I’m not addressing whether or not your agent has dyslexia or if they are perhaps illiterate. No, I’m putting out there that there can occasionally be a lack of reading on the part of an agent when it comes to documents that may be very important to purchase of a property. Rather than focus on the potential negative aspects of this topic let’s focus on the benefits of an agent being detail oriented and an avid reader of documents and what that provides to real estate clients.
1. Reading details of a document that a client or customer supplies within the scope of a real estate transaction will frequently result in the finding of details that have been missed and that need compliance for a closing to happen. (find)
2. Having your agent help read documents doesn’t mean you as the buyer or seller are relieved of your obligation to know about your own transaction. However, having multiple sets of eyes reading a form helps improve the likelihood of catching little details that might otherwise get lost when only one person is reading, getting bored or distracted, or just not generally understanding what they’re reading. (power in numbers)
3. Making sure all the details are in order helps to allow closings to go seamlessly and without last minute scurrying around of all participants involved. (detail oriented/anticipating issues)
Example: I’m working with a client on buying a town home that happens to also have a claim filed for faulty siding. In reading the forms supplied by the listing agent it was discovered that the claim may be filed incorrectly and that there are several missing details that will delay the filing and ultimate outcome of the claim. Also discovered in looking over the forms were items such as that the seller needed to notify and supply a copy of the sales contract to the siding company for the claim to be transferred to my clients. This piece is, indeed, a very important item. Had I just chosen to toss the forms “over the fence” so to speak to my clients and just say, “here read this and let me know if you have any problems” would be the wrong move.
4. I don’t have to be an attorney, CPA, or other type of professional to READ a document and see if there is something that brings up a question related to the transaction my client is involved in. In fact, I would venture to say that it would be more likely that I could get in trouble if I DIDN’T read the forms and at least remark on them to my client and to provide insight such as, ” you should get an attorney to read this” as well as saying, “you might want to sit down with your father-in-law (the contractor) to see how this might play out if he does the work,” and also, “you should contact the claims group to start asking questions to make sure you get this transferred correctly and without losing any rights to the claim. Hopefully this kind of commentary will get my client to be thinking critically as they read the information themselves and to come up with their own questions too. (referral of needed resources/protection/critical thinking)
5. My job as a real estate agent is to provide my experience in dealing with real estate on many levels. I don’t think that stops with marketing or just showing houses, even those items are also in my job description. It means I need to understand as much as possible about the overall process and to provide and inject a problem solving attitude into the mix. (problem solving/critical thinking/advisory role)
6. Washington State licensing law requires that I do my duties competently and to refer clients to the appropriate professions when it is appropriate; part of knowing when to do that is to read what is impacting the transaction, and not knowing just the details of the pre-printed contract. (meeting required and state mandated competency levels)
I find that the areas where people really start to have their eyes roll back into their heads is when they have to read a title report or a condo resale certificate or Public Offering Statement. And, that brings me to the next item…
7. Ask for help if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Even if the agent doesn’t read the full document for you, they might be able to provide you with tips on how to find the important items that might impact you and your decision to buy a particular property. (experience/critical thinking/problem solving)
So, the next time you are interviewing an agent you might want to ask him/her how well he/she reads. The answer may mean more than you think at first glance.
In the interim between now and your next real estate purchase or sale here is a photo of one of our dogs with Michael helping “read” a financial analysis report for a client one night:
