When a deal is going smooth, it's almost like you're due for a hiccup... My most recent listing was under contract and about 30 days in (5ish days away from closing), a lot of rain and a failed sump pump put the finished basement under about a foot of water. A couple hundred dollar home necessity was at the end of its life and almost caused a quarter million dollar deal to fall apart leaving us stranded.
Not your average listing - this legally zoned single family home was converted to a 2unit rentable property. Dealing with tenants and such isn't the task most home buyers are looking to take on - so our audience was mainly investors. This cut down the sample size of the buyers in the market substantially. After our first offer that was just south of list price, my seller chose to accept. Being that we didn't have plentiful amount of other offers, we needed to make sure this one got done.
Coasting to closing after a fair home inspection and good appraisal, rainfall hit and the property took in a good amount of rain water in the basement. This left us in a tough spot because we don't want the buyer's to freak out and cancel. Delaying closing a couple days can be costly because the buyers would need an interest rate lock extension that they would want the seller to pay for - on top of the cost of restoring basement condition to better or previous condition.
After more phone calls than I can count to the buyer's agent, attorneys and my seller - we were able to get a contractor in less than 48 hours to quote the damage and get the work started. This leaves about 2-3 days to fully restore the bottom foot of drywall, an interior door and trim around the perimeter of basement. What sounds impossible was done flawlessly! By the time the buyers did their final walk-though of the property the day before closing, the basements condition was back to normal with only a little sweat left behind.
Some lost sleep thinking about deadlines and a solution is no battle that I couldn't handle. I wanted to assure my seller that it would be ok and the buyers that they had nothing to worry about. This is the extent that i'm willing to go for any and all of my clients 100% of the time. It was a great learning experience and a better story once it was all closed and buyers took ownership.
Thank you kindly for taking the time to read - I hope some day soon I can give my all in a transaction for you or someone that you know. Reach out anytime for real estate advice or consultation. Only a phone call away!
