So, you are under contract. Great! You may be wondering what your agent is doing for you now. If you're a buyer, they are not driving around showing you houses anymore. The contract is written. Is their job done? FAR from it!
Much of what the agent does to facilitate a closing happens during the period between the signing of the agreement of sale and the actual closing date.
Many times the agent is involved in ordering inspections, surveys or appraisals. The agent can also help the buyer find a mortgage lender or help schedule needed repairs to the property.
Brokers and real estate agents have many contacts in the world of lenders, property inspectors, surveys, insurance agents and the like. Often these people offer fees to the brokers and agents to get their referrals.
Whether providing a lot of assistance or a little, the licensee's role is to check on the progress of activities along the way so that the actual closing will go as smoothly as possible. This includes the following:
- Communicate with the client. Make sure the client knows what is happening every step of the way.
- Communicate with the other party's agent. The licensee needs to promote his or her client's interests, but everyone wants the sale to close. So it's important to work with the other agent to see that the transaction closes successfully.
In addition, the licensee should handle the following activities:
- Make sure that the escrow instructions prepared by the escrow agent accurately reflect all of the terms of the purchase and sale agreement.
- If the licensee has the responsibility to order inspections, he or she should do so in a timely manner. If the responsibility belongs to someone else, the licensee should check on the completion and the delivery of the reports to the proper parties. The licensee needs to help the client through the process of preparing the inspection notice, asking for repairs and seeing that those repairs are completed and re-inspected.
- Check with the lender to see how loan approval is coming along.
- Check the appraisal results and help the client decide how to proceed if it comes in low.
- Keep track of any special provisions included in the sale, such as items of personal property.
- When the title report comes in, find out if there are any problems that need to be addressed.
- Make sure the buyers have obtained homeowner's insurance and see to it that a copy has been delivered to the escrow agent or lender.
- Check to be sure the sellers have everything in order for moving out, such as arrangements for trash hauling or scheduling of a cleaning crew to come in and clean before the buyers move in.
- If buyers are moving in before closing, make sure the rental agreement is ready and signed.
