Never Attend A Closing When You Sell

For decades all parties in a real estate transaction attended closings - it was just the norm. In fact, all parties used to close at the same table! This has changed significantly today, however. Buyers close in a different room than sellers for privacy reasons. Buyers usually have to attend closing in most cases. Sellers show up mainly to get their proceeds checks. Once closed, Buyer's lender congratulated the buyers that they "bought a house" and everyone celebrated. The title closer walked into the room where the sellers were and gave them their check and asked "Do you want to meet the buyers?" Awkwardly the seller agreed. Seller and buyer finally met and began to size one another up. Seller told the buyer what day garbage collection is, which neighbor was the greatest and so on. Usually this "hand-off" goes pretty well. If the buyer & seller didn't experience a great set of negotiations, then they quickly said "good luck" and the seller left. Or worse yet, they almost started fighting. It only takes one bad scenario to place the seller in a VERY bad spot in many aspects. In this episode John explains that there is NO REASON for a seller to attend a closing - in fact, he nearly always advises his clients to avoid going altogether. Seller can be represented by the title company, closer, attorney, or agent...and never have to come face-to-face with the buyers. Is this too harsh? Everyone wants to see their beloved home go to a nice family following them, but in today's litigious society sellers are tempting their own legal fate. Imagine meeting the buyer before walking out the door and the buyer asks any of the following: "Mr. Seller, can I ask you what caused those dark areas in the southeast corner of the basement again? I know you mentioned something in your condition report about it but thought you could tell us a little more?" "Which neighbors have kids and which ones are the ones we should get to know first?" "Does the neighbor's dog bark a lot? We're curious because it was while we were there recently." "Can we get your cellphone numbers and email addresses in case we have any other questions?" "There was an outlet in the hallway where we couldn't find what it controls; can you tell us please?" While some of these may seem simple and innocent, imagine how you would feel if the buyer didn't like the immediate neighbors and called you to tell you about it. Or if the hallway switch was actually a Defect you knew nothing about when you sold the home. Or if the buyer started calling you repeatedly because the neighbors dog wouldn't stop barking. A good realtor will never encourage you not to disclose known Defects in your home, nor hide information from a prospective buyer. However, closing is not the time for a curious buyer to start asking questions a seller doesn't anticipate and that puts the seller in a very precarious position.