I am fresh off the phone with the seller of a great home that went to settlement last week. While it may seem not out of the ordinary for me - a Realtor - to have such a conversation, the seller was not my client. In fact, I represented the happy new owners of the home.

The cause for my conversation with the seller? On final walk through, we found water streaming through the basement.

In fact, with all the rainfall over the past six weeks, my clients and I have had to navigate through stormy waters - figuratively and literally - on several occasions. Each time, the situation is approached by all parties with a gasp, then a gulp and the familiar head-in-hands visceral response.

But it is what happens next that preserves the successful buy-sell relationship: 1) communication that is open, frequent and clear; 2) quickly devising a solution agreeable to both parties; and 3) patience.

The only party more disappointed than the buyer  to find problems pertaining to water - or any matter - on final walk through, is the seller, who is obligated by the contract to deliver the property in the same condition in which is was marketed at the time of contract or home inspection as indicated in the sales contract itself. 

Thankfully, during my transactions, it has been a privilege to work with clients, cooperating Realtors and customers on the other side of the transaction who have kept their cool and have resolved all concerns. We all know the shoe could easily have been on the other foot ...and it often is.

If information is power, I'd like to help make you the most powerful consumer of real estate!

- Brett