The Closing Table. It's not always as magical as you imagined. (An Ascension Parish realtor story)

So you found the perfect home for your family in the Greater Baton Rouge area. You have all your ducks in a row. The only thing left is the closing…what could possibly go wrong?Closings can be the most fantastic, amazing, and wonderful thing to happen after you’ve made it this far. You imagine sitting across from the buyer/seller with them handing over the keys. Everyone is smiling over this joyous event and then… You hadn’t prepared for such hostile buyer/sellers. This is destroying the magical moment you have seen on television a thousand times!  It’s like someone just pulled the proverbial rug out from under your feet. How can this be fixed before it the event goes down in flames? Perhaps that was a little dramatic (and purposeful for effect) but I have seen closings that were smooth sailing; and I have experienced ones that should have been a part of a reality show. Over the years I have learned to gauge these situations accordingly. Early on in my career I was ill prepared for the “drama” that happens during the home buying/selling process.  I’ll give you a case in point. My very first closing was in the state of Louisiana right in Ascension Parish.  I had a couple that was buying their first home together. “Tom and Jane” had bought homes before, but not together. Their current situation found them renting, so they were more than ready to buy again. Tom and Jane were very excited to break the renting cycle and buy a home to raise their two young daughters.  They had worked very hard to raise their credit scores.  The market at the time was just starting to come down from the “boom” caused by Hurricane Katrina.  Homes were beginning to sit just a tad longer and sellers were more willing to negotiate.  I spent several weeks looking with them, showing them new construction and other re-sale single family homes.  Then they found “THE HOUSE” of their dreams.  It was perfect for them, only a few years old,in the town of Dutchtown, in a great neighborhood, and right in the Ascension Parish school  district that they wanted their daughters to attend. We put in an offer, and waited.  I was just as emotionally invested as they were, so when the offer was delayed in response, I was shocked.  I mean really? We gave a good offer and in this was past the time response!  I was on fire, calling the listing agent’s phone every ten minutes down to the last hour. When he finally decided to return the call, he was casual with me on the phone and didn’t seemed to be concerned with timelines.  This was unacceptable to me, but my customers wanted this home. I just had to grin and bare it. Sure enough, several hours after the deadline, we had a deal.  This included several counter offers bouncing back and forth. I felt the same as the clients…beat up, but relieved they got the home they wanted.

On the drive back from my office my feeling of relief was swirled with the thoughts of the selling agent’s passive responses.  He had gotten under my skin so badly that I wanted to scream.  Shortly before I pulled into the driveway my cell phone rang.  It was Jane, and she was asking me some questions about why this contract was going the way it was. I could hear the anxiety in her voice. I told Jane everything about what had transpired behind the scenes.  I thought being honest with her about the details would make her and Tom understand why this wasn’t going the way it should have. This, of course, added to their stress load; but now they had a deal.  I tried to reassure her things would be smooth sailing after this fiasco. (It’s going to go smoothly now, right?)

As you can imagine, it did not. We had inspections to go through.  Tom and Jane did the smart thing and hired a home inspector. The inspector found several items which needed to be addressed, but none of them were “scary”. There was fog in a double pain window, nail pops in the dry wall, the air conditioning needed servicing and various other non-alarming issues.  I thought we would be in good shape when I sent over the report, but you see, I had already set the tone for the process.  These items became a “big deal”, especially when the seller would only agree to do half of the repairs.  The buyers wife was beside herself.  She didn’t even want to be a part of the process any longer.  Her husband and I were to handle the sale from here on out. We came to an agreement on the repairs.  Everything was done.  Time had passed, emotions had settled, and all that was left before closing was the walk through.  The home was ready to close.  We did the walk through.  Jane was there, and she seemed happy but reserved.  I could tell she was hesitant to be overly excited.  This wasn’t how she imagined it, because I hadn’t shielded her from the stress. She walked through the home slowly, checking all the items that were supposed to be repaired prior to closing.  As she checked off her list I could see the stress leave her face.  By the end of the walk through we were all smiles.  All that was left was to close-the happiest, most fantastic, amazing, wonderful, thing to happen since this began.

CLOSING DAY!!!! I walk in with my folder. Tom and Jane were all smiles.  I shook the hand of  Mr. “passive” listing agent, and we waited for the title attorney to enter.  Only a few more moments, and this deal was done!  We waited, and waited, then waited some more.  The door opened, and I was called out of the room. The closing attorney says “There’s been a mistake.  The title was indexed wrong in the court house, and the seller has a mortgage that needs to be paid from the closing. We can’t get a hold of the mortgage company since it is Friday at 4pm.” He said some other things, but my mind was racing.  I could feel all the color rush out of my face.  How can I fix this? How could I tell the buyers this now!?  So I didn’t.  I had the title attorney do it.  I could see on the Jane’s face that someone had just pulled out the rug.  All of this could have been avoided if I had just had the knowledge that I have now.  I failed them when I told them about Mr. “passive” listing agent, and I failed them when I didn’t have them close separately from the sellers after the problem with repairs came up. I learned many lessons from that deal never to be repeated again.  The sellers allowed the buyers to move into the home that weekend even though the deal hadn’t closed, but the joy of buying their first home together was ruined because I didn’t have the knowledge to shield them from the stress.  I visit these buyers every year to drop off my yearly poinsettias for the Christmas holidays, and every time I leave the driveway I wish I could turn back time and give them that magical moment of which they were robbed. I can’t turn back time, but I learned a valuable lesson for future clients. Closings can be a magical, wonderful experience, and I always strive to make them a truly pleasurable outcome for all involved. I have mastered the art of diffusing stress, something in which I take great pride. Home buying and selling can still be crazy, but it’s your realtor that can and should make all the difference. It’s my job to shield you from the process and make your life just that much easier. I hope to have the opportunity to be there for you!