Recently, my clients and I threw a hat in the ring for a bank-owned property. Form my previous experience, it seemed like everything was going smoothly.

A week or so went by, and I didn\’t become concerned yet. Red flags went off however, after the second week came and went. I began calling and E-mailing the listing agent up to three times a day for three days in a row trying to get a response from him. When that didn\’t get a rise out of anybody, I finally had to call the broker to suggest maybe they needed to get an agent on the dealings that knew what they were doing. I was then sent over to their assistant, who luckily for me, appeared to know what she was doing.

After this whole process and the waiting game, I received an E-mail stating that the bank was requesting an extension due to the escrow being opened with the wrong company! This took two weeks before anybody noticed. If I wasn\’t on top of the deal like you should be, my agent would have sat around twiddling his thumbs until the whole deal went in the dump.

I\’ve also been fortunate enough to experience dealings that were completely opposite from this situation. I had sold a property not to long ago for an agent listed in Lake Arrowhead. It wasn\’t a surprise when it took awhile for the bank to finally open the escrow, but the rest of the closing process was very successful. This agent was very good at keeping me updated, as well was her assistant. I was then able to complete all of my paperwork correctly and in a timely fashion.

Since the agent I worked with was knowledgeable and on top of the situation, it allowed me to deliver outstanding customer service to my client. It is always a wise decision to ask your Realtor a couple of detailed questions about how they work so you can be sure you are getting the service you deserve. It is always beneficial to work with an agent that is full time versus someone who is only part time. Your Realtor should also be very intuitive about your local market and how it works.

If you are planning on buying in Big Bear, it is a very bad idea to use somebody from L.A. or Orange County. If you are planning on buying a Bank Owned listing, it is especially important to use somebody who is experienced in selling them. The banks do thing very differently and a Realtor who doesn\’t know what they are doing can blow the deal or end up costing you a great deal of money.

Author Info: M. Fetzer has much experience researching Big Bear, CA foreclosure deals and Big Bear realty overall. Check out his other posts online.