Life in the trenches of home buying and selling...Stories from Agents and Clients

 

Bigger Not Better

I was a fairly new agent and was so excited to get a visit request. I called the client and he was very interested in the home; it was a bank owned. I recommended that he talk with a loan officer and get prequalified right away so when we went to see the home that night he could submit an offer. It was a horrible night all around. My clients got there and I don't know what they were expecting from a 6000 sq. foot home and the least expensive in the entire state for listing with this much space. They were definitely not expecting blood. We got upstairs and there was a huge blood stain on the wall with 'I'm not kidding', a handprint. We were totally scared. The basement was worse with more blood and mice droppings everywhere. The home was an old polygamist home and we were trying to find our way out and kept ending up in another kitchen or family room. It was horrible, and scared the clients. This was their very first time ever viewing a home...But to this day when I take clients out and a house is a disaster I always tell them it could be much worse!

My First Listing

My very first listing...I got a floor call, a guy wanted to see about selling his home. I went over and did a one-stop listing appointment and got the listing. This was Monday night. Our office meeting and tour was Tuesday morning. One of the office agents had a buyer that had been looking in that price range and neighborhood. She showed the home Tuesday afternoon and wrote a full price offer. When the appraisal came back with some repairs the seller had to make, he was convinced the buyer's agent and I were in cahoots to defraud him and had priced the home too low. I thought my first transaction was going to end up in the courtroom. We managed to calm him down, get the repairs done and he closed so it ended all right.

Persistence Pays Off

One of my first clients (spring, 1989) was a couple from California wanting a big home with acreage. While setting up the showings, I called an agent about a particular listing that seemed perfect.  She agreed that it fit all the parameters, but informed me there was one "small" catch...the home's occupants (renters) had been there for months without paying rent, the home owner was instigating a Sheriff's order to have them physically removed, and the renters had placed a Notice of Interest on the property, making it difficult, if not impossible to sell.

When the buyers arrived, they only had a few days and I showed them the few homes that fit their wish list, but none seemed right.  I told them about the rented home, and they asked to drive by it.  Of course, they fell in love with the property from the outside and wrote a full-price offer, based on the MLS information, the description of the listing agent, and what they could see of the property from the outside.  The offer was contingent on them getting inside before closing and approving the inside.

A few weeks into the contract, the owner of the home was able to get the renters to agree to allow me to show the buyers through the home. I called my buyers, who flew in for a day to see inside.  The renters did let us in, but the adults were gone so we made our way through a passel of children and one of the dirtiest, most battle-worn homes I'd ever seen.  The renters had  ripped out light fixtures, heat vents, plumbing fixtures, etc....it was appalling!  My buyers, however, were golden!  They understood the value of the property and the difference between cosmetic damage and structural integrity...they continued on to a rocky closing that occurred many months after repeated delays in getting the renters out and the Notice of Interest removed from the title. They became great referral clients and called me about listing the home 3 years later (which, by then, looked like a new home, inside and out).

I later learned from the listing agent that the renters, who were related to a well-known, well-respected figure in the community, had used their family name to tie up large, mansion-type homes that were pricey and somewhat difficult to sell.  They would move in with a 1-2-year contract, not pay any rent, place a notice of interest on the property on the county records, then live in the home, rent-free, until the owner finally got them and their 5 children physically removed. Because of the high-profile family name, they duped several home owners over a period of about 5 years before they were finally stopped and charged with fraud.

The Haunted Home

There I am waiting in Starbucks for an initial consultation with a Buyer. She tells me I will recognize her by her red purse. Standing in line, I am startled when a rather large women with numerous tattoos on her arms and hands clutching a bright red purse waltzes into the store.  She takes one look at me and yells my name. Blushing, I state "I am happy to meet you lets have a seat together", would you like a beverage? On no she shouts, "I just had my stomach rerouted, so I really can't eat or drink much of anything."  "Oh, sorry I reply."  I begin going over the handouts, types of things not to do with your credit, the difference between short sales, REO's you know...the whole buyer consultation. Then the client abruptly stops me and states, "Can I ask you a question that no one has ever asked you before?" "Sure", I state, thinking I have probably already heard and seen it all. She proceeds, "I want to know if you can find out if anyone has died in a home." I reply, "well...you can check with the police reports." She states, "great...because I would really like to buy an old home that someone has died in. I would love a home that is haunted or next to a cemetery."

All righty...then. Looking through my steaming hot coffee. I stared at the client. Her tattoos seemed to grow, gleaming with evil symbolism. I slowly realize this lady is serious.  As we begin our journey into old homes together, my mind begins to wander. Maybe this client is into witchcraft or something. She may want to murder me as a sacrifice for a spell. My heart is racing as we unlock the first door.  Click.   Frantically, I push the favorites button on my cell phone. Quivering, I squeak, "Why don't you start wandering around the house while I make a quick phone call". My husband answers. Loudly, I rattle off the locations I am touring. "I am in ### Ross street with X and here is the address we are going to. Sorry I forgot to leave them on the counter like I always do....Oh, you're in the area, well why don't you join us." Obviously, I was not murdered for a sacrifice (at least not yet). The was definitely a bit off, but her colorful off the wall personality grew on me. I sold her an old home. She will need to do her own investigative work to find out if anyone has died in that home.

The Con Man

I had a buyer that was very secretive. I would call him and he would lie and say he wasn't home but he had an unmistakable voice. I finally found a home he liked in the $150,000 range. (The home now would be $500,000 plus). He insisted he was going to close in 7 days and pay cash. He wouldn't even give me an earnest money check and we ended up writing a promissory note for the entire purchase price. Then, he called an alarm company and told them to install alarms before closing. Fortunately the builder caught them before they did anything and stopped them. He ordered a landscaper to start a pool and a few other expensive additions to the home. I was shocked to find he had scheduled the closing himself and said he was going to send his girlfriend down to actually do the closing for him since she had his power of attorney. We waited and waited and she never showed. We got hold of the buyer. He said she had been in a wreck on the way and then had stolen his money and disappeared. We re-scheduled the closing and told him he had to sign the documents. He never showed up and the next time I called his phone was disconnected. I figure he was hoping to score a big drug deal and it didn't happen. This deal was a very frustrating but a learning experience for me.

The Car Accident

There was this one time --- I was working with a military guy.  We were looking for homes.  Well, I made a left turn in front of traffic - KABOOM!  My big black truck didn't suffer too much damage - but the two teenage girls in a Honda Accord were just barely turned out on the road. There was damage to the girl's nice Honda Accord.  They took the two teenage girls away to the hospital whilst they were bawling profusely!!!  I thought I was gonna die...  As it turns out - the girls were okay - their black beauty survived - and my client and I went out searching the next day.  YIKES! What makes this story crazy is that my younger brother (also a Honda Accord owner) was talking with his neighbor and it just so happened my brother was talking with the father of the girls. The father of the girls wanted to do a car trade with my brother. The car sale nor the home sale worked out but as a  real estate agent I am much more careful driving around. What a small world!

Need I Share More?

Walked into someone showering. Was rear ended by my client between houses. Got asked out on a date by the seller, to go out with his daughter. Saw a black widow eat a bee the size of a golf ball. That was just on Saturday. Accidentally knocked over a box while showing my sellers house, happened to be full of "work stuff". My client was a stripper...you can just imagine the things we saw! Was told I couldn't see a house because "there is no way you are an agent, you look too young."  Showed a house next to some power lines, so close my clients hair started to stand up. Have seen: meth lab, weed garden(the drug), mold floor to ceiling, sewage heaping out of the drain, millions and millions of box elder bugs inches thick in a million dollar basement, trespassing bums sleeping, dumpster divers, mutli-million dollar original paintings...need I share more?

Roof Repair I showed a young lady a house with her mom and followed up with her. A few months later we saw some more homes and these ladies bossed me around all day and I showed a ton of houses. We found one she liked and wrote an offer. Her dad got involved and told me to drop my commission in half or walk away. The home had roof repairs needed for her FHA loan and the owner put shingles on a flat roof. They had to redo the roofing before closing. It took forever between that and the lender delays.

One Snowy Night

I'm sure more experienced agents have better stories, but here's one. I'm showing a vacant run down house on a snowy night to a 20-something girl.  The house was old and gross, but she really wants to live in an established area and doesn't have much money.  We start looking around and get to the bathroom.  We can't seem to get the light on, so I get out my trusty flashlight.  As soon as we get it on, we see a big pool of blood dried on the bathroom floor.  That really gave us the willies. 

Lost My Keys

I took my clients out for the first time to see homes.  We were at the first home and spent about 15 minutes looking inside and outside the house.  Unfortunately, the door lock at the bottom didn't work and somehow locked.....my key card, keys to the car, etc. were in the locked house.  I had to call a locksmith to come open the door. We waited for 2 hours and $55.00 later, the house was opened. The clients waited with me the whole time. We had 3 other houses to look at that day, which we did once I could get in and get my keys.  The clients have been wonderful and we're signing next Monday.  It was embarrassing but they were so wonderful and I will remember that experience for the rest of my life.  They are one of the best clients I've worked with to date.   Lets Go Camping I went through a house that a seller's agent told me not to lock the door because he didn't have a key.  Come to find out this 'vacant' home had someone 'camping out'.  And that is why I carry pepper spray with me!

Floors Please

I had a buyer about 20 years ago, insist on looking at homes under $50,000. She could afford more, but we looked at everything (probably 40 homes). The worst was one we walked into and there was a 4 foot hole in the floor of the living room that dropped into the shelf basement. My buyer, turned to me and in a mock Norwegian accent said "I vant a house vat has valls und a ceiling oh und vindows vould be goot! We ended up raising her price just a little to $53,000 and found her a lovely home.

Homes With History

When my client is looking for her next acquisition I can give her a tip. Recently, my agent, showed a passel of homes to my wife in a community we are targeting for our move.  Ever the bargain hunter, my wife dialed in on one fine home in particular:  attractively priced on a great street ("THE place for trick or treating!") with a super lot and comfortable interior, and she commanded that I go see it immediately.  Upon arrival at said home, our agent mentioned something in passing about the home having "some history."  Yeah, whatever I thought.  But Mike persisted about the home's history.  Eventually I said, "Ok, so what's up with history." Turns out there was a horrible murder of a woman my wife's age in the home a few years ago.  I crossed the joint off my list.  My wife still likes the price...