As a member of The Bird Dog Program, you’ll encounter many situations where you’re faced with reviewing lots of documents early in the real estate purchase and sale transaction. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of documents involved and excitement at the prospect of a solid deal can also interfere with your ability to really absorb and relay key pieces of information concerning a transaction.
In today’s article, the founder of The Bird Dog Program, Kristine Zelazo — better known throughout the industry as The Short Sale Gal — will explore why it’s so essential to examine documents in a complete and detailed manner, so as to maximize your chances of seeing a successful conclusion to the transaction.
What Type of Information is Contained Within These Documents?
As a Bird Dog, you’ll be involved in the beginning stages of a real estate transaction, which you’ll be involved with as part of a joint venture.
A number of documents are required to complete the transaction, including, but not limited to:
- Approval letters for the sale of the property at a particular price and/or within a specific timeframe;
- Contracts and agreements concerning the purchase and sale process;
- Documents concerning issues related to the property title and the sale of the property, such as liens; and
- Buyer questionnaires, which include information on the buyer, their funding source(s) and other related information.
These documents are extremely and if you overlook a key bit of information or fail to acknowledge or convey a specific piece of key information to another party, you could find yourself in a scenario where the transaction ultimately falls apart — usually after you’ve already invested a lot of time and effort into the deal. To avoid this, it’s important to ensure that you pay special attention to the documents as a whole and to specific key pieces of information.
What Should I Be Looking for as I Review Documents?
The documents that you’ll encounter in the course of your work as a Bird Dog will vary. But there are a number of key things you should look for as you work to ensure that the various documents are in order and completed in a way that maximizes your chances of seeing a successful closing. These key points are as follows:
- Ensure all documents and forms are fully completed and filled out in a proper manner. If any information is missing, if fields are omitted, you must see to it that this issue is remedied ASAP.
- Make note of all dates, deadlines and expiration dates. It’s vital that you pay attention to time frames, dates and deadlines, as you’ll encounter many scenarios where this can mean the difference between a closing and a deal that disintegrates just before reaching the closing table. For example, approval letters are only good for a finite period of time, so you must ensure that this timeframe is noted, thereby enabling you to remain on schedule.
- Educate yourself on the common reasons why deals are delayed or fall apart and take measures to avoid this type of incident. For example, you’ll need to understand the buyer’s funding source. In most transactions involving investors who are acquiring real estate investment properties, the buyer will be paying in cash. If they’re using an alternative funding method, such as a hard money loan that has not yet been finalized, this can result in delays. Therefore, these issues must be addressed immediately and very early in the game (and in some cases, it can impact how you proceed. For example, if the buyer does not have cash in hand, it would be prudent to have at least a couple of qualified backup buyers waiting in the wings.)
- If anything appears questionable or unclear, ask questions! This is one of the benefits to participating in The Bird Dog Program! You have an experienced real estate industry professional on-hand to provide you with guidance, answers and insights. If you have questions concerning a document or form, it’s better to ask a question rather than simply assuming. The latter course of action could lead to a scenario where the deal ultimately falls apart because a key piece of information was missing or overlooked.
It can be helpful to create a “key dates and important facts” document for each transaction, where you can make note of various points such as important time frames and deadlines, along with contact info for key people, vital facts on the property and any other pieces of essential information that may be frequently referenced.
Ready to Get Started in Real Estate Investing With The Bird Dog Program?
If you’re getting started in real estate, consider working with a real estate investing mentor like The Short Sale Gal, Kristine Zelazo. Getting started in real estate investing can be somewhat challenging, but when done right, you can stand to make significant profits. You’ll have lots of advantages in this regard when you enter into a joint venture and work with a real estate investing and short sale expert like Kristine Zelazo.
Here are some answers to commonly asked questions in The Bird Dog Program FAQ.
Based in Florida, Kristine works with bird dogs, investigators, buyers and sellers. She is an experienced negotiator. So if you’re an investor seeking to get started involved as a bird dog, want to start buying short sales and need a great mentor or wish to pursue a short sale transaction for the sale of your property, turn to Kristine Zelazo, the Short Sale Gal!
Click here to learn more about The Bird Dog Program, click here or call Kristine at 800.664.0616, x802.