Whenever you sign a contract you get a date, a very special date, this is the day your closing is scheduled for. We mark ours on a calendar on the wall and the day looms before us, sometimes it is a week later and sometimes it is forty-five days later. One thing seems to remain consistent though, they almost NEVER happen on time and they are a big waste of time. More often that not there will be small, but costly errors on the HUD1 and it will need to be redone, why can't we view the documents via fax in our pajamas, isn't that why we got in to real estate anyway, to have that luxury? Realtors in particular seem to have a love of closing tables, they appear to have a list of things that must happen with every deal and the last thing that needs to happen is that they gather all parties together and make them sit at the same table at the same time. I can't help but to wonder why they feel that this is necessary, especially in circumstances where maybe the buyer and the seller shouldn't meet for the personal safety of all parties involved. Don't get me wrong, there are closings that we make it a point to go to, where by the purchase or sell of a piece of property really is satisfying. Whether is be saving someone from foreclosure or putting a family into a home when they never thought they would be able to buy, there are times that being a real estate investor j ust makes you feel good.

  Another phenomena we have encountered is that closings do not happen on time in South Florida, we have been held up for various reasons and you will too. Closings can be held up for hours, days even weeks, from estoppel letters to appraisals to title issues, once a house was even sold to someone else the day before our closing. A great real estate investor needs to always be aware of what is going on, do their fair share of troubleshooting and always be ready for a challenge.

  A very successful investor we have had the pleasure of learning from and working with considers himself to be a real estate doctor, he finds what the problem is, where the pain is coming from and he fixes it! So when the phone rings on the day before your closing and the bad news comes follow these steps and get moving again.

• Ask Questions and identify the problem, sometimes things are held up by symptoms of the problem, not the actual problem itself.
  
  
• Find out who the decision makers are, these are the people that can lead you on your way to the closing table. We have learned that solutions can come from the craziest places, even the dog catcher can be your ally.
  
  
• Call your team!! They are there to support you, your mentors, your support team and other investors; these are the people who can help you.

  On your closing day call in, find out your scheduled time and remember NOTHING is solid until you are on your way to the bank or to a new house with a set of keys.

Stacy Holder and Heather Seitz began their real estate investing career with absolutely nothing! They learned to leverage other people's time, money and resources to purchase over $2 Million in real estate in their first 8 months.
They have just completed two products, The "Complete Guide to Getting Started" and "The Complete Guide to Organized Rehab." ==================================

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