I just finished reading Justin Halpern's cute little book -- when did they start publishing these tiny hardbacks? -- called Sh*t My Dad Says. It's a fun romp and totally engaging, not to mention, although appalling at times it contains a lot of common sense. Gotta say, though, by comparison, it made my dad look like Mussolini. Some of it made me laugh out loud. My husband thought the author was a bit self-centered. He said, "What kind of guy takes off for Mexico on a whim and doesn't think his family will worry about him?" Um, I raised my hand. Been there, done that.
See, I can admit when I'm wrong. Much as I may like to think that I'm always right, hey, sometimes I'm not. Comes with the territory of being a human and not a robot. Or maybe it comes with age. Now that I pause to reflect, I was always right when I was a young whippersnapper. Ha. Not so anymore.
Take this example from a few weeks ago when a buyer's agent sent me a Request for Repair, which asked for the lawn to be replaced. This was a short sale. As with any other short sale, the home is sold in its "as is" condition. So, I responded the way I always do when this happens -- and it often does -- which was to tell the agent the seller will make no repairs. The buyers get what they get. The sellers are not responsible for upgrades, improvements nor repairs. There is no pest report nor roof certification. The home is "as is." If the lawn is dead, it's dead.
The agent then asked me if that meant the seller was not going to honor the terms of the purchase contract and deliver the home in the same condition it was in when the buyers first looked at it. I quickly pulled up the listing and looked at the photographs. Sure enough, when I listed that Sacramento short sale, we were still in the rainy season. That lawn was green. Now, that we're in the middle of the summer, the lawn looks like everything else in the Sacramento countryside: brown, dried up and a fire hazard.
That agent had a point. And I told him so. The seller replaced the lawn.
Photo Illustration: Big Stock Photo
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