International Relocation -
From the Pyramids to Pennsylvania
For the last 3 years they lived in Egypt. The Krauts moved there from Montgomery County. Doylestown was not very familiar to them. They experienced what makes our town great on return visits each summer. And when they decided to purchase a home base in the US again, they wanted it to be in the Borough.
The Internet is an amazing tool.
In preparation for a 6 week business trip back to the area, they searched the big name, generic online real estate websites and then honed in on a couple of the bigger Doylestown Realtors. When Priscilla arrived by herself last March, she was armed and ready to buy a house. Her research was well rounded, her knowledge
of the borough impressive and she had homes in her sites to see.
So who did she turn to for help when she got here?
Her brother connected her with Jim Brand of Keller Williams Real Estate, an Associate Broker from the
Doylestown office. Jim listened closely as she laid out her plans and what she wanted. Right away he had them preapproved for a mortgage.
The very next day they were visiting homes. As they honed in on just the right house, he would e-mail her details on new properties every day.
On the Thursday of Easter week, Jim called her and said “Priscilla, if I was to pick a house for you based on what we’ve seen and talked about, I have the house for you- and it just came on the market today.” Already there was a lot of activity on the listing. They were in it early the next day.
What she liked about Jim
Jim is a no pressure salesperson with a professional manner. He didn’t hover over her and state the obvious as she looked around from room to room. But she found it remarkable that he was always near enough to answer a question when she had one.
It didn’t take long for her to agree that Jim had found the house for her.
The house was getting a lot of traffic.
Of course her husband was several thousand miles away and unable to see it for himself. While she would do her best to describe her feelings about it to support the pictures, she had to discuss it at length with him. Before she and Jim parted she made a second appointment to see the house again on Monday.
As she walked away she got the feeling that if it was still available after the weekend then it was meant to be hers.
Monday couldn’t come fast enough.
The house had been shown several times over the last few days. The second visit did not disappoint. It was everything she had dreamed about so she followed Jim back to the office to make an offer. When she told Jim her price, he advised her it was low based on the asking price and the market pricing around it.
While he didn’t press her to change the offer, he did ask if she could go up $5000 to get the right house. She agreed.
And now the wait…
Time difference and distance between she and her husband moved Priscilla to act fast. Documents needed to be prepared, signed, scanned, transmitted and returned quickly. Priscilla took on the techy part of the process and appreciated Jim for letting her be part of it. Jim was just as happy to move over and get out of her way. After 2 hours, the flurry of paperwork had been completed, transmitted and returned. The offer was ready- now came the waiting for the seller’s response.
The sellers agreed to her higher price but…
She wanted to settle in early May before returning to Egypt. The sellers felt rushed to find a house near their children in Georgia and insisted on more time. While the Kraut’s wanted to have a home to return to in June, they agreed to settlement a few days after they got back- and no one realized the impact that change would have on the mortgage.
The deal is done, or is it?
Home inspections and paperwork processing proceeded as planned. The final mortgage approval came in but with a major hitch. It would require 2 pay stubs for previous weeks from her husband Larry’s current job. Had the settlement occurred in May as they originally thought, it would have been no problem. However Larry’s job in Egypt would end prior to coming here. And he was not scheduled to start his new one in Poland until the beginning of August.
The devil is in the details
The early settlement date had caused a serious and unexpected problem. The Kraut’s quickly applied with a mortgage broker they had used before. Fortunately the listing and sales agents were from the same office and the new mortgage broker was familiar to them all. The new mortgage company approved the loan pretty quickly as long as it was originated no earlier than 45 days before Larry was to start the new job. Because of the comfort level and trust of their agents, and the fact that the Krauts had not driven the sellers to leave early, the sellers agreed to delay settlement another 10 days to meet the new requirements. And the deal was saved.
The final steps to settlement
The Kraut’s met the listing agents and the sellers for the first time at settlement. When Priscilla thanked the woman for how beautiful and clean she had left the house, the seller blurted out that she loved her house, then broke down and had to leave the room.
When she returned composed, she was anxious to graciously answer any questions they might have. With the warmth and detail of someone who deeply loved their home, she described all the special things that meant so much to her over the years. The Kraut’s were genuinely touched by her attachment to the home her children grew up in.
Settlement went smoothly and the keys were passed across the table.
At the walk through inspection the night before, Jim presented Priscilla with a beautiful set of garden tools. She was struck by how he had listened and remembered her desire to get back to gardening.
Priscilla’s turn to well up came after settlement when Jim presented her a framed family portrait taken the night before in front of their soon to be new home. A special bottle of wine and several magazines about the local highlights added to a great send off to enjoy their new home.