Module 6: Exceptional Customer Service 54

EXERCISE

Write down some ways to help share a positive online persona of your agent and/or their team. What are some ways that persona can be shared online?

How can you help share a positive online persona of your agent and/or their team?

Managing the Transaction

The real estate transaction can be a complex series of variables based on the necessity of action for each transaction. No two transactions are exactly alike. There are common steps involved in each transaction, but the personalities of the parties, location of the property, formation of the contract, repairs and vendors needed can all add up to each transaction being unique.

What is common in each transaction is that organization and communication is needed. The Professional Assistant will be called upon to manage each transaction like a conductor in an orchestra.

The Transaction Cycle

From the first meeting with a client and until after the clients have moved into or out of the property, there are several stages which we call The Transaction Cycle. Each stage triggers a different setof actions and engagements with the clients.

Communication is Key

For a seasoned real estate agent, the Transaction Cycle is routine, but for a client all these steps and processes can be overwhelming, and they can feel lost in the process. Routine and clear communications from the agent and Professional Assistant will help to disperse their anxiety and increase the client’s trust in the team. Utilizing the tools outlined in Module 11, the team can build a strong action plan to keep everyone informed.

Create Checklists

Creating checklists is essential to keep everyone on track. A few essential checklists you should have include:

1. Listing Checklist 2. Buyer Checklist 3. Ratified/Accepted Contract Checklist

We have created sample checklists for you and included them in the Appendix.

Communications Tracking

The need for organized and constant communication does not end with the client. The cooperating agent, vendors and service providers that are involved in the transaction will need plenty of follow up as well.

The Professional Assistant should be diligent in documenting each communication with all the parties so that the agent, team and assistant always know what has been said and what needs to be communicated to all of the parties in the transaction.

Many transaction management systems and CRMs have the ability to establish a communications log, but if they don’t then a simple Google Doc spreadsheet will suffice.

Example:

Date Time Platform Contact Notes

4/11/2020 2:34 p Phone Sammy Seller Spoke to Mr. Seller and asked for his preferred septic company. He advised that ABC Septic services should be called.

4/11/2020 2:48 p Website ABC Septic Ordered septic inspection from ABC Septic. Received email confirmation for order. Inspection to be done on 4/14/2022 in the afternoon

4/11/2020 3:18 p Text Sammy Seller Notified Mr. Seller via text that the septic inspection has been scheduled.

4/11/2020 3:31 p Email Ronnie Realtor Emailed Ronnie that the septic inspection has been scheduled and asked him to let his buyers know in case they wanted to be present.

4/11/2020 4:11p Transaction Management Added the inspection to the team calendar and client record.

Managing Inspections

Depending on your provinces regulations and the broker’s policies, Professional Assistants and agents may take on the responsibility of managing the inspections and repair providers that are utilized in a transaction.

When applicable the Professional Assistant should ensure that any vendor that is being recommended by the agent for the client to use, or that the client has selected is licensed, insured, and certified in the field which they are being hired to perform. A client may wish the most inexpensive vendor to perform an inspection, but the vendor may not have the qualifications necessary to meet the obligations of the contract or the provinces law.

Additionally, there are a few considerations that should be made when managing inspectors.

▪ Who orders the service necessary to meet the obligations of the contract? Often the agent and their team take on the role of ordering these inspections, but the client may wish to manage this themselves. Communication between the team and client should be established early in the transaction and should include who is to order which inspections or repairs.

▪ Deadlines and contract contingencies will often dictate who is being hired to perform the necessary inspections or actions as outlined in the contract. Upon ratification of the contract, the Professional

Assistant should enter all the contingency and deadline dates in the team’s transaction management system or shared calendar and setup reminders in advance of the deadlines to ensure that nothing is missed.

▪ Communicating with all parties will be important when managing inspections. For example, buyers like to know that progress is being made and in the contract, they may have a right to be present forsome inspections. Sellers will need to be communicated with when buyers schedule a home inspection so that the sellers can make arrangements not to be home. Lenders, buyers, sellers, cooperating agents and other parties will need to be made aware of the progress of inspections, repairs, and certification of certain aspects of the house as the transaction progresses.

▪ Reports are often necessary in real estate transactions to allow third parties to certify or provide evidence of the condition of the house, the property or requirements for condo and homeowner associations. Very often the contract outlines required delivery dates for these reports. The

Professional Assistant should coordinate the delivery of these reports when appropriate and be careful to document who they were given to, when and by what means. In other instances, the

Professional Assistant may need to request these documents if the cooperating broker hasn’t yet delivered them within the time frame. Those requests should also be documented.

▪ In some marketplaces it is common for the buyers and sellers to write agreements for repairs or improvements that are to be made to the property as part of their contract agreements. It may be incumbent on the Professional Assistant to coordinate all the vendors necessary to complete the repairs or improvements and to communicate with all parties the state of the work to be done, as well as collect and deliver receipts, permits or other evidence of completion in accordance with the promises made by their clients.

Communicating Processes

Many of the things that need to be tracked, ordered, delivered and communicated to the parties are reoccurring activities on behalf of the agent and Professional Assistant. Setting up processes and tools to keep track of these processes is important, but clients need to be kept in the loop and part of the process should be the creation of a library of emails to help keep everyone informed.

Here’s an example of a post ratification email for a seller:

Example of Post Contract Ratification Email

Congratulations

Buyers: Buyer’s Agent: Legal Company: Closing Date: Ratification Date: (conditional period)

Ratification is the process of verifying a contract in which all parties have agreed to all terms. The ratification of the contact triggers several things to occur:

The status of your listing has been changed from an active listing to "sold conditional" in the multiple listing service.

I will be uploading copies of all related documents to Docusign Transaction Room. You will receive an email with instructions on how to review those documents. I suggest downloading your own copies of all documents for your personal records. we’ve ratified a contract on your home!

I will be working diligently in the background to schedule things on your behalf, work with the buyer’s loan officer, the settlement attorney, inspectors, etc. You will get emails, texts, or phone calls from me as things come up where I need your input or documents signed.

The Buyer’s Agent will deposit their deposit cheque with the brokerage, process their paperwork, notify the buyer’s loan officer and the legal company.

The Buyers will schedule their home inspection, if listed in the contract. They have until 9pm on the last day of the contingency to let us know if a.) they wish to accept the property as-is and move on, b.) they wish to negotiate repairs or credits or c.) void the contract. The choice to negotiate or void is solely at their decision. If they elect to negotiate repairs, then we will need to act quickly to review the list and decide how to move forward.

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