What is a T.C.?
Ask Phyllis: a blog series of frequently asked real estate questions.
Dear Phyllis,
I have followed your real estate column for years, and as a local homeowner, I consider myself relatively savvy about real estate. I co-signed for my son to purchase a townhome. The home was well-priced, and several other buyers submitted offers. However, delays occurred in writing the initial offer, and the seller later issued a counteroffer to all buyers.
His Realtor told us to watch for the documents in DocuSign and explained that we needed to respond by the deadline. We received that update at 4 p.m. I normally go to bed by 9 p.m., but I stayed up until 10 p.m. waiting for the documents, and I still did not receive them. The next morning, I expected the paperwork to arrive early, but it did not show up until 10 a.m.
Although the seller accepted my son’s offer, I felt frustrated with the time it took his Realtor to send the paperwork. Is this typical for expediting necessary real estate documents?
Dear Peggy,
I think I know exactly what happened, and I find this situation frustrating as well. Your son’s Realtor was likely using a Transaction Coordinator (TC).
What is a Transaction Coordinator? They provide administrative support to Realtors from the purchase agreement to closing. They sometimes work in an office with real estate agents, keeping the office’s working hours. In other instances, they work remotely. Likely, your real estate agent was waiting for his TC to put the counteroffer in DocuSign. Typically, transaction coordinators work for many agents simultaneously. It seems that in your circumstance, they left the office before getting your counteroffer in DocuSign.
Time can be their worst enemy for home buyers because, at any moment, other offers can arrive. Note that your son’s agent could have put the counter in DocuSign in about five to ten minutes. Not too long ago, we had a listing where the buyer’s agent did the same thing. Moreover, another offer was received when the Transaction Coordinator got the counter in DocuSign. The buyer lost the property to a similar offer with better terms. I don’t fault you for being miffed, and I am glad more offers didn’t materialize during the delay.
For a variety of reasons, the Harb and Co. Team does not use a T.C.
Id be all kinds of furious if I lost a house because of a paperwork delay. I’m surprised agents like using these services.