This is an excellent piece on the topic of the numerous foreclosures and short sale properties. Experienced agents will be keenly aware of the circumstances that can apply to such properties. Less experienced agents, or inspectors, should read this article. Sometimes the distressed lenders, trying to keep from throwing good money after bad, degrade the quality of the properties they are holding by turning off heat and power in the winter months,
Another example of “collateral damage” in the current Real Estate mess----that most of the country finds itself----is that more and more home inspectors are becoming un-intentional “deal killers”----including this Seattle Home Inspector.
Before the bubble burst, it was much less common for a home inspector to kill a deal in such a way that the house might not sell in a timely fashion. This was because if one buyer walked away there might be 10 others waiting in the wings. Previously, while a home inspector might nix the deal for a particular agent involved, the sale at least would likely happen even if it was for some other agent----and in a timely fashion.
Nowadays it seems, with so many distressed properties for sale, there are a great many more issues that come up that justify more caution on the part of buyers----especially first time buyers without the cash reserves to fix the additional issues found at these properties. The result is that more buyers walk away after the inspection----and it is more likely that there are not going to be ten people waiting in the wings----and that the house is not going to be sold in a timely fashion.
The odds are stacked against a house having been properly maintained----if the owner was not able to pay the mortgage in the first place.
Add to this that some of these homes get vandalized by unhappy owners being forced to leave, or that homes are trashed by being winterized and we end up with the “perfect storm” for the home inspector to “write a book” about. Many of these places look like they have been hit by a tornado ----followed by a hurricane to “smooth things over.”
Please remember (for the most part) inspectors are not “deal killers.” Each house has a “story”----we merely write that story down. For many of these properties, it would be splitting hairs to say that it might be possible for the home inspector to write the report in such-and-such a manner so as to negate the tornado and the hurricane. It is up to the agent to sort out how these storms have compromised the deal.
It likely had nothing to do with the agents or the home inspectors.
Charles Buell
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The problem I find with short sales and foreclosures is staying experienced from one deal to the next. Our state is famous for moving the cheese and changing the rules...
From balmy Washington State, where snow is a 4 letter word!
Paul
There sure are alot of these properties out there, and some can be a bargain, while others have long lists of defects, many with serious problems.
I had one the other day that never got winterized, and was vacant through the cold snap we had in December, and no heat in the structure....
When the utility company turned the water back on, it had many leaks throughout the home. To top it off it has a hydronic heat system, so more water leakage and system damage....
All of this discovered because the buyers chose to have the home inspected, and we had to have the water on to check it out. We are all glad they didn't by-pass the inspection.
...Unfortunately the repairs will cost alot more than had the bank just left the heat on for an entire year.
I have found that having a home winterized does not guarantee anything...it really depends on the effort of the individual performing the winterization. Banks don't pay alot for this service, so they get what they pay for. And these guys are not plumbing contractors, so they don't always get all the water out. Some times the hot water tank is left on after it is drained. And on, and on.....
Harold,
Right on. You ought to do your own blog on that.
Great advice and perspective. I haven't had to deal with many, so the reminder is excellent. Thanks.
Just to set the record straight, I do NOT hug pretend squirrels in nighties. Or real squirrels either. Ms. Kate
Kate,
What is this in response to? Is Chuckie Bee making up incendiary stories again to create a wedge between you and Nutsy, whom I know you secretly admire.
I guess you haven't read my blog? Your loss, you know.