Even in our beautiful hometown of Brookfield, Wisconsin we stumble upon less-than-perfect real estate situations. Such was the case during a recent home search we were conducting for our Buyer-Client.
The home was advertised as a For Sale By Owner on a national website, so as a Buyer's Agent I decided to contact the owner and see if it would be possible for me to show the property to our Buyer-Client. The owner was more than cordial on the phone, but did say it would not be possible for him to contribute anything to the Buyer Agent's fee. Hmmm, odd because most FSBO's are usually willing to at least talk about it! None the less, he invited us to attend the Open House the following Sunday.
Prior to meeting the buyer at the property that Sunday I performed my due-diligence and checked into some public websites where I found a foreclosure action in progress on the particular property. The buyers were concerned with how that process might hinder their purchase if this should "be the one".
At the Open House we found a fabulous neighborhood that the buyers fell for instantly. The home was "lived in" and in need of many things, from the roof to a kitchen overhaul. BUT - the price was one of those too-good-to-be-true stories. Indeed, the foreclosure action was nearing the end, as the Sheriff's Sale had already occurred
and the Confirmation Hearing was just a short few weeks away. In order to facilitate a sale of this nature there were incredible challenges to surmount in a very compressed time frame. Absolutely NOTHING could go wrong along the way.
And nothing did! We would be assuming the successful bid by paying the successful bidder the deposit paid on the day of the Sheriff's Sale, and coming to the Confirmation Hearing with the balance of the purchase price from the proceeds of selling the buyer's existing home, and a new mortgage. The biggest challenge would be finding a lender who would understand this entire process and feel comfortable with it.
The strangest part was that the successful bidder at the Sheriff's Sale was the homeowner! (that's a story for another blog). His most ardent hope was that a great family would get the house, and he was gambling everything he had on that hope. After a rugged three week sprint during which we kicked one silly lender to the curb after they wasted an entire week, and through an unbelievable learning curve aided by a sharp young attorney who could navigate the tangle of legalities involved, we got to the courthouse with the final payment with SEVEN MINUTES TO SPARE before our time was up and we would have lost the sizeable deposit.
In the end the homeowner still lost the house, but for them it was a bittersweet day because their wish of a great family getting the house came true. For the buyers, they had alot of work ahead of them, but they got the perfect neighborhood and the right house that they could make their own.
Sad beginning but a HAPPY ENDING! Sometimes "making lemonade" is part of our calling.
If you are involved in a "less-than-perfect" real estate situation, call on us to help you find a solution. There are many ways to think outside the box. Persistence is a key ingredient in this kind of lemonade.
In Brookfield we like to say, "You know us - we're your neighbors!"
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