🏡🤔 Do You Drop the Ball in the Escrow Period?
Happy Tuesday!
Here is an Idea, an Action, and a Question to consider this week.
Idea
“I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.” – Vince Lombardi
The escrow period is the most important part of any deal, and it’s the time when many agents drop the ball. As real estate agents, we work so hard to find leads and to convert those leads to clients, but after we’re under contract, agents often seem to fold too easily.
It’s such a strange phenomenon. I see agents making up excuses rather than just taking charge and getting things done. As agents, we need to do everything we can to help get these deals across the finish line. During the escrow period is when you should be working the hardest for your clients and for the deal. Don’t back down that late in the game––fight for the win!
Be prepared for a last-minute “crisis” to happen due to the emotional investment that buyers and sellers have as a closing is iminent. It’s not surprising when these emotional outbursts occur over something comparatively trivial.
I’ve encountered situations where both the buyer and seller were ready to cancel the purchase of a $600K house just hours before the closing due to a missing washer and dryer that was stated in the contract. The seller refused to offer compensation after taking the appliances when they moved, so I stepped in and simply offered to buy the appliances myself to save the deal. Sure, I tried to negotiate and get the parties to come to terms without my personal sacrifice, but sometimes it’s worth taking the high road for the good of the deal.
Recently, another agent talked about how a $25M deal almost blew up over a blanket. The seller agreed that all personal property would be conveyed with the sale, but during the final walkthrough, the buyer saw a blanket was missing. It held sentimental value with the sellers, so they had taken it with them and refused to give it to buyers. Apparently, the buyer really liked that blanket, because he said he wasn’t going to buy the house unless he got it.
In that case, the listing agent ended up paying the seller $40K to bring the blanket back to the house so the buyer could have it. It was the only way to keep the deal on track.
You’ll have buyers freak out over little things like a broken ten-dollar GFCI outlet. Sellers do it too––they can get emotional over seemingly idiotic things. Everyone can lose the forest for the trees as their emotions flare.
Being a successful investor-agent means being prepared for unexpected issues during escrow, and staying calm to find a solution. It's not always necessary to spend your own money, but providing your client with support during these high-pressure moments is crucial in demonstrating your value as an agent. Your unique skills and qualities are especially important during these final moments before closing and can make all the difference in securing a successful sale and life-long client.
Action
Write a list of all the people who will positively benefit from you closing your next deal. Then, the next time you’re in escrow, read that list out loud. Sometimes we can’t muster up the motivation to do something for ourselves, so we need to do it for someone else.
Question
If you have a deal in escrow at the moment, how are you going to ensure that you cross the finish line?
See you next week,
Matt “Roar” Gardner
Real estate investor-agent, Author of Supersonic Real Estate: Light Your Afterburner to Accelerate Your Investor-Agent Career (Coming Soon!), and keynote speaker.
