In any residential real estate transaction, it is the home buyers and sellers who call the shots.
Sure, agents, lenders, home inspectors, termite inspectors, contractors, loan processors, loan underwriters, and plenty of other people have a hand in the deal. But the buyers and sellers are in charge. They make the final decisions on price, terms, and the fabulously fun process of figuring out what to do with the information in the home inspection report.
I’d like to tip my hat to a few of my recent heroes – folks who made the home buying and selling process delightful.
The Prince Charming of Home Sellers: This guy was amazing. Proactive, courteous, thorough, detail-oriented and generous.
He had the house professionally cleaned before every open house. He had the carpets cleaned before the final walk through. He had the gardener come after the fumigation tent was removed to trim back the damaged shrubbery around the outside of the house. He had the built-in barbecue in the backyard professionally cleaned. And his wife left a gift basket for the buyers on the kitchen counter. And all of these were done on top of taking care of all the items on the buyer’s request for repairs. Charming.
The Fairy Godfather of Home Flippers: Buying from a high-volume flipping company does have its benefits. After discovering that the air conditioner wasn’t working, the fireplace had a huge crack, and the shower tile had not been grouted and sealed, the listing agent essentially submitted a punch list to his “people” at the flipping company and everything was taken care of at the seller’s expense within four days of submitting the request for repairs.
Almost as good as having a magic wand.
The Mary Poppins of Homeowner’s Association representatives: When the home inspector found the wooden balcony had dry rot, the metal weep screed along the bottom of the stucco was damaged, the water heater stand was full of mold, the sliding glass door frame was deteriorated, and the post tension cables for the foundation were rusted, a return email confirmed that the HOA would be taking care of all of these items.
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
The Mother Teresa of home buyers: Knowing they got a smoking deal, the buyers elected not to ask for anything to be repaired, other than the termite damage to the patio cover. What a blessing!
Of course, there’s the flip side – the curs and villains who make the transaction a nightmare. But that will have to wait until another time.
Leslie Sargent Eskildsen is an Orange County real estate agent. She can be reached at 949-678-3373 or leslie@leslieeskildsen.com. Her website is leslieeskildsen.com.