Time Thief

You never realize how precious your time is until someone steals it from you.  Recently I had a client that I had spent 3 months with searching for a home.  The county had purchased their property for a new school and gave them cash and 9 months to relocate.  I checked it out and it was true.  I double checked with the county. We shopped requently and revisted several homes with their children.  We spent alot of time together and had many conversations about our careers, our families, our goals.  As realtors, we do get engrained in our clients personal/professional lives.  We found a home, I had a letter from the bank stating they had cash funds available for the purchase and it was signed by someone I personally knew, so I never gave it a second thought.  We did the home inspection, the appraisal (eventhough it was cash and didn't need to be done), the well and septic which all totalled about $1,000.00.  I also had a $10,000.00 deposit in escrow.

My client was getting a huge promotion, invited me to the ceremony, where I met about 45 family and friends.  Everything seemed to be on the up an up.

We went to the walk-thru the evening before settlement and the whole family and a few friends attended.  They couldn't have been more excited.  They were planning a pool party for the weekend, furniture deliveries, cable installation.  I was so happy and excited for them.

The next morning they are MIA for settlement.  Supposedly the husband(a high ranking military person) was called to the Pentagon.  With the large settlement check in hand he proceeds to work and everyone is disturbed, yet understanding.  For one full week everyone's lives are on hold.  The seller had moved out into a rental already.  All utilities had been transferred.  Finally the settlement is rescheduled and Buyer sends his wife to settlement, because he has another important work related issue.  She comes with the check and signs a few documents and leaves to go home and pack.  The Title officer calls me and says that portion has been completed, but the check feels funny.  I said, It's a local bank, lets just call to be on the safe side.  Low and behold......They never issued a check in that amount, my client was never even in the military, much less a Colonel.  He has now fled the state after being discovered and We all (the Listing Agent, the Seller, the Wife of the Buyer, the Title Officer and  myself, are left perplexed as to what he thought was going to happen.  The check was altered and the bank would not have just let that slide. Why would someone do this to their wife and children?  What did he expect to gain from this? What about the poor displaced seller?

I kept reliving in my mind those 3 months.  Often he would come in uniform for appointments. The promotion ceremony was a hoax to impress family members.  I felt and still feel so angy, but not at the loss of the $24,000.00 commission, but of all my precious time he stole from me, my family,my viable clients. 

Real Estate Sales is one of the few careers that you invest so much, time, energy and money before you get paid.  I can always make more money, but I will never get that time back, which is more precious to me then money.