A Swipe of a Scraper....Stroke of A Brush....Paint it Forward....

    We were recently referred a listing which was an estate. The woman who had lived there was well into her 90's and her only child was the heir.  The woman had been concerned that her daughter would be left with repairs or updates in the house and every year made improvements...from a new roof to appliances, carpet, furnace, painting the interior....the house was in great condition.  It was our honor to be chosen to list the house. When we met the daughter, she had emptied the house, had carpeting and the house cleaned. We added a little staging to warm up the interior and listed the house.
   A wonderful family fell in love with the house. The brick ranch was exactly what they wanted in the perfect location near family and friends and the Seller was thrilled to have someone who appreciated the house about to become the next owner.
    The buyers chose FHA financing and we ran through the well maintained home to see if there was anything an inspector might find that needed correction.  The exterior trim had seen a Wisconsin winter and the dreaded peeling paint syndrome struck the house.  With the inspection in a few days, and the Seller retired and not in the best of health....we got up with the sun, scrapers and paint brushes in hand and shop vac for any chips that "fall where they may" and scraped and painted any areas in need of attention.
    FHA guidelines present lots of opportunities to "pay it forward"....Sellers are not always able to pay contractors...and timelines may forbid a contractor's schedule.  Pay it forward with a scraper, brush and don't forget making those chips disappear. Do it because you can...because you should...Pay it forward one scrape, brush stroke at a time...you'll find good all over...and know that you helped both the buyer and the seller live happily ever after...isn't that what Realtors are supposed to do ?