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Short At Closing. Did I do the right thing?

By
Title Insurance with Old Republic Title 126029

I had one of the toughest deals in my 11 years in the real estate biz.  My listing was actually in foreclosure when I received the full price offer.  Holy cow, this was indeed a miracle.  That was in February.  The seller's out of state and the clock is ticking on the foreclosure.

Closing is set for April, then May, then June.  The seller was going to be about 15K short.  No time to try and work a short sale without losing the buyers.  The seller manages to get an advance from his company (a major home improvement store) and he sends in two wires.  Only one problem.  One wire never shows up.

We're two days away from closing, the lock is about to expire, the buyer's are chomping at the bit, especially since they have taken occupancy (they were from out of state and had no place to stay).  To me the answer is obvious.  I emailed the title company and without blinking an eye I said, take it from the listing side and get this closed, end of discussion.

It closed, finally last week.  It's done, it's over and I am so ready to move on to the next challenge.  Did I do the right thing?  I think so.  It took $2800.00 away from my check and of course the company but what would have happened should it not have closed, in my opinion would have been far more costly and damaging.  Asking the selling agent to help to me was never an option.  She did her job and in fact was the glue that held this deal together and her Broker received a nice letter about how she handled everything.  She deserved the letter and every penny she got paid.

So now there's no foreclosure, no REO selling for way under market value and a very happy buyer.  Will I ever get the $2800.00 from the seller?  Who knows.  That what Broker's are for, to deal with things like that.  I'm happy and content about how things ended and I truly believe that something good & positive will come from all this but the bottom line is that someone was helped and at the end of the day, isn't that really what is most important?

Have a great week everybody!

Posted by

Russell Benson, Realtor®
Prudential Alliance Realty
Oklahoma City, OK
Serving Oklahoman's since 1998
www.RealEstateOKC.com

Show All Comments Sort:
Vickie McCartney
Maverick Realty - Owensboro, KY
Broker, Real Estate Agent Owensboro KY

Hi Russell~ Good for you Russell!  I think that you absolutely did do the right thing.  Sometimes we have to do those kind of things, you will be blessed in other ways!

Jun 29, 2009 03:34 AM
Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist
KD Realty - 408.972.1822 - San Jose, CA
Probate Real Estate Services

Russell, I think you did do the right thing. Not sure expecting to receive the money is realistic. In any event, you got paid for your work versus having done all that work and not getting paid at all. Great job!

Jun 29, 2009 03:36 AM
Randy Cole
Keller Williams Integrity FIrst - Mesa, AZ

The right thing in the eyes of your buyers, and lets hope that they'll reward you with some future business and or referrals. At least you can sleep at night. Lesson learned and passed on to all of us. Sometimes its not all about the money. Good job

 

Jun 29, 2009 03:43 AM
Russell Benson
Old Republic Title - Norman, OK
We'd love to close your deal at Old Republic!

Thanks so much for the replies thus far.  I love being a REALTOR® and I have grown the accept the good and bad that come with a job like ours.  I know the good far outweigh the bad by a lot so normally when one door closes, another one opens.

Jun 29, 2009 04:22 AM
Sylvie Conde
Sutton Group-Associates Realty Inc., Brokerage - Toronto, ON
Broker, Toronto Real Estate

I would have done the same thing, although I do believe the buyer's agent could have/should have?? split it with you ...

I don't think it's realistic for you to expect to get the money, but it certainly would be great. 

It's always really great when people all come together to make up the difference, but when they don't, we have to do what we have to do.  It wouldn't have helped anyone, had you not done it. Good for you.

 

Jun 29, 2009 04:24 AM
Russell Benson
Old Republic Title - Norman, OK
We'd love to close your deal at Old Republic!

Sylvie,

I have asked agents in the past to share in a monetary issue but the amount is normally small, much smaller than what I was dealing with here.  I suppose if she would have offered to share in the loss I might have considered it but selling agents work hard too and I always want to be fair with them.  In the end this is a win-win situation for everyone and I was very happy to see it get closed.

Thanks!

Jun 29, 2009 04:59 AM
Joe Pryor
The Virtual Real Estate Team - Oklahoma City, OK
REALTOR® - Oklahoma Investment Properties

I have done the same thing, I prefer not to but it is sometimes the right thing to do. Glad to see you blogging and hope to see you on the first page of Oklahoma Active Rain soon.

Jul 18, 2009 01:21 AM