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One of the things that I really enjoy doing is updating Realtors on deals in process.  This was a key part of me learning to offer closings in 10 days.  I don’t have to eal with that many interruptions.  Every Listing–and Selling agent gets an email

Every morning.

An example:

“Dear Realtor-

Today is the 2nd day the file is in underwriting, and we are still experiencing 3-5 day turnaround times on FHA files.  This was a full and complete file without a lot of issues. I will contact you if anything bad happens, but no news is good news still,   The appraisal is already up to underwriting, and the value came back.  As always, call my cell for emergencies at 614-839-4850  As of this letter I expect to be clear to close in 4 days, and I’m not ready to schedule yet.

Best

Chris and Mike

And we send one the NEXT DAY that says the same thing.  “Still going, we’ve got a day to wait, and this is typical;”.

That is an example; it takes less than a minute to write, and if I’m having a good month, I have 10 deals going, so let’s say 15 minutes of a workday.  What’s not gonna happen because of that:  interruptions, stress, reassurance calls.  I don’t have to pretend that a deal is better than it is because my Realtor knows what’s going on.  The Listing agent KNOWS.

And if there are problems?  Even with strangers this extra step builds credibility.  I didn’t always do it this way; communization was undervalued by me when I got into the business (and I worked in a mom and pop broker shop that–at the time–had a chip on its shoulder regarding realtors).  It’s not because I like typing emails–it’s because I want to get deals done and closed. 

“You tell me–” the hallmark of a badly handled transaction

I got calls like this: 

“Hi Chris, this is Joe Realtor from Keller Williams,”

“Hi Joe, how are you/”

“Well..You tell me.”

The phrase galls me, but there is a reason the Realtors called.  They don’t think that they know what’s going on with their deal (i.e their paycheck.)  The deal is, they aren’t sure, and they have to call.  The fact that their day is made or broken by the minutiae of a transaction isn’t healthy, but it’s called reality.  I made a rule: a Realtor should never, ever have to wonder what’s going on with their deals.  They know, and my phone only rings with customers, and I’ve taken control of my day.

What things have y’all done to take control of your day?

In related news:  I can’t tell if this is a Splog or not–it doesn’t appear to be and the link is a great article that Alerts found for me.