Thank goodness it stopped raining just before my afternoon appointment arrived to show homes. When looking at Saturday’s weather, I’m all the more glad I scheduled my public open at 725 N. Washington for Sunday instead. Having the temps hovering around freezing this time of year doesn’t make for happy buying experiences.
When speaking to an associate today, I discovered there may be a home coming on the market which will be a very close fit for what they’ve been looking for, which will fulfill my prophesy from weeks ago being that the home they’ll likely be buying hasn’t yet hit the market. If and when it does get listed, I’ll be telling them that they’re looking at about as close a dead-ringer of what they’ve been searching for in their price range these past months. Considering all the homes I’ve shown them, I’d say they’ll be in full agreement with me.
Around noontime, I had an interesting conversation with a gentleman who’s very much in the know of things that are being talked about but never seem to hit our local rag of a newspaper. I continued to interject how much I’m hoping our City government fully realizes what risks they’re taking with that Renaissance project by moving forward with the building of that ice area when the other key components aren’t hammered out, signed-off, and above all, fully funded.
I know there are upside-down situations, but in the real world, nobody gets a loan or starts construction on anything until all docs are signed and funds available. I compare this to a very big no-no whenever innocent and overly-trusting sellers allow ramrod buyers to move into their homes and start working on them before their loan is approved and fully closed. Over the years I’ve heard some pretty scary horror stories regarding those situations, and all of them ended up catastrophes, which is why early occupancy is very much frowned upon.
Many years ago I heard about a young couple who couldn’t get a loan because of some obscure and very weak excuses, and for whatever reason, that elderly seller was talked into selling it on contract with almost nothing down but a promise that they’d have their financing in less than a year.
It’s amazing how much damage a young family can do with two young children and two inside/outside dogs in less than a year. Towards the end of those 12 months, they stopped making their contract payments which prompted the seller to hire an attorney to get that contract forfeited-out which gave those naughty monkeys another 45 – 60 days of free living. After it was all said and done, that widow ended up paying thousands of dollars to bring her home back into the condition it was before she so trustingly allowed them to move in without little or no “skin” of their own in the game.
No matter how good someone’s credentials are, there’s always that opportunity for abuse whenever there’s large sums of money involved. And don’t think those situations aren’t happening in these times, and likely all the more due to nearly all of us being part of the digital world where numbers can be massaged and money more easily moved from bank to bank. I’ve always found it questionable whenever seeing someone rise in prominence yet in possession of no real talent other than being able to work gullible crowds. In the old days we used to call them, “Slick-talking Fuller Brush salespeople.”
Now I’ve got a question for you. What would you consider one of the top ten turn-offs for a given buyer when looking at a home? My first hint is it being small. My second hint is it being furry. Have you guessed it yet? Another hint is that you normally hear or see one of them at night. Come on, you have to know by now! Ok, the last and final hint is that it looks kinda like a mouse, and flies like a very fast bird.
Now that you’ve likely guessed what it is. I must say the wife of my buyer nearly jumped out of her skin when seeing a dead bat with its head bent towards the drain of the kitchen sink in one of today’s home showings. Oh mercy me!
After our initial shock, we did get some really good laughs in when talking about live bat experiences we’ve had over the years. I was being wicked when telling about the time I opened the front storm door of a home and discovered a live bat hanging up in the corner of the door casing. I think it was months before I stopped being paranoid that I’d find another one during my showings. Can you imagine what would’ve happened if that bat suddenly began to fly as I was walking in that door? Yes, the highlight of my day was that dead bat encounter.
Tonight’s one-liner is: The hidden harmony is better than the obvious.
