Real Estate Horror Stories
This won’t come as a shock, but I’ve seen some really crazy things in my career as a realtor. Some of these things have been funny and unexpected, but others have been stressful lessons. Luckily, I can share those lessons with future buyers and sellers, so I’m sharing these top 5 worst things I’ve seen in real estate not to scare you off but to make you aware of some of the risks you should keep an eye on.
Let’s dive in!
1. The Kitchen Floods Days Before Closing
This was definitely a stressful moment for my buyers and for me. I’d put this phone call up on the list of the worst calls you can receive. So here’s what happened. My clients found a great home, we did a walk through that went great, and everyone was excited to close. Then I got a call from the other agent… “Emily, a pipe burst in the kitchen, and a portion of the house flooded. ServePro is onsite now trying to dry everything out.”
After the initial shock wore off, my clients worked with the sellers and their insurance company to get everything repaired. Luckily, insurance provided funds to replace the flooring that was damaged, and my clients were still able to close, but they had to live in a construction zone for weeks until everything was complete.
2. The Seller Dies the Week of Closing
In this case, it was my client who passed away. Luckily, they had undergone preparations to name and legally record a beneficiary deed, which placed his son in charge of the home. While his death was a surprise to everyone, we were able to extend closing by one week and still complete the sale between the beneficiary of the home and the new buyers. I use this as an example of how important it is to have emergency plans in place.
3. The Home is Damaged by the Sellers When Moving Out
When a buyer writes a contract on a home and it is accepted by the seller, that seller is also agreeing to keep the home in the same condition it currently is in until the day of closing and possession changes hands. Well, in this case, when we arrived for our final walkthrough prior to closing, we discovered the seller had moved out a heavy piece of furniture by dragging it across soft, pine wood floors. This left 2 tracks from the dining room to the front door. Understandably, the damage was unacceptable to my buyers who saw this as the seller not holding up their part of the contract. To remedy the problem, we extended the closing until the seller had the floors professionally replaced throughout the entire first floor.
4. The Buyer Quits Their Job the Week of Closing
and No Longer Qualifies for a Loan
This was such a heartbreaking experience, but it was a good lesson for everyone. When you buy a home and take out a loan, your lender looks at your credit score, income, tax records and everything else to make sure you can not only qualify for the home at that time but will also keep making the payments after closing. That means your employment, credit and debt to income ratio cannot change until after closing.
Sometimes prior to closing, a lender will double check to ensure you are still employed and nothing has changed. Unfortunately to my surprise, we learned my buyer had quit his job the week of closing and did not think it was necessary to tell anyone since he was already qualified for the loan. Needless to say, he was no longer able to qualify for the loan and the sellers had to put their now vacant home back on the market.
5. The Buyer Does Not Show Up to Closing
While this has never happened to me (knock on wood) I have heard so many horror stories of this happening. To this day, I still do not understand why or how a buyer could ghost their agent and the sellers of the home after 30 to 45 days of working toward closing. By this time, the buyer has already submitted a contract, gone through inspections and the appraisal and had the final walkthrough, so I have no clue how they could suddenly not show up on the day of closing and abandoning the contract. What’s worse is, I’ve heard this horror story many times, and we never find out what happened to the buyer or why they did not show up.
