The steps for a buyer in the United States. It usually starts with a quick email. We quickly call each other. A consultation that generally lasts a little over an hour since we’re starting from almost a blank page. So I take notes. I learn from the specifications.
He’ll give me his dates. And I’ll start looking at the market, let’s say 10 days before his arrival.
Why? Because there’s a good chance if I do it a little too early (we’re not alone in wanting the perfect property). If I find it a month before, there’s a good chance it’ll already be sold by the time the client arrives.
So 10 days before, I’ll start to really scan the right market that fits and matches what he has in mind depending on whether it’s a single, a fourplex, a C1, a condo.
So I’m going to schedule all the appointments with the seller’s agents for the day of his arrival.
Then I pick him up or he comes to the Office. Bam, we’re off to visit right away. Also with a view to educating, in fact teaching the customer, What I naturally couldn’t do over the phone, is that it is a very particular market compared to what we know in France.
It really makes sense throughout the visits, the moment he says to me « Franck, I know it’s the one ». In fact, throughout the visits we’ve made, he will have understood the coherence of everything there was to see.
So much so that when he says to me « It’s the one »… Well in fact, if it’s not the one, I’ll be able to tell him « No, it’s not », I’ll explain why.
And if he himself hits the mark, that means I’ve done a good job as an educator, so as not to go off the wrong path.
Immediately, submit the offer to the seller’s agent. The return of the offer is generally settled the same day, if not the next day, and at worst, it takes 3 days.
We will place the client’s deposit into our lawyer’s escrow account which will allow us to lock the sale immediately. Meaning we will end up with an executed contract, that is signed by both parties, and also the deposit which will be held in escrow. And therefore send proof to the seller’s agent that the money is there. This will stop the sale which will also prevent the seller’s agent from shopping around with our contract, since it’s fine; we locked it.
30 days later, because the Closing… transactions go much faster here: it takes 30 days for cash.
If we had done a U.S. financing, it would have taken 45 days.
Well in any case, considering that it’s cash, let’s say 3 weeks from the day we positioned ourselves on the property, the client must send the balance which will allow the lawyer to consummate the transaction.
It should be noted that here in the United States we don’t have a Notaire.
It’s lawyers who specialize in real estate and corporate law who handle transactions, we call them Title Companies. And therefore who will do the work, who will do simply what a Notaire does.
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