Overseeing real estate transactions is an important responsibility, and it’s no surprise that there are professionals who work diligently to make property sales go as smoothly as possible for all parties.
If you are considering becoming a real estate transaction coordinator, it could open the door to a rewarding and stable career. But as with any job, it’s worth getting to grips with the ins and outs of what it involves before you make a commitment.
To that end, here is an exploration of the things every professional in this sphere will need to know, and what obstacles lay in your path.
How to Build a Business
If you’re planning to start from scratch and be your own boss, it’s necessary to understand the process of launching a real estate transaction coordinator business and all of the aspects involved.
This includes everything from picking a name for your fledgling firm, to registering it with the regulators, to investing in the best software for the task at hand.
Some of these are challenges that every entrepreneur must encompass, while others are specific to the real estate industry.
It is also worth considering what additional realty-focused skills you might accumulate. For example, if you want to handle transaction coordination in addition to sales, you might take a photography course online so that your listings really pop. You could also seek finance certification, which is handy for things like valuing real estate and advising investors in this area as well.
The more skills you have in your arsenal, the better equipped you will be to thrive both in transaction coordination, and more broadly in the real estate industry.
How to Open Escrow
The concept of escrow is at the heart of all real estate transactions, and in short it describes the process of an asset which is in the process of being transferred between two parties being held by a third party in anticipation of certain contractual conditions being met.
For a home sale, this can mean funds being held in escrow, or the property itself being held in a similar way. It sounds a little like keeping cash or real estate in limbo, but in reality it’s a way of protecting buyers and sellers alike.
Transaction coordinators will be expected to take the reins when it comes to opening escrow, and also of closing it once the other parties are satisfied, all the legal boxes have been ticked, and the sale is in its final stages.
How to Coordinate Inspections & Oversee Concessions
Speaking of ticking boxes, one of the key components of any property transaction is the completion of rigorous inspections by qualified experts to ensure that buyers are aware of exactly what they are getting themselves in for.
While buyers may choose to appoint their own inspector, realty firms can also supply these as part of the package, in which case a transaction coordinator will usually be responsible for coordinating this.
As well as speaking with the specialists and arranging a time for them to visit the property, coordinators will also have to get in touch with the owners and ensure that they are kept in the loop, and that there will be an adequate way for the inspector to complete their viewing unimpeded at the allotted time.
If all is as expected and the buyers are satisfied with the outcome of an inspection, things can move forward. In some cases, a buyer may request that concessions are made to the purchase agreement, specifically if the inspection brings up previously undetected issues with the property which require immediate attention.
A transaction coordinator could be called upon to encompass these concessions, negotiate with both parties, come to an arrangement that suits everyone, and then check that whatever work needs to be done is completed to schedule and to an adequate standard.
It’s worth emphasizing that the reason so many of these facets of the job are talked about as conditional is that a transaction coordinator’s role is not set in stone. Factors such as the regulations which apply in the state where they work, as well as the preferences of the organization that employs them and the choices made by clients, will impact the extent of their involvement in any transaction.
How to Communicate & Ensure Other Parties Fulfill Their Obligations
In real estate, a transaction coordinator is very much the glue that keeps this complex process together, and that involves a lot of communication between agents, brokers, buyers, sellers, inspectors, lenders and lots of other parties besides.
Developing and maintaining good communication skills across a range of contexts, from phone calls and in-person meetings to emails and text messages, is all part and parcel of this profession. If you don’t know how to go about this without losing your head, or you feel your skills could do with improvement, taking a course in communication would be no bad thing.
This is not just a means of making sure that buyers and sellers are satisfied and happy with the transaction experience, although this is part of it. Coordinators must also adopt a hands-on approach to making sure that the necessary documentation needed to push through a transaction is both supplied in a timely manner, and provided to the right recipients before deadlines land with a thud.
How to Ask For Testimonials, Reviews & Referrals
More recently, as the emergency of new technologies has modernized the process of selling real estate, new responsibilities have landed in the lap of transaction coordinators.
For example, you may need to get in touch with the parties involved in a transaction once it has successfully completed, and request that they provide testimonials for you to add to your company website, or that they add reviews to other platforms so that word of mouth recommendations can spread.
This can go hand in hand with requesting referrals to other prospects, although again this is really only worth attempting if you feel that there is a high chance of success.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there’s a lot to get your head around when considering a career as a real estate transaction coordinator.
While some of the skills and training will be industry-specific, a lot of the abilities you’ll develop in this role are also able to be transferred to other areas, so it’s not a job that locks you down either.
You might already have some of the coordination and communication skills that are part of a transaction coordinators tool kit, in which case you’ll have a head start.
