the seller.

So why it is that Sellers & Buyers and Agents do not focus on it?

I will just use my last transaction as an example:

The Contractual Agreement was that at close of business 5pm the Seller will vacate his home upon Close of Escrow. There was nothing negotiated about staying an extra minute not a few hours.

We were notified around 10am that the Transaction Closed and the new owner should get keys. Customarily this would be an easy part of the sale. Seller would hand over keys to the listing agent and he in turn would hand over the keys to the buyer’s agent. Then the buyer’s agent would show up with a set of keys and suggest to the new owner: please rekey your home and here is a token of my appreciation.

Simple, but sadly this was not the case. I asked the listing agent for the keys….I got the run around and ultimately was told that the seller has not moved out yet….

Numerous conversation later it is determined that the Seller will vacate the premises by 9 or 10pm at the latest. I was trying to keep the new owner calm… Then the listing agent went underground. No communication at 9pm or at 10 pm…no response to emails…any response to texts…

Sadly around 8:30am the following morning Listing Agent reports that there is a key under the front door mat of the home…

Clearly now the buyer and I are grumpy to say the least. Simple communication: “…sorry the seller was not prepared…he will be out by first thing in the morning…” this email or this call could have prevented a stressful night for both the new owner and me.

It would have been so much easier to have a flow of communication rather than going underground. Now everyone had a bad taste of a transaction that could have gone smoothly till the end. So my advice is for Agents to step up and face the difficult message but that is still better than hiding…

Tell me where I am going wrong here?

If you are a consumer who is considering buying or selling a home, investment real estate, vacation homes, or beach properties in Southern California, Los Angeles, Century City, Westwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Playa Vista, Marina Del Rey, Venice or Malibu. Feel Free to give me a call at 310.486.1002 or email me at homes@endrebarath.com or visit one of my websites at https://www.endrebarath.com Your Pet Friendly Realtor. I contribute a portion of my commission to Local Animal Rescue Organizations.