Happy Soon to be Home Buyer or Delusional Squatters

Saturday evening I scheduled showings for my Clients on three vacant homes. The first 2 were your typical uneventful showings.

When we arrived to the third one there were two vehicles in the driveway. My first thought was they doubled book the showings. I asked my Clients to stay in their van while I checked to see what was going on.

The front door was shut, the lock box was hanging on the knob intact. So I knocked on the door and waited. A mid aged women answered the door. I asked her if she was the Seller or a Realtor. To my surprise she told me she was the new home buyer. She just stopped by to do some work on the house because it was in terrible shape and required substantial work to be done before it could close.

I walked back out to the street and informed by Clients that there must have been a mistake because the home was under contract.

As I was driving away I had an uneasy feeling that something wasn't right. I called the listing agent and left a message when he didn't answer. He called back later in the evening and I explained what had taken place. He told me there was no contract on the property and he would get back with me tomorrow after he talked with the Seller.

The next day he called to let me know the people inside had tried to purchase the home but couldn't get loan approval. They had been coming into the home and would answer the door when ever someone came by and telling them the same story I had been told. They thought if they could turn enough people away they would have no choice but to work something out with them so they could purchase the home.

If only they had put that much effort into correcting their situation so they could get a loan.