Solano Real Estate Scene: It takes a village to buy a home

Technology over the past 40 years has made a huge difference in the real estate business. However, one thing that has not changed is that it takes a village to help a consumer purchase a home. The sheer number of things that need to be done and the number of people involved in the process is incredible when a mortgage is part of the process. A cash buyer can find a house on the internet or advertised in the paper by the owner, contact the seller, make an offer and close escrow in five to 10 days without any Realtor, inspections, appraisal, home warranty or even a title company involved if they were willing to pay all cash directly to the seller without an escrow officer involved, and willing to take on the crazy risk of hoping no liens or mortgages were recorded against the property or the seller. There are some cash buyers out there, that’s for sure, but these are usually savvy investors, professional flippers or millionaires who know exactly what they are doing, and 99.99% of the time obtain title insurance and have an escrow officer ensure that they obtain clear title to the home. Tens of thousands of homes within 40 miles of Solano County were purchased AS-IS at auctions on the county court steps from 2008 to 2013 by professional and some not-so-professional investors for all cash at foreclosure trustee sales, but over the past five years there have been very few all-cash buyers in Solano County and thankfully very few trustee sales. A cooperative seller, the listing agent, the buyer’s agent, the loan officer, the lending assistant, the loan processor, the loan underwriter, the loan doc drawer, the loan funder, the escrow officer, the escrow officer assistant, the title search person, the preliminary title report typist, the appraiser, the home inspector, the roof inspector, the termite inspector, the county recorder, the buyer’s bank staff person who helps the buyer with the wire transfer or cashier’s check, the donor that is helping their son or daughter with gift funds to purchase, the home warranty sales rep, the homeowner’s insurance agent, the flood insurance company, the company that provides a natural hazard report, the buyer’s tax preparer and even the buyer’s employer that completes the verification of employment are almost always needed to get a purchase transaction closed. Selling homes and helping people become homeowners requires a bunch of people to follow the team captain: the Realtor.