The real estate industry currently employs more transaction coordinators than any other industry. What is a transaction coordinator, though? Is it worth it for you to hire one for your real estate team?
Read on to learn everything you need to know about hiring a real estate transaction coordinator so you can make the right decisions for yourself, your clients, and your business.
What Is a Real Estate Transaction Coordinator?
A real estate transaction coordinator is an optional, but very helpful, member of a real estate team. They work with the real estate agent and loan officer, as well as other professionals like inspectors and appraisers, to streamline the transaction coordination process.
What Does a Real Estate Transaction Coordinator Do?
Real estate coordinator duties include handling the administrative work associated with the real estate transaction. The following are examples of responsibilities that are part of a transaction coordinator’s job description:
- Preparing and submitting purchase documents
- Gathering documents and information from the buyer or seller
- Communicating with other real estate agents
- Coordinating members of the real estate team to schedule and confirm appointments
What Doesn’t a Real Estate Transaction Coordinator Do?
Transaction coordinators do a lot, clearly, but they don’t do it all. The following are a few tasks someone else on your team will have to carry out:
- Writing Contracts: Transaction coordinators prepare and can explain various disclosures, but they aren’t responsible for writing them
- Negotiating: Transaction coordinators consult with all parties to collect signatures, deliver documents, etc., but they don’t negotiate terms with other agents or their clients
- Scheduling Inspections: Transaction coordinators schedule reports like home warranties and NHD reports, but they don’t schedule general inspections or termite inspections
Benefits of Hiring a Real Estate Transaction Coordinator
A real estate transaction coordinator is not an essential member of the team, but they still provide a lot of benefits to everyone involved. The following are some of the main reasons why people choose to hire transaction coordinators:
Save Time
Hiring a transaction coordinator can save real estate agents and other members of the team a lot of time.
Transaction coordinators can handle much of the administrative work that sucks up your time and holds you back from growing your business as quickly as you’d like.
Stay Organized
If organization is not one of your strong suits, then a transaction coordinator can be an invaluable addition to your team. These administrative experts will help you keep track of all the important documents that are required for a successful real estate transaction.
Transaction coordinators can also provide easy access to any information you need, as soon as you need it. This saves you more time and keeps your clients (and other members of your team) happy.
Maintain Communication
As you know, there are a lot of moving parts involved in even the simplest real estate transactions. When you work with a transaction coordinator, they can help everyone to stay in touch with one another and ensure nothing (and no one) important falls through the cracks.
Transaction coordinators will advocate for you as a real estate agent, too. If someone is slow to send back paperwork or is being unresponsive to your messages, the coordinator will get in touch with them on your behalf and do everything they can to keep the process moving.
Limit Liability
Transaction coordinators are dedicated to making sure every step of the transaction process is successful. This includes ensuring all files are compliant and all paperwork is filled out flawlessly.
Having a transaction coordinator on your team who can double-check each document will help to limit your liability if a complaint is filed against you. If you want to keep your files clean and feel confident that you’re running a tight ship, you ought to consider bringing on a transaction coordinator to help you out.
Cost-Effective Hire
Finally, real estate transaction coordinators make a cost-effective addition to your team.
Coordinators typically charge a flat fee for each transaction, and the average fee falls somewhere between $300 and $500. That’s a pretty small percentage of your total commission, right?
For most agents, it’s worth it to pay for a coordinator’s services and experience all the help and stress relief they can provide.
What to Look for in a Transaction Coordinator
Based on these benefits, have you decided that you want to move forward with hiring a real estate transaction coordinator? If so, here are some factors to consider that will help you choose the best person for the job:
Extensive Real Estate Experience
The best transaction coordinators will have extensive experience in the real estate world. They know the ins and outs of the documents required throughout the real estate transaction process, and they know how to ensure those documents are filled out correctly.
Detail-Oriented
Your transaction coordinator should be meticulous and detail-oriented. They will be able to pick up on small errors and get them corrected as quickly as possible, and they’ll have an easy time keeping all of your documents organized so you can access them right away.
Good Communication Skills
As we mentioned above, transaction coordinators play a key role in managing communications between all members of the real estate team. The best coordinators will be comfortable talking to all kinds of people and will know how to communicate information to them clearly and succinctly.
Flexible Schedule
As a real estate agent, your schedule is all over the place, and you need to be available at the drop of a hat. You need to find a transaction coordinator who is flexible and able to work with your busy schedule. Always consider availability when vetting candidates for this job.
Final Thoughts on Hiring a Real Estate Coordinator
Now that you know more about what a real estate transaction coordinator does and the benefits they have to offer, are you interested in hiring one to help with your business? If so, keep the tips listed above in mind so you can find the best person for your team.
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