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The door was left wide open for a full week!

By
Real Estate Agent with Premier Mortgage & Real Estate

I let my buyers into their future dream house in a upscale neighborhood.  We took the standard tour and they decided this would be their new home.  The offer was signed and submitted that night, $500k.  Fast forward a few days, the offer was countered, we countered, and it was accepted for a little less than what my buyers wanted, but everyone was happy enough to move forward.  Having the accepted offer, my buyers made the deposit into their escrow account.  The inspection was set.

I arrived at the property first, then the inspector, (my buyers would come out later).  We didn't enter the front door, we went directly to the backyard through the gate.  The inspector and I spent enough time in the backyard talking about the property that my buyers arrived without notice.  Though, oddly enough my buyers were able to enter the house through the front door.  My buyers were not aware we were in the backyard, and much to their relief they noticed that we were at the property, (and they thought the door was wide open because we were there.)

"Oh, good, we thought the door was open for the entire week, good to see you guys are back here," my client said.  There was a long pause....."uhhh, well, we actually entered the backyard from the gate, not the front door."  More silence and alarming looks from everyone.

We dropped what we were doing to walk around the house to see if anything was out of the ordinary.  Much to our surprise, in one of the bedrooms there was a fire-pit, sleeping bag, and some vodka bottles.  Someone had made this vacant home their new home!

Now, most of this is not true... Actually the home was locked up nice and tight.  I did open the front door with the key.  But my clients did not know we were there.  They did think the home was left open from the week prior.  I just thought it was pretty funny, then I thought, hey something like this probably happens when homes are not locked up by agents after they leave....

They are buying the house, bums not included...

Posted by

Keith Bennett
DRE# 01869992
Premier Mortgage & Real Estate
9225 Carlton Hills Blvd. Suite #3
Santee, CA. 92071
Direct Line - 858.344.4512
Fax - 619.312.1621
Email - Keith@RallyRE.com
Web - www.RallyRE.com

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Emcee M. Arah
Remax Excellence - Silver Spring, MD - Silver Spring, MD
Realtor w/Architectural Dimension, AHWD CRS B-Arch

That really would have been something if someone had "moved in" while the door was unlocked!  Glad it didn't happen that way though, Keith.  It was a much better outcome the way it actually happened.  But I can imagine - an impatient realtor, ready to move on to the next property or task on their to-do list, going way too fast and leaving the door unlocked.  Can you imagine the things that can happen (and probably have)?  A scary thought.

~Emcee

Jul 05, 2010 12:14 PM
Sandy Nelson
Riley Jackson Real Estate Inc. - Olympia, WA
your Olympia area Realtor

I just came across a vacant home, while showing homes to buyer clients, that had the front door unlocked. We went through the house cautiously, not knowing what would greet us, but everything was tidy. There weren't a lot of business cards on the counter, so it may have been left unlocked for several days. It's an important reminder to make sure to secure the properties after we show them.

Jul 05, 2010 12:16 PM
Cindy Jones
Integrity Real Estate Group - Woodbridge, VA
Pentagon, Fort Belvoir & Quantico Real Estate News

Unfortunately to many houses are left open and agents come into property that has been vandalized or worse.

Jul 05, 2010 12:27 PM