Exceeding Expectations... One Client at a Time
A deal does not fall apart at the start. It falls apart in the six weeks nobody warned you about. This is the field guide to all 116 of them, with the line Tom takes from each, free on this page.
About
Or read the 116 first. Both are free.
Tom Stallings has served the greater Houston area as a REALTOR® since 2000, through the 2008 contraction, the demand surge of the COVID years, and the adjustment that followed. A career that spans three very different markets is how a list like this one gets written.
His route in was not a straight line. Lawn work at eight, oil changes at fourteen, then the steamship industry and corporate logistics before the business that finally fit. Each of those jobs was about moving something valuable from one place to another without breaking it, which is a fair description of a closing.
He keeps his client list deliberately short, so the person at the first appointment is the person who picks up the phone the week a file goes sideways. That is the week this book is about.
The work reaches past the transaction. Tom has given time to charities serving the unhoused and housing-challenged across Houston, which is where the conviction behind all four of his books comes from: everyone deserves a home, not merely a house.
A devoted husband, father and proud grandfather, he is also a long-distance cyclist, and keeps up Pilates and weightlifting because the job asks more of your stamina than most people expect.
Most of his work sits across Cypress, Katy, Jersey Village and the wider northwest side, on both sides of the table and on leasing as well as sales. The range matters here: a turbulence that shows up in a lease application is the same one that will show up in a purchase two years later, and he has seen both ends of it.
He also caps how many clients he carries at once. That is not a scarcity tactic, it is what makes the phone get answered on the afternoon an underwriter asks for one more document and the closing is on Friday. Most of the 116 in this book were survivable purely because somebody picked up.
The Book
Contracts, contingencies, appraisals, inspections, lenders and the emotions of everyone involved. Most of what can go wrong stays invisible until it is not.
Each turbulence is a specific failure with a specific cause, from a gift donor changing their mind to a cashier’s check forgotten on closing day.
Filter to money and qualifying, the seller, the professionals, the house, title and inspection, or the late surprises.
What he takes from it, in his own words. The point is not to frighten you, it is to show that someone has already mapped the terrain.
Chapters
Pick a stage, or type what is worrying you. All 116 are here.
Showing all 116 turbulences
Loans, income, credit and the funds that have to be where they say they are.
32 of the 116, numbers 1 to 32
Cold feet, missing signatures, repairs that never happened, and title they do not fully hold.
17 of the 116, numbers 33 to 49
The professionals who were supposed to be handling it.
12 of the 116, numbers 50 to 61
Septic, structure, zoning, encroachment and the things a building can be found guilty of.
9 of the 116, numbers 62 to 70
Escrow, appraisers and inspectors, and the week everything has to line up at once.
17 of the 116, numbers 71 to 87
Rate locks, easements, neighbours, wire fraud and the ones nobody sees coming.
29 of the 116, numbers 88 to 116
Reviews
We chose Tom as our realtor for the sale of our house in the Copperfield community. We were looking for a realtor who was full time in the profession, local, experienced and familiar with the area, and Tom met the criteria. While the house was on the market Tom went above and beyond what we expected of a realtor.
It was such a great experience working with Tom. Excellent Real-Estate knowledge, humor, good sports conversation, and friendliness can sum up his interaction with us. He helped us rapidly sell our house while there was a lot of uncertainty in the market.
Tom is an exceptional realtor, and we truly can’t recommend him highly enough. From start to finish, he made the entire home buying process feel much less overwhelming. His knowledge, patience, and dedication made all the difference.
The Library
One for each side of the transaction, plus the memoir behind the method.
FAQ
Anything that shakes a deal between contract and closing. A late payment that surfaces in underwriting, a gift donor who changes their mind, a missing divorce decree, a survey dispute, a cashier’s check forgotten on closing day.
Because that is how many Tom has worked through and written down. The number is not a marketing figure, it is a count.
No. Filter to the stage you are in, or search for the thing worrying you. Most readers need three or four.
The line Tom takes from it. The full chapter is in the book; what is published here is the lesson in his own words.
Both. Turbulence does not care which side of the table you are on, and roughly half of these land on each.
By phone at 281-450-8101, or by email. Tom Stallings has served the greater Houston area with McCallum Realty since 2000 and has worked through the 2008 contraction, the COVID demand surge and the adjustment after it.
Reading the list is useful. Having someone who has already worked through most of it is better. Tom will tell you which of these actually apply to your situation, and which are not worth a minute of your worry.
No pressure, no obligation, and no sales script.