In the business of real estate, one thing is true: if people did what they said they were going to do, everyone involved would be making more money. That is not always what happens, though. The mortgage broker, the investor and even the real estate agent drops the ball sometimes. One of the best ways to get the ball in your hands is to have good follow up skills, which can help to prevent or catch problems throughout the process.



There are many things that can delay the closing. Since you have a 30 to 60 day contract, you don't have time for the ball to get dropped. For example, let's say that a fax didn't make it in and that means the mortgage broker did not get it until the following day. Since the mortgage broker didn't get it, this means the lender is put off another business day, and the underwriter is also off track now. By the time the process is done, that one simple fax mistake could cost you two days or more in a process where every day is so important. The problem compounds when a multitude of small little tasks like this are added into the picture and any one of them goes wrong.

Follow up is the most important task then in real estate. Follow up is not just with the buyer to make sure that everything was in hand for their mortgage loan. Now, you can look to the mortgage brokers, but they too can't always give the right answer. The best thing to do is to talk with the final decision maker in the process, at each step. No matter if you are selling retail houses or a wholesale house. Close the home without any delays.

Let's assume that you have received the pre qualification letter from the lender. You have also ensured that the deal will go through because the lender has said they will loan on the deal. This includes that all steps including assignment fees, inhabitability of the property and title season have no problems. The first step when using your follow up strategy should be with the mortgage broker or lender. Be sure that all application paperwork has been submitted. Then, be sure that all of this paperwork has made it to the mortgage lender. What's missing? You should know if the lender requires surveys, appraisals and termite letters (or anything else they require) before hand and have it handled. When have these been scheduled for and are they complete? At this step, you want to be sure you have covered all the bases and have followed up throughout until the step has been complete.

If I don't already own the house, I order a title report right away, long before there is a seller involved. This way, we can find any defects as early as possible and resolve them before they become a problem to slow us down. In other situations, the title report isn't orders until right before the closing is happening. This could delay the closing if the problem hasn't been solved that's on the title. Is it worth it to spend $125 upfront to get the title run ahead of time? Yes, because in real estate, any way you can eliminate delays in the closing process is worth the investment. What's more, the title company may even order title without making you pay for it as soon as a contract has been submitted to them. Of course, to get this be sure to give them as much business as you can.

Now that the mortgage broker has gotten all the paperwork in order and sent to the lender, the next follow up in the real estate process happens. Here, you want to verify the loan has made it to underwriting. If there is a delay, find out what it is. Who is handling the problem and if there are any delays with the loan approved, what needs to be done to resolve them? Then, once all of the problems have been resolved, follow up to make sure that the loan has made it back to the underwriting process and has approval.

From here, there is additional follow up that needs to be done in the real estate transaction. I always make sure that the closing has been scheduled with the lawyer involved and that they have cleared the title on the property. Know when the loan package is going to make it to the attorney. Be sure to send up follow up emails or messages with everyone involved to make sure they are there and ready to go. This includes making sure that any funds that need to make it receive transfer into a certified check.

Should you do all of this work? Perhaps you don't want to, but the end result is simple. The real estate transaction goes smoothly and the closing happens on time. In the world we live in, you can't assume that everyone else is going to handle the ball the way it should be. You have to make sure everything has been met and nothing overlooked. Plus, when you are good about your follow up efforts, the problems that could happen along the way are detected earlier and handled faster. This means your clothing goes on without a problem.

As a wholesaler, your goal is volume and you don't have a lot of time to waste babysitting those in the business. As you increase the amount of people that are coming in and your business volume increases, you want to hire a professional transaction coordinator who will handle the work for you, at a flat fee. Finding a good one can be a valuable resource.