Something happened to me a few days ago that really chapped my hide and I need to vent:) I figured there is no better place than on my blog. Okay, here's the situation. I have a client that has been looking for a very specific property type for over a year now. I know he is a serious buyer, but it is going to take the perfect property to get him to move. . My client is a contractor and has been in the business for almost 30 years. He has the knowledge and ability to take a fixer and really turn it around. He really wants to be in one of our better areas and has been waiting for a bank owned property to turn up that he can rehab and then move into after he retires. A few days ago, the perfect one became available. As soon as I saw it, I called him and let him know that his wait was over. He drove up from Los Angeles the next morning to take a look at it. Here is where the fun begins.

The home in question is a bank owned property listed at $575,000. It last sold for almost $900,000 in 2006. I did some investigating and found out that the home had suffered serious water damage due to pipes breaking and flooding the home. The damage had been repaired and an extensive remodel begun. For whatever reason, the remodel was only completed 80% before the home was foreclosed on. However, all of the materials are still in the garage and for somebody with experience, it will be a pretty easy job to complete. As we were poking around in the sub area, I noticed the neighbor taking an interest in what we were doing. We spent around an hour looking at everything and estimating the costs to finish the repairs. I forgot to mention, the house in question is very beautiful with great stonework, layout, and an awesome stamped concrete driveway. We had just decided to drive to the city and pull the permits and then go back to the office to make an offer, when the neighbor walked up.

He seemed like a friendly guy that just wanted to chat. After a few minutes he started telling us about the house. His story made the tale of the great flood seem like a summer shower. He went on and on about the catastrophic damage the home had endured and how incompetent the contratctor who did the repairs was. He told us how he suspected that the contractor really hadn't fixed the water damage and only painted over it. He just kept on and on, each minute making the home seem worse and worse. When my client stated he thought he could do everything for under $50,000, the neighbor laughed and said " It would be more like $300,000". Needless to say, we had alot to talk about on the drive to Building And Safety.

I told my client that even though the neighbors tale did not bode well for us, we needed to do our own investigations and make a sound decision based on what we found out. We spent a couple of hours going over all the permits and records on the home. We looked at all the comps from the last year and made estimates on building costs. After everything was said and done, my client decided he still wanted to make a bid on the house.

So, we wrote the offer and I called the listing office to get whatever disclosures they had and let them know I would be dropping by the present an offer. In the course of the conversation I mentioned the neighbor and the things he had to say about the house. Guess what? It turns out the neighbor had driven over to the listing office after we left and made on offer on the home. That's right. The home that needed over $300,000 to repair. The home that was ruined and hacked away upon by the most incompetent contractor that has ever lived. The same home that would be the biggest money pit of all time. I couldn't believe it. This man who was posing as a friendly, concerned neighbor was actually doing his level best to torpedo our interest in the home so he could buy it for himself. Some people.

It took a little bit but, I finally put the house into escrow. The negotiation time with the bank took a long time due to the slowness of the banks response time. Every counter we made took at least four or more days to get a response. In that time, a higher offer came in but, guess what, the neighbor talked with them and they withdrew it. That guy actually helped me out, inadvertantly.