The Top Reasons Real Estate Deals Fall Through

I think one of the worst things that happens in real estate today is when a deal falls through. There is nothing worse than putting hours and hours into a deal and having it fall apart for a silly reason, like an unreasonable buyer or seller. This happened to me just last week.

One thing I've noticed in more than 20 years of selling homes is that newer agents tend to let attorneys negotiate structural issues. In my opinion, there is nothing worse than an agent who turns the negotiations over to an attorney. I personally have a full-time negotiator and I occasionally step in when I have to, but we never let the attorneys negotiate the structural issues.

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Nothing is worse than an attorney negotiating structural issues.

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Last week, I had a $225,000 transaction fall apart for a silly $2,900 repair because the attorney was demanding the repair be made before closing, even though my seller was offering a $2,900 credit. There are a couple reasons you don't want to have the seller do repairs before closing.

The first is that my sellers, for example, are going to go to the lowest-cost contractor to make that repair. My buyer generally won't have a warranty or any sort of relationship with that contractor if something goes wrong down the road.

On the flip side, if the buyer gets a credit verified by multiple estimates, you're protected, and the buyer can work with the contractor that they want to use. The reason my deal fell apart was because the attorneys were unreasonable.

We had another deal that had a delayed closing because our seller didn't have all the items removed from their house. We take the blame for that, and it could have been easily covered with a $500 return of escrow, but the attorney wanted $25,000, which is completely unreasonable.

There's no easier way to keep your commission than to breathe life back into a deal as an agent. Put your time and effort into keeping your current deals alive, and please do not let the attorneys negotiate them!

We close about 95% of our deals, and the 5% that fall through usually have an attorney negotiating. I love attorneys and they serve a great purpose, but usually the attorneys who cause deals to fall through aren't even real estate attorneys.

If you have any questions for me or you're interested in the opening I have for a buyer's agent, give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!