First of all an apology for this second half taking over three months to post. Even if the house that is the subject of this post was my listing, it would still have been prudent to wait until the house had sold and closed escrow. It now has. If you did not read part one then please go back through my blog archive and read the entry dated 6/23/10.
Where we left off last time was the picture of the skunk. In the case of this house it was a family of them. If the former owner or those handling her affairs had actually spent $300.00 on a physical inspection last January they would have discovered that there was a squatter on the premises. Had the owner dealt with the skunk then by a licensed professional specializing in getting rid of these beautiful pests the owner would have put an extra $7,500.00 in her pocket when it was all over.
How is this possible? The escrow with my buyer fell out last June and the house closed escrow three months later. The selling price after concessions was no higher. If the equity of approximately $250k sat in the bank at 1% interest for three months there is $750.00. That was not the highest expense.
The first expense was getting rid of the five skunks under the house and the two carcasses of the loved ones that had passed away. The squatter in January was just in the beginning of her pregnancy. During the next few months she dug a nest under the house before having her four kittens. Then she was either hit by a car or was poisoned because by June her kittens were old enough to take care of themselves and her carcass was under the house with one that had been the fifth kitten that had not lived. Getting rid of her kittens, the carcases, the tunnel system and filling the holes that burrowed under the foundation with cement was at least $1,000.00. This had to be done before the house was put back on the market so that the smell no longer knocked you back when you walked in the front door.
Then there was the sanitizing of the house. Removing the carpet and scrubbing the house down would run about $3,000.00. Trying to get around doing that and removing the smell under the house was an open invitation to other skunks that the house was now skunk friendly. There there was the the question of either putting in new carpet or redoing the existing hardwood floors. Either way there would be about $2,500.00 in expenses. The listing agent wisely had the seller go the way of refinishing the hardwood floors.
So there you have it. Not parting with the $300.00 in would have cost to have the inspection done and deal with one skunk last January cost the seller over $7,000.00. That does not include the wear and tear on everyones nerves while dealing with the situation.
In other areas such as Northern California having the inspections done before putting the house on the market is an accepted practice. Here in the south it is like pulling teeth to get a seller to do so even when I have offered to discount the cost out of my commission.
Comments (1)Subscribe to CommentsComment