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How I wasted a lot of money on the first house I ever sold!

Many years ago, when I sold the first house I ever sold in Hartsdale,NY, after getting licensed in Real Estate, I made a very costly mistake.

Newly licensed and being a fairly logical and fairly intelligent person, I thought it wouldn't be a terrible idea to comment on something outside my area of expertise.

We had gone through the house with the engineer and my buyers had gotten the report. The market was pretty fast, even though the interest rates were really high (around 17%) The engineer said the boiler was on its last DAYS.

My buyers asked me what I thought. The house was about 60 years old at the time, the boiler was probably 30-40 years old. Smart guy that I am, I said "Well, if the boiler has worked for all these years, I don't see how an inspector can look at it and say it is on it's last days."

Well, to make a long story short, the boiler stopped working before the closing, and instead of the seller or the buyer paying for it. The seller, the buyer and the agents chipped in for it. So I paid for part of a boiler that I will never use! :).

That day, I did pay for a boiler, but I also paid for a lesson that I learned and will never forget.

STAY INSIDE YOUR AREA OF EXPERTISE!

I now never make comments about the legal side (Unless I check with a lawyer) I do not question the engineering reports (Unless to the engineer for an explanation) and I don't have to buy boilers for other people.

Posted by Kevin O'Shea, White Plains, NY Real Estate on 05/25/2008 01:58 PM

Comments (17)

real estate, hartsdale, ny, expertise, sold, house, first, logical, intelligent, story, legal, engineer, inspector, inspection

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17 Comments on How I wasted a lot of money on the first house I ever sold!

MAY

2008

Hi Kevin ... good advice. Enjoy the beautiful day!

Oh wise one . . . thanks for that tip. In taking my real estate law articling course, the very first thing the instructer shared was that we were not lawyers nor did we play one on TV. We were to always advise our clients to seek legal advice (engineering advice etc)

When writing my final exam, I began every answer with: "I am not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV. I would first advise my client to seek independent legal advice on this problem." Then I would provide my personal opinion on the situation described. I don't know if my answers were correct or if I simply amused whomever was grading my paper but needless to say, I passed and with a 97% !

I now answer every question a client asks as if I am going to have to defend myself in court at some point in the future. I haven't been there yet but . . .

Kevin...I paid for a survey after questioning which side of the property line a huge tree was on...My buyer decided they 'had' to know for sure...Lesson learned...Have a great weekend.

Good example. I have had a couple of similar types of lessons...when we pay the tuition - welearn!

Yes indeed. I once had to pay for a hot tub heater beacause I told the buyer it was heated. One would think assuming it was heated was a safe assumption... think again!

Thanks,

I know that, I've been told that. Still I think we need to be reminded over and over. It is too easy to make a "slip" when not paying attention.

Unfortunately or fortunately that is how we all learned how to sell houses, listen more, speak less. A Home Warranty for the buyer can resolve these issue now.

Great post Kevin, and something we all need to remember.

That's one lesson we only have to learn once.

Have A Great Day

Good post Kevin, I always tell them to seek a Laywer, or Accountant ect, keeps me out of trouble--Bart

This is an extremely useful piece of advice... but now, how will I be able to blog? :-)

What a smart commentary Kevin! Only too true - people pay big bucks for what comes out of our mouth - and sometimes WE pay big bucks for what comes out of OUR mouth! ( grin )

p.s. i don't know if you did something to change the background on your blog - but its taking a long long time to open now......:-)

Kevin, good tip. Regardless, it sounds like you were smart enough to work out a way to keep the boiler problem from killing the deal.

Nothing teaches like experience! I had a similar one early on and learned to hold my tongue (although, with me that's sometimes DIFFICULT!)

We all learn from experience- either ours or others. it is the great thing about ActiveRain! Thanks Kevin

MAY

2008

Kevin,

I want to thank you. I joined Active Rain a few days ago and have spent quite a bit of time in a couple of the groups. Being in "Real Estate Rookies" I was hoping to find information that would, well, help rookies! You are one of the few that I've read that does.

It seems that there are a significant number of people that want to blow there own horn without really lending any useful content to their discussion. Possibly I am looking at the whole concept of this group from the wrong angle, but I was under the impression that this would be a good venue for rookies to share waht works for them and what didn't work for them in order to help eachother out.

Sorry for the vent. Again, thanks for consistent threads that contain useful information.

Thank you all for your great comments!

All the best!

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