Adventures in Real Estate

 There have been so many adventures this week. And it's only Tuesday. 

First, you might remember my brother's friend, John? He is selling his parent's home in Sun City. And as a way to pay tribute to their memory, he pulled up the carpeting and half of the carpet pad prior to putting it on the market with an agent who is (mercifully) not me. Why? Because he felt that a new buyer wouldn't like the "ugly" carpet. 

Anyway he has another buyer for the house. It closes in a few weeks. According to my brother--who sagely suggested John just leave well enough alone--John wants to (and I am not making this up) pressure wash the existing concrete subfloor. Why? Because he feels the new buyer would prefer freshly washed concrete. I ask you, what could possibly go wrong with spraying down the interior subfloor of a home?

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My listing is under contract. Monday, I had to break the bad news to six agents that their clients did not win. Most agents were reasonable. 

Most. 

One agent--and he wrote the most sloppy of all the contracts I got--after the fact, demanded he have a chance to counter-offer. "I'm sorry, but the house is now in escrow. My client is beyond the counter-offer stage. Would you like to be considered as a back up offer if this one falls through?" I asked. 

No he didn't. So he said instead he said he will be, "backing out of the deal." 

What's there to back out from? My sellers chose another offer. There is no "deal."

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Speaking of agents who submitted contracts, and people who feel the need to wash floors, one of the agents who submitted an offer has been calling me on and off for days. Why? She has a vacant condo in escrow. It is a downstairs unit and the condo upstairs had a pipe burst.  

Her question to me? What does the Arizona Residential Purchase Contract say about such things? Seriously? She has a copy of it. Just read it. Or, ask her broker. Though I didn't advise her, I showed her in the contract (there are two places) where this kind of thing is covered. Then I told her to call her broker, because her broker needs to know a pipe burst and now the listing has an indoor swimming pool. 

Incidentally, though I've never personally met her and our interactions have only been in the past week, I like this agent a lot. I suspect she and I will be meeting in the future for iced tea.