Willy's Whimsical Wednesday Words of Wisdom

Ethics in real estate has always been a concern. Throughout history in good times and bad, nefarious people come out of the woodwork and take advantage of others. From Carpetbaggers to Claim jumpers to mortgage fraud the opportunity to make fast money often brings out the worst in people. From Priests to Pastors, Cops to Cashiers, Realtors to Renovators and Buyers to Sellers you will find bad actors in all categories. In some cases the emotional and economical implications are devastating. The culprit has moved on to their next victim with little concern and often little consequences for their actions. Subprime lenders knew they were making loans to unqualified buyers often not verifying any financial data. Taxpayers bailed them out. Child predator Priests often go back to the Vatican where they are protected for the rest of their days. Realtors and Attorneys for the most part are self policing. Let's let the NFL get rid of the refs and let the players do the officiating. To be fair, criminal behavior in these industries is prosecuted. But it is certainly not a perfect system.  

What to do? How do you protect yourself?

1. I can't tell you how many times I have sent clients a 30 page document to sign and it comes back all signed 5 minutes later. Then I get a text asking "what did I just sign?".

2. Your agent should not have an answer for absolutely everything especially when it comes with an excess of personality. Outstandingly competent agents do exist however.

3. The emotions and economics of a home sale or purchase can be overwhelming. You have to be in touch with your emotions but not ruled by them.Making an intellectual decision on a potentially emotional issue requires running with a cool motor. I often ask my clients to implement what I call the 24 hour rule when making decisions.

4. Trust but verify. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and sounds like a duck there is a good chance it's a duck. The seller is actively using an easement, the title company says there's an easement and the deed reads that there is an easement. There must be an easement.

5. Reviewing and understanding all timelines that are in your particular contract. To include expected performances from buyer, seller, lender, title company and effected agents. My lender said they were going to call me Friday. My agent said they would have an extension to be by Thursday. Seller said this repair would be made 3 days prior to closing.

Following some simple guidelines while paying attention to the overall process offers a lot of protection. The benefit of home ownership whether buying or selling can be extremely rewarding.

Have a Willy Great Day!!