Short Sale Hostage

Oh, the cruel vagaries of short sales.  Not every buyer can handle the experience.  You have to be flexible about when you are able to move.  Absolutely no deadlines for when you have to be out of your current home.  You must have the patience of Job to wait wait wait as tidbits of information on the progress of the short sale drip slowly through the system, like Chinese water torture.  You might need to pay more for the home than you offered because the lender's appraisal says it's worth more.  If you don't pony up, they'll kick you out of the transaction.  Runner up for the worst outcome for buyers:  The lender doesn't approve the short sale and reworks the loan with the current owner - no sale.  Winner of the worst outcome for all parties: The lender forecloses on the property in the midst of the short sale. No deal.  No house.  Return to GO and collect your earnest money back.

I recently had a client who bought a townhome in Reston - regular sale, totally and beautifully renovated, great price.  Contract was accepted in 3rd week in May.  He had to be out of his current home by end of July.   Sounds like plenty of time.  The one contingency was "Home of Choice" - that means the seller had to find a home they wanted to buy within the specified time frame.  Only problem was that there weren't (and still aren't) very many homes for sale.  She couldn't find anything she wanted to buy.

Finally she chose - oh dear -  a home being sold short sale.  So now my buyer, who bought a home as a regular transaction, had to wait through the whole excrutiating and uncertain short sale process.  He had to move four times between the end of July and when it finally closed the end of October! I won't even go into the details of how we had to adjust the offer price three times to keep the deal alive.

Interesting that the transactions (and the lives of approximately 12 people) didn't depend so much on the short sale being approved as it did on my client's willingness to wait out the whole nightmare. If he pulled, out the whole chain of transactions broke.

I'll gladly share credit with Carole Burnett, also with Long and Foster, for coming up with creative solutions to keep the transaction alive and our clients focused on the outcomes that they wanted- their new homes.  I love happy endings!

Cleanliness is Next . . . . - On Your To-Do List

If you've been a renter of a private home - and sometimes for apartment complexes - you've experienced the strict lease clause requiring the property and the carpet to be professionally cleaned in order to get your security deposit back.  It can come as a shock that the standards aren't nearly as strict when you are buying a home.  The Sales Contract states only that the home has to be broom swept and trash and debris removed. That leaves room for a lot of dirt and grime to be left behind. (As a Realtor, I always point this out to my clients when they are signing the contract, but it can be an easy thing to forget when there are so many other important steps in the sales process.)

When you're buying the home, most likely the owners have it in the best and cleanest condition it has been in since they bought it.  That's all part of having the house on the market for sale.  Some home sellers take a lot of pride in leaving the home spotlessly clean for the new owners.

Yet, often in the chaos and stress of moving, cleaning is the last thing a home seller has time to do.  In the rush of getting that last box out the door, they just may not have time to clean.

Home buyers may consider having the home professionally cleaned, or schedule time themselves to don the yellow-rubber-gloves before they move in.  That way they know they are starting life in their new home with a clean slate.