Above and Beyond, Save This Condo
Good Intentions at the Start
The seller bought the condo with his retirement money as an investment property and exhausting most of his resources as the downpayment. His sister needed a place to live and she had agreed to rent it from him, so the bottom line was he did it for her. He loved his sister and wanted to help her get back on her feet after some health issues. She was a school teacher and certainly made enough to pay the mortgage payment and the monthly condo fee. There was no lease just a brother and sister understanding. He lived out of state and we did all the loan paperwork and closing through the mail so I never got to meet him just his sister.
The Brother is Getting the Shaft
More bad times fell on the sister. She got so she couldn't teach in a classroom. She worked at home online and started taking classes to expand her skills. She was getting behind on paying her brother. This is when I was called in.
I did an assessment of the condition and value and was shocked at how she had let the place go and that so much needed to be done to get it market ready. She said it would take a few weeks to do all I wanted done. A few weeks went by and the place was no better. Needless to say it hadn't been cleaned in quite some time either, months, years before I came to see it. She was farther behind on bills and the late notices were coming. She had not cleaned it up or gotten rid of the hoards of papers and boxes stacked all over the place. What I did see was packages from QVC stacked by her chair. I guess those were bargains hard to pass up even on a limited income.
Time is Running out
The brother is pushing me saying he is financially in trouble and needs to get it on the market. He says that they are cooperating giving him time to sell. He won't provide any contact info for them saying he will handle it. I tell him of the condition of the property and he defends his sister as doing the best she can. We decide to go ahead and price it ahead of the market to get it sold. There were a couple of showings but they didn't turn out well. The place stunk. Meantime, Sis is paying her brother nothing and monthly condo fees are accruing. These had now been turned this over to collection. Brother says he can't pay and won't kick her out. This is a tightrope I was walking.
I Feel a Blessing Coming On.
After a few weeks I get a call from Sis telling me she is moving to her daughters house out of state. It is a blessing. Finally I will be able to sell it without her stuff in the way. I know that if she will move her belongings out, that I can save this condo. She stays longer than the two weeks but I remain hopeful that progress is being made.
Then a call comes from her telling me where she put the keys and that she was out. The utilities were shutoff for nonpayment. She says she didn't have room on the truck for everything so I could have the rest. My heart stopped as I knew exactly what that meant.
Can It Get Any Worse?
I call brother to see if he will pay the back charges and get the utilities back on. He gives me the blood from a turnip story and says the bank can just take it. In fact everyone can sue him. He only has his Social Security to live on and was in bad health. He wouldn't live much longer. The economy had ruined him. Old Sis was not responsible for any of this. I get the mortgage companies contact information and know if we can do a short sale, this condo can be saved.
The mortgage company says it is close to final foreclosure but they will work with me. I can hear the clock ticking. Brother has to fill out short sale documents and we can drop the price. I know I can get it sold at this new low price.
Roll Up Your Sleeves, Debbie, There is Work to Be Done.
Back to the condo, it was worse than expected. She left old broken down furniture covered in dog hairs, desks, chairs and cabinets full of stuff. The place was filthier and smellier now that you can see the floors and walls and light fixtures. Okay, I can tackle this and make it look better. I can haul trash off and wipe down counters and light fixtures. I can remove small pieces of furniture. I however cannot carry away the big heavy pieces but can push and shove and place them out of the way and get the dog hair off to make them look less offensive..
My cordless vac is a lifesaver but soon gets overloaded with dog and cat hair and dirt. It comes to a stop. Remember there is no water or electric on and I had hauled in water for cleaning and the cordless vacuum and other cleaning tools. I had brought scrub brushes and that is what it took to get the dog hair up off the carpet and floors. Down on my hands and knees I work for hours with no air conditioning raking up dog and cat hair. Disgusting. I Swiffered the kitchen and bath floors and used up an entire box of pads. I wiped down cabinets and light fixtures using a garage bag full of rags and towels that were later deposited into the dumpster at work. It began to look better. I haul off more trash and pronounce it as good as it gets. Someone will just have to see the value in the price and know there is good potential here.
Hallelujah! A Buyer with Some Foresight.
I get the call from a buyer looking for a deal. I tell him about the condo. He is intrigued. We arrange a time to meet. He is not put off by the work that will need to be done and likes the price. We talk about how short sales work and he is willing to wait a little while but can't wait too long for this to close. He will be deployed in a couple of months and wants to use his VA. I explain that the seller has no money and that the buyer will have to pay for any repairs and to have utilities turned on. He agrees.
Lender, Don't Screw This Up.
The weeks passed and the lender keeps putting us off. We are down to the wire and it is down to get this closed this week or the sale is lost. The buyer will ship out in two weeks. The condo fees are several thousand in arrears. If it goes to foreclosure they are wiped out and the association gets nothing. I negotiate a few hundred dollars and that is it. There is nothing more than that left for the HOA. They take it knowing getting a paying home owner is around the corner and the bleeding will stop. Something is better than nothing. This has never happened before so it was new territory for the management company. Anything is possible when you are a determined real estate agent. The lender pronounces it ready to close and we pull it together in 24 hours. The seller gets documents emailed and ships them back overnight. The buyer closes and gets a great deal. The seller escapes foreclosure. He shouldn't have that to think about in his last ailing years.
Was It Worth It All?
Was it about the money or the sale that caused me to go to these extremes? No, it was knowing that the seller was mostly innocent in this whole deal. He was trying to help his sister and invested tens of thousands of dollars and she let him down. Their relationship was strained but not severed. I was glad I could get this burden off of him and close this chapter in his life.
Above and Beyond, Save This Condo.
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