Every house I sell is special to me. It is home or becomes home to a family that I have come to know and love. Every transaction has a story to tell and a task list to tackle. I feel so accomplished and proud after every single one. Some are more hard -fought than others but holding a deal together and getting your client in or out of their home is a joy and a victory.
This particular house was sold to first -time -home- buyers who were also newlyweds and they were so sweet. As you may know, or can at least assume, first time home buyers are generally a nervous breed.
I had the pleasure of working with this dear seller. She was moving on to something bigger and better for her needs. Now, when you work for the seller your job is to procure a ready, willing ,and able buyer for the home and to close it. After acquiring this in the sweet newlywed couple and overcoming the initial offer and negotiation process, came the fun stuff: Request For Repairs.
This house, to the untrained eye, looked seemingly perfect. But after the home inspection, the buyers thought it needed some pretty extensive TLC. They came armed with a 20 item request for repairs which included but was not limited to: repairing roof rafters, cutting into the drywall, plumbing leaks, electrical updates etc. Those are always fun lists to get but even more fun when up front cash is in short supply.
With buyers who are short on cash and a seller of the like, it can get tricky. You have a few options here that I won’t divulge ( you have to pay for that insight :)). None of these options were going to work for this particular situation for many other reasons that would just bore you if you aren't already.
The only option we could arrive at was to find a contractor who would do the repairs before closing and agree to get paid at closing through the title company from the seller’s proceeds. There are pros and cons to this and as you can imagine, contractors aren’t lining up to work now and get paid later- that’s reserved for us Realtors haha!
I reached out and found a wonderful and reliable company who agreed to make like a Realtor and work now for pay later. They showed up and took care of the to-do list and knocked it out.
The repairs were finished in the nick of time and get this: BOTH sides were satisfied and so grateful for us getting in and getting the job done.
My seller was happy to have help getting her home repaired and sold. She thanked me for easing her stress and bearing that burden. And the buyers were beaming from ear to ear to be able to move in and know their home was safe and ready for new memories to be made.
These are the things I love about my job: the people, the problem solving, the making things happen. This home sold and closed and everyone had a smile on their face, under their mask of course.
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