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Have you ever had a listing that made you sad?

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Services for Real Estate Pros with houses for rent, Solano County & Glen Cove 01870024

 

 

Have you ever had a listing that made you sad?

There is a certain “corner house” that my wife and I pass by every day on our way to our own home.  It’s on the main street to our own house so we pass this “corner house” every time we run into town, head to work, go out with the kids, etc. 

 

delgado property management Over the years we watched the owners slowly build up the home.  Paint, landscaping, unknown interior work, a nice stone wall and more.  These things didn’t happen all at once but slowly, over time.  We never got the impression that the owners took a huge second mortgage and suddenly turned their home into a mansion.  Rather, it seemed that as they saved up some money, they gradually improved their home and turned it into their own dream home.  We’ve never met the owners but the “corner house” has become a favorite of ours over the years as we’ve watched it transform from a regular subdivisions tract home into a unique and beautiful home.

We never thought much of the home beyond that until our phone range one day.  It seems that the home is on the market.  The owners are losing their home and a long-time client of ours has made an offer to buy in order to rent the home out.

If his offer works out, we will have the “corner house” as one of our rental listings. While we do appreciate the business and know that the home will be a great addition to our portfolio, it somehow also makes us sad.  Even though we’ve never met them, it’s too bad that the owners of the “corner house” are losing their home after having put so much of their hearts into it.

 

Yes, business is business.  But we are all people and these are more than just structures that we work with.  These are homes that people put their dreams into.  We almost don’t want the sale to work out just so that we won’t be adding the “corner house” to our portfolio.

Fred Griffin Florida Real Estate
Fred Griffin Real Estate - Tallahassee, FL
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker

We need to keep it "strictly business" - but sometimes that is hard.  

There are human beings involved in the houses/homes that we are selling.

Nov 26, 2011 05:58 PM
Luis Iniguez
Option One Real Estate - Fontana, CA
Search Inland Empire Homes For Sale - Short Sale Agent

It's taugh to deal with situations like these.  As much as we say business is business you are right, we are human and there is some sort of emotions along the line.  

Nov 26, 2011 06:01 PM
Alan Grizzle
Chestatee Real Estate - Dahlonega, GA
Full Time Realtor, Lifelong Resident of Dahlonega

All we can do is hope the sale helps the seller get back on their feet.

Nov 26, 2011 06:32 PM
Laura Allen, Lake Tahoe - Truckee Real Estate for Sale TahoeLauraRealEstate.com
Coldwell Banker Realty, Tahoe City, CA (530) 414-1260 - Tahoe City, CA
Tahoe Real Estate Agent Helping Buyers and Sellers

Mark - Having a heart and caring is what makes a good real estate agent an exceptional one.  You can't change what has happened to these owners, but it changes your perspective on never taking anything for granted. 

Nov 26, 2011 07:29 PM
Roger D. Mucci
Shaken...with a Twist 216.633.2092 - Euclid, OH
Lets shake things up at your home today!

That would make me very sad too Mark, especially since you watched them turn the "corner house" into their dream home.  Best to you and to them, hopefully the sale will get them back on their feet so they can create their next dream home.

Nov 26, 2011 08:35 PM
James Dray
Fathom Realty - Bentonville, AR

You can do business but that doesn't mean you don't have a heart

Nov 26, 2011 11:00 PM
Mark Delgado
houses for rent, Solano County & Glen Cove - Benicia, CA
Benicia and Vallejo, Property Management, rental h

Yes, the human element is always there. We've also just had a resident lose their job and become unable to make rent payments. As human as we are, even in this Holiday time of year, our duty is to the client so we had decisions to make that weren't very popular with the suddenly non-paying resident. Yes, business is business. It's just not always easy. 

Nov 27, 2011 12:52 AM
Lisa Dunham
Alexandria, VA
Associate Broker, Alexandria Virginia Real Estate

Mark, I have had many client circumstances to make me sad.  So, I definitely understand what you are feeling. Like most cases, however, all we can do is hope for the best.  If selling is the only option for the sellers, let's just hope things work out for the best for them.  

Nov 27, 2011 01:48 AM
Valerie Duncan Stewart
(Metro First Realty) - Oklahoma City, OK
Real Estate Agent-Broker, OKC, OK

Mark,

I know how you feel. Years ago a home at the end of the street was one of the most lovely homes in the neighborhood. Landscaping lights, trimmed yard, etc. I "think" it was a divorce situation and afterwards the house never looked the same. It has become generic to the neighborhood with all the love gone from its exterior.

Funny how we attach our own emotions to these situations. Everytime I drive by the house I feel sas as it has become the "divorce house". :(

Nov 27, 2011 02:14 AM
Chris Ann Cleland
Long and Foster Real Estate - Gainesville, VA
Associate Broker, Bristow, VA

As a Northern Virginia Short Sale Agent, I have listings on a regular basis that make me sad.  Sometimes sad for the house, mostly sad for the families losing the homes.

Nov 27, 2011 04:21 AM
Dick Greenberg
New Paradigm Partners LLC - Fort Collins, CO
Northern Colorado Residential Real Estate

Hi Mark - There is much sadness in our business these days - the ones that get to me the most are the recent foreclosures with many of the previous owners' personal items and kid's toys still in the home. I know, and don't understand, several agents who are totally unmoved by this, but I think most of us see and share the heartbreak of lost dreams.

Nov 27, 2011 05:54 AM
Lorraine Sayer
Monument, Black Forest, Falcon, Fountain homes - Colorado Springs, CO
Realtor ABR,CDPE,GRI - Colorado Springs,CO RE/MAX

Wow now that you mentioned watching the corner house I think back to homes I've watched over the years and wondered about the families.  The only positive I can see is that if it does get into your porfolio of rentals that you will take special care of this home and the renters allowed to use it in honor of the family that once owned the corner house. 

Nov 28, 2011 08:37 AM
Anonymous
Don Burbach, Inspections You Can Trust

Hi Mark,

As a Home Inspector, I've inspected properties that are bank-owned, a short sale, or I have knowledge that an owner is forced to sell. Sometimes, I feel that the seller just trashed the place intentionally or with lack of maintenance, and other times I am saddened that may have been some family's home and thay just couldn't hold on.

I see homes that are personalized with special decorations in kids bedrooms, or DIY installed concrete with kids name neatly written into the concrete and dated. I also see modest upgrades that are neat and well-done, without looking like they are out of place or too opulent. Sometimes, toys are left behind, maybe bikes or yard toys that they didn't have room for in the new place. Maybe they had to move to Mom or Dad's. I feel for the former homeowners who had to make decisions that disrupted their dreams and lives. 

~Don

Don Burbach

 

Inspections You Can Trust

 

         

 

home Inspections You Can really Trust

 

www.inspectionsyoucantrust.com

 

707-746-6231 / 925-465-6171

 

707-246-4791 cell

 

Dec 14, 2011 05:11 AM
#13
Karen Anne Stone
New Home Hunters of Fort Worth and Tarrant County - Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth Real Estate

To Don in #13:  Just a helpful hint, here, Don.  The reason your picture did not appear in your comment above, and also the reason that you had to type in your name and your company... was that you were NOT signed in to Active Rain when you made your comment.

Also, because you were not signed in, you did not get your 25 points for making the comment... if that is important to you.

In the future... anytime you go to make a comment, and you end up having to type in your name... it means you forgot to sign in.

If that happens... scroll up to the top right of the page, and if the word "login" is there... it means you have to click on it, and type in your password to get in to Active Rain.  Once you do that... your name and your picture will automatically appear in your comments.

I am just trying to be helpful here, Don.  Hope I didn't come off as a know-it-all.  Take care...

Dec 14, 2011 11:48 AM
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Apr 21, 2012 06:01 AM
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