Last Saturday I was just slightly alarmed about the broken glass found at one of my showings at vacant Chesterfield County Virginia homes as the buyer agent. It was a residential foreclosure property, and I was leading my client, her adult daughter and five-year-old granddaughter around to the back of the property to find access. We saw a total of nine properties that day, and fortunately none of the other eight properties showed any signs of having broken glass.
Several doors and windows on this particular bank-owned property in Chesterfield County Virginia were boarded up, so we finally came around to a screened porch with a side door and lock box. My inner alarm clock began to ring.
Someone had broken into the property and shattered glass was observed from one of the door windows. I started to feel just a little concerned.
The concern was more for my client and especially her five-year-old granddaughter. While opening the door, I asked my client to be very careful as we entered the property. Fortunately, she held her granddaugher's hand for added safety, and we were quickly able to maneuver ourselves around the broken glass on the floor inside.
Although usually not an alarmist, I did feel some concern for client safety. As a prospective investor, my client still insisted she would like to see the property. Fortunately, we didn't stay at the property very long at all. Afterwards, I thought to myself, what is my real responsibility here?
Do I simply downplay the broken glass? Although vacant properties are somewhat more prone to vandalism, this was my first experience of encountering broken glass on the floor. Upon entering the property, I immediately contacted the agent's showing service and definitely felt the listing agent needed to be made aware of the situation.
There definitely could be a liability issue here. Who could be liable? Could it be the buyer agent for allowing client(s) onto the premises? Could it be the bank who owned the property? Could it be the listing agent? Or could it be all three of us?
After we left, I breathed a quick sigh of relief. Fortunately, my client had no interest in that property. Mainly, I was just glad everyone got out of there without any cuts.
In the future, I simply will calmly report any broken glass or suspected illegal entry without being so alarmed. It can happen in vacant Chesterfield County Virginia homes and homes elsewhere, too. However, the safety of my clients still is first and foremost when showing properties!
Window glass is typical in most buildings and homes. Broken glass just needs to be reported.
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