"Realtors just show up on closing day to get their check."

Finally at closing day. After all the negotiations, repairs, failed contracts. Finally.

Today — two transactions. Two contracts.

The buyer had a contract to sell their old home. The seller had a contract to sell to that same buyer. But the seller's contract was contingent — it couldn't close until the buyer's sale closed first. The buyer needed the funds from their own sale before they could close on the seller's home.

Their closing was scheduled for 9am with a Miami title company. The buyer — acting as seller for their own home — had chosen someone out of county. A title agent who had no relationship with anyone in this transaction and no stake in whether it closed on time.

The title agent never showed. She had a doctor's appointment and didn't engage with the closing until the afternoon. She didn't care about the contingency. She didn't care that the seller's closing was hanging on that 9am close. She didn't care that both parties were sitting in limbo, waiting for funds that weren't moving.

This is exactly why trusted local partners matter. A title company that knows your business, knows the stakes, and picks up the phone on closing day. If either agent had selected the title company, we would have used someone who actually wanted to be there.

Instead, the buyer's agent found a remote notary who could move immediately. She got the papers signed as fast as possible so that everything was ready and waiting the moment the title agent returned from her appointment. The title agent came back, processed the closing, and the funds moved.

We lost three hours. But we saved the deal.

Both parties could have lost everything. The seller's deal falls apart — again. The buyer's deposit is at risk. Not because of anything either of them did. Because someone who didn't know them, didn't work with them regularly, and didn't care about the consequence simply didn't show up.

We closed at noon instead of 9am. It worked out. But it didn't have to.

A lot more happens on closing day than just showing up to get paid. And frankly — I don't know what's wrong with showing up to get paid. We deserve it.

Thinking about selling in St. Petersburg, Clearwater, or the Gulf Beaches? Call/text Terri @ (727) 460-6211.

PS — I've adjusted this method to handle listings anywhere in Florida, Tallahassee to Miami, with the referrals and testimonials to back it up.