Jeff the Closer

What do you do when things go the opposite of according to plan? In that moment is when the people you surrounded yourself with will be the most crucial decision you will have made. Surrounding myself with a crack team of high-energy problem-solvers recently helped me salvage the most meaningful transaction of my career.

After more than 60 days under contract, including 4 extensions at the buyer's lender's continued request, I had a deal collapse due to the tightening of FHA guidelines once COVID hit. I think we literally may have been one of its first casualties back at the end of March. The loan was declined one day prior to closing.

My seller client was devastated because the closing of his replacement property was conditioned upon the payoff of his current mortgage, which had just gone up in smoke. After I got him to calm down, we regrouped and put the property back on the market aggressively in hopes of securing a new buyer with a stronger profile that wasn't subject to FHA guidelines, hoping to have a contract by maybe June due to the uncertainty surrounding the changing economic conditions.

Miraculously, within 3 days of relist, another agent comes along with a fully-approved buyer client, with an even stronger profile than my client had, which I didn't think was possible. She brought us a full-price offer with no conditions other than the appraisal; which wasn't a problem because the new lender was able to transfer and use the report from the previous transaction that recently fell through since it was less than 120 days old.

Long story short, we ended up closing just over 30 days later, to everyone's delight. In all my years in real estate, this was quite possibly the most meaningful transaction I've been involved in, very simply due to the fact that my client was my son. Being a promoter of long term economic stability three generations forward, this made my 4-year old grandson my true client by default.

I'd like to give a shout out to Cameron Walters at Homeowners Financial Group for having my client cleared to close in record time on not one, but two separate occasions. The entire transaction was a tribute to the benefit of working with real professionals who are committed to providing an excellent level of care.

Best thing ever though is that the superstar agent who helped us salvage this deal, LeTanya Inoma, ended up joining my team at REALTORS® Buy Houses, in partnership with eXp Realty. I guess maybe it was because she was impressed with what she saw in how we moved in terms of our sense of urgency in protecting the integrity of the transaction in order to bring it to a successful close.

Truth be told however, we are more impressed with her than she is with us. She has the type of energy that can change an industry.

We are super excited to be working with her, and can't wait to see the type of impact she's going to have on the market, and more importantly, family's lives across the U.S. It'll be to your benefit to keep an eye on her at https://letanyainoma.exprealty.careers/

We're on a mission to change the game that's being played. You should join us. 💯 ❤️ 🔥 👏🏾