How Do You Handle Turbulence?

You might call them potholes or bumps in the road or detours; I call them turbulence. All those things that can happen between the time you sign a contract to buy or sell a house, and the day the keys change hands at settlement.

So what is turbulence? It might be a contract with contingencies: You agree to sell your house to someone who has to sell their house in order to buy yours. That means your sale is contingent on their sale. What happens if your buyer is not able to sell? Oops – turbulence.

You find a house you love, that you just have to have. At first look you know it's a stretch for you financially, but it's the perfect house. Then you go back and crunch the numbers, adding in all the costs you didn't think about at first – closing costs, moving, new appliances, etc. Uh-oh – that house you love just became unreachable.

Or you are selling your home and have a buyer who looks perfect. They want your home, they offer full price, and sign a contract. Sounds great, but are they qualified, can they get the mortgage they need? If they don't, there's a pot hole for you.

How do you handle these bumps? It's up to me to prepare you for them. My job as your Realtor® is to be honest with you from the start, to let you know that there will be turbulence. When you are prepared and know that we will get past these bumps, you recognize them as normal and move on.

Turbulence bounces you around, but a top professional Realtor will help you get through the rough spots and on to a smooth settlement.