This is probably more the standard operating procedure (SoP) in the world of real estate than most other fields. For one reason, purchasing a new home is such a major decision people run on high alert. Add to that, humans are primarily emotional beings. Someone not normally prone to stress can find the whole process unusual and can easily lose their cool. Because of this real estate deals can quickly go from being a Done Deal to becoming an Atomic Explosion.

3 Stages of a Real Estate Deal

Stage 1. Once a home seller gets a contract signed by both parties, that deal should make it to closing 65-75% of the time. This percentage used to be higher but all the changes in financing has made things trickier when/if we get to Stage 3.

Stage 2 contains the home inspections and other related issues. In today’s Buyers Market, home buyers call all the shots; after all, there are currently 9,610 Louisville homes for sale. Any home seller who wants to move forward with the deal needs to look long and hard at the Repair Request given them and see if agreeing to all the items is worth the cost compared to potentially losing this Buyer.

A buyer’s power is also enhanced by carte blanche that lives in the inspection clause of our standard Louisville real estate contract.

When we get to Stage 3, we’re looking at whether or not the Buyer is going to be able to get all his financing in order and on time for the upcoming closing.

Deals Die for Many Reasons

I write about this particular topic today because I’m working to sell my client’s home. We made it through Stage 1 but in Stage 2, our Buyer requested that my client replace the entire roof, rather than just the $380 worth of repairs that the professional roofer identified. Do it, or he’d walk. I don’t have to tell you that this was far from reasonable. My client responded with a very generous offer that the Buyer promptly rejected and now we’re scrambling to find a new Buyer for my client’s home.

So please… learn from our pain that even solid agreements can fall apart when you least expect. To quote Oscar Wilde, “To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect.”

Take today for instance. I met a very nice man considering a move to Louisville. We sat at Starbucks and chatted for an hour or so. During our time, I asked him how he had found me. He mentioned that he did some Google searches and found my site that way. He appreciated the writing on my site, and almost as an aside, mentioned I reminded him of Darrent Gersh from Nightly Business Report on PBS. How great is that?!?

My previous celebrity comparison was Brian Boitano. I’m so glad to have moved up!

Several of my current clients want that bargain buy and I mean to find it for them. Onward and upward!

I posted this over at Louisville Homes Blog but it’s worth a mention here. Some of the most amazing application of new Web 2.0 technology has been and will continue to be in real estate vertical. From streamlining transaction docs to displaying live video of homes, our imagination is truly the only limitation.

Check out this video from Rofo.

I feel that we’ve accomplished both goals. What do you think? As always, comments and feedback are welcome!

Maybe it’s my own psychological makeup because once I find something that works, I prefer to keep using it. Am I alone here?

Case in point—Realtors work for buyers and sellers all the time. With sellers we have a contract that both parties agree to and are (for the most part) bound by so both are bound to one another in good faith. With buyers? Not so much.

There are such things as Buyer’s Broker Agreements but these documents are rarely used. Why? Because most of the time, agents are in such need of new business that they don’t propose using the agreement for fear of driving off the potential client.

I recently had a client that I had provided service for who sent me an email to let me know that he was going to stop using me and start using another agent. Of course, I was frustrated because of the time and energy I had used helping this person try and accomplish their real estate goals.

His reason for ditching me had nothing to do with my references, prompt service, honesty in communicating home values, or dozens of emails and phone calls… he just wanted to work with an agent who currently lives where he’s looking to buy. The time I had devoted to him apparently meant little.

Loyalty is an endangered species.

Maybe I should give that Buyer’s Broker Agreement another thought…

It seems, to me at least, the same thing happens in the real estate business.

Not to get to dramatic, the bottom line is this: Your home’s virtual tour better be more than just the same, static photos set to music or it’s not helping a potential buyer. There needs to be more photos, larger photos, floorplans, something!

Most virtual tours in our Louisville real estate market don’t help a consumer better understand the house they are considering… and it’s sad.