Your Team for a Superbowl-Winning Deal
When you buy or sell a property, you want to know you will win. The trouble is, your full-time job is likely not doing real estate deals. Picking the right agent is the first, and most important step. You might think of your agent as a cross between Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs and Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana.
But even a Superbowl MVP Agent can get sidelined after scoring a contract for their clients if they don’t have their ideal team in place. The real locker room secret is that a whole new lineup of players takes the field after the ratification of a contract.
Immediately after your go under contract for the home of your dreams, the contract is handed off to two new players: The title attorney and the lender. MVP agents have these players prepared long before you were even their client.
For the next 35-40 days, the ball changes hands between your agent, the title attorney, and the lender as they pass vital information back and forth between them to arrive at the goal line of settlement.
The title staff arranges for a litany of services, from a thoroughly researched history of the property, survey, and attorney’s review, to underwriting title insurance. This “binder” of information is then quickly pitched to the lender.
For its part, the lender’s closing department sends over their preliminary fees and a package of information about how the templated paperwork should be altered, specific to their underwriting guidelines.
As the team nears the settlement “red zone”, a hurry-up offense exchange of information ensues. The players need to justify what taxes should be prepaid, verify the buyer’s employment, and double-check the recording fees.
Delays of game can kill momentum when small inquiries are left unanswered for days. If every player is not in lock step, the ball will almost certainly be fumbled. On the other hand, amazingly seamless transactions happen when an agent has forged relationships with teammates to stay completely on top of forward progress.
As the buyer or seller of a home, you are the owner of the franchise. How do you know that the best team is on the field?
First and foremost your agent should advise on lenders that are local, vetted, and trusted. Big box lenders or online companies with too-good-to-be-true rates simply do not have consistent, established relationships with any title company, and often fail to have the correct information about how local settlement fees are determined. Sadly, to them, you are just another file and just another commission. In addition, these banks don’t have loan officers who can walk down the hall, get an answer from the closing team, hammer out a detail, and respond to your agent or title company within an hour. They are one-and-done players, and while you might get lucky with a mercenary journeyman, we always advise using time-tested franchise players for our clients.
Secondly, your agent should advise on title companies that are reputable, experienced, and have larger workloads because it’s these companies that have seen every possible scenario before. There are too many property-specific details that can go unnoticed. You don’t want to be forced to punt on fourth down because of title company errors. Their detail in reviewing the property history for past heirs, investigating a trust or LLC, or double-checking lender fees are the little things that allow for the win.
At Kilner & Kirk, we have several such deep relationships established to ensure our clients soar over the goal line at settlement without dropped passes, forced turnovers, or punts. For us, a good defense begins with a strong offense.
