Not all real estate agents are equal. Some escrows become difficult because of one of the Realtors involved. Earlier this year, I closed escrow with an agent who had difficulty with procrastination and telling the truth. What first happened was that as soon as their offer was accepted, he went out of town for the weekend. This should not have impacted anything, yet it did. He didn’t schedule the inspection until he returned. Most competent home inspectors have tight schedules, so of course we had to wait several days for the inspector’s availability.
At the home inspection, he forgot he wanted to order a termite inspection. This took several more days. At each inspection date and time, the owner and their dogs left the home. His lack of scheduling was an inconvenience to both me and my client. After these two rounds of inspections, he said he wanted to check the air conditioning ducts for asbestos. Round three: He and a contractor headed straight for the pool. They never went in the attic. When questioned, the agent said they didn’t have time to do an asbestos inspection. Which is simply taking a sample and dropping it off to a lab. Three different inspection dates and times, and they didn’t have time to take a sample?
Keep in mind most home sellers have spent countless hours cleaning, sorting, and donating prior to getting their home on the market. Then their home is literally taken over by their bossy real estate agent. They leave for open houses, in this instance, two brokers’ caravans and two public open houses. They keep their home in “show condition”. There is a lot of paper in a real estate transaction. Some more important than others. This agent was very slow to return disclosures. This too is an inconvenience to my client. They were busy preparing their new house and packing up the current one. With a better buyer’s real estate agent, most of the paperwork is taken care of early in the escrow.
When it came to the final walk-through, again it was difficult to schedule. After having lived in the home for nearly 30 years, my client had boxes everywhere. They wanted to get this over as soon as possible. The final walk-through simply allows the buyer the opportunity to verify that the home is in similar condition as when they agreed to the purchase. If the seller has agreed to make any repairs, now is the time for the buyer to verify that they have been made.
The final walk-through should confirm that the property remains in the same condition as when the buyer removed contingencies. It should not become an extended inspection. Recently, I represented a seller who wanted to accommodate the buyer. However, scheduling the final walk-through became a challenge. I contacted the buyer’s agent three times to arrange a date. After receiving no commitment, I selected a day and time. He said it wouldn’t work. So, I suggested another date. Again, he declined because the contractor wasn’t available.
The contractor? He had already inspected the property. The purpose of the final walk-through is not to schedule another inspection. Of course, I didn’t object to the contractor attending. However, we weren’t going to schedule the appointment around the contractor’s calendar.
Meanwhile, my clients were growing frustrated. Moving is stressful. They didn’t want to remain in the house during the walk-through, so they planned to leave with their dogs. Unfortunately, summer heat limited their options. They simply wanted to return home as quickly as possible.
Eventually, the contractor arrived. Late, of course. Then the buyer arrived even later. At that point, I encouraged the contractor to focus on his work. After 45 minutes, I reminded everyone that the sellers wanted their home back and that I had another appointment to attend.
Sometimes, a simple courtesy can make all the difference.
