By Affiliate Alyce Dailey, Co-Owner of The Dailey Group
Back in September, Baltimore experienced an earthquake, a hurricane and flooding due to an exorbitant amount of rain. While none of these natural disasters could be predicted or prevented, there are some natural disasters that can be avoided in the home buying process (if you have a SMART realtor working for you).
Real Estate Disaster Number 1: Title Issues (a 6.5 on the Richter scale)— old tax bills, certificates of occupancy, past mortgages, chain of title, judgments and foreclosures can “shake things up” and break the foundation of an entire transaction like an earthquake in the closing process. Finding an agent who is proactive in predicting and tackling title challenges can be difficult but not impossible. Make sure your agent is competent and aggressive in attacking these issues so that they can deal with the issues early on in the process and have them resolved before you make it to the settlement table.
Real Estate Disaster Number 2: “Hurricane Appraisal”–Hurricanes are often so dangerous because even though we know they are coming, their destination is unpredictable–sometimes changing their course at the last minute. An appraisal is similar to a hurricane in that everyone knows they are coming, but agents have more ability than you think to direct where the appraisal “lands.” A proactive agent is going to save an appraiser time and energy by providing strong comps for the appraiser. A SMART agent is also going to help the sellers stage the house to make it more marketable to the buyers AND appraisers. When you have an agent taking these steps to control the pending disaster, “Hurricane Appraisal” is downgraded quickly and sunny skies follow.
Real Estate Disaster Number 3: Severe Flooding in the Form of Credit Issues, Asset Issues, Employment Issues–Federal regulations are making it more difficult for buyers to acquire loans and making the process feel as if it is easier to get a top secret clearance than it is to become pre-approved for a loan! The “flood” of documentation required to become a borrower is extreme. A SMART agent is going to pair you with a loan officer who is committed to coaching you through the process by properly structuring loans, explaining deposit and job abnormalities, and optimizing credit scores thus avoiding some of the biggest disasters in the home buying process. (By the way, we have a few excellent loan officers that we can recommend to you in this process!).
Some real estate natural disasters are unavoidable, but many of them can be avoided if you have a SMART agent working for you. Whether you are selling or buying…YOU NEED THE BEST (and the SMARTest). At The Dailey Group, we are SMART agents committed to helping you Buy. Sell. Live. SMART!
-Alyce
P.S. Don’t forget to refer us to those you care about. Excellence should not be a secret!