Lull Day

Today seems to be somewhat of a "lull day". Meaning that nothing much is happening or pressing at the moment but that could all change in a matter of minutes. I got to the office this morning just after 9am and began checking the email, making some phone calls and getting paperwork faxed that needs to be faxed. I have two deals pending closing in early June and I am hoping to get another buyer that I am working with into a house before June is done.

It's nice to see that my Dad has chimed in on my blog with his two cents. Even though he sometimes writes about Key West issues which are of little interest to me (politics and such), I always enjoy reading when he writes about the more mundane items such as canary eggs and bicycle thefts.

I have been working on a particular deal which has completely taxed my burgeoning real estate career. I met a buyer that I'll call Daisy through an internet lead back in March. She was looking to buy a small house or double wide mobile home to downsize in her older years. We established contact, assessed needs and began looking. As we got to know each other better, we signed a buyer-agency agreement which means that I am working for her and she is my client. We hit it off very well and enjoyed each other's company while looking at houses. She explained to me that she had lost her husband nearly a year ago to cancer and had the family home under agreement in the western part of the state. It was set to close April 1st so she felt comfortable looking for a place and making an offer once she found something she liked. She would be a cash buyer and not require financing due to the proceeds she would get from the sale of her home. Daisy found the perfect place, made an offer, it was accepted and she was on her way to moving closer to her daughter and simplifying her life.

All was going very smoothly until the closing day for her current home came and went. She was told by the man who made the deal with her that it would be just a couple days. He had a myriad of excuses for her to hold her off. Several days went by and still no closing; she had now missed a deadline for a second deposit on the home she hoped to purchase with her proceeds.

In the meantime, I asked if I could speak to this man buying her house. He called me and went on and on with exucses while he hadn't closed yet, but bottom line was that he could not give me a definite day. I had to keep in close contact with the agent for the seller and explain the situation to her. Tell her that Daisy still wanted the house but was being stonewalled by this
wheeler-dealer man. I began probing further as did the agents for the sellers. As it turns out, Daisy told me that back in October this man had her come into his attorney's office and sign over the deed to him "so he could pay the taxes" for her. Daisy assumed it was all on the up and up since it was being done in an attorney's office in front of a notary. Daisy never received any monies at that time nor has she up to date.

I asked Daisy how she met this "shark". She explained that back in the fall just a few months after her husband's death, she went to a car dealership to attempt to sell one of her cars so she would have enough money to pay the property taxes. This is where she met "the man". He told her that he was a real estate agent and could easily find a "buyer" for her house and he would pay her taxes and she could live there as long as she needed to until she was ready to move. He also promised to make repairs to the home in anticipation of selling it.

The agent for the seller looked up the deed for Daisy's property and found that it had been drawn up back in October but registered just two weeks ago. Amazingly, it now said that Daisy had sold her property to a Garret Brock, who she did not know and to whom she had never signed her property over. She had signed it over to "the man" back in October. The "man" had offered to pay Daisy 250K for her home and sold it to Garret for $325K according to the tax transfer stamps on the deed.

Meanwhile, an attorney working for the seller's agency called me after he got wind of the situation. I had been keeping the seller's agent updated all along. He introduced himself to me and said that he smelled a rat and it sounded like an elderly lady was being taken advantage of and that " got his Irish up". He offered to help and asked me if he could speak to my client Daisy. Daisy agreed to call him to discuss her situation and he has been handling things since then.

It now looks like Daisy will get her money for the sale of her home. The details are being worked out by the attorney and she may be able to finally move on like she had intended. There were other improprieties in this situation such as "the man" not really being a real estate agent yet portraying himself as one, the deed possibly being forged from the original one Daisy signed to the one recorded which indicates she sold the house to this Garret person.

I spent two nights with very fitful sleep thinking about Daisy and what was happening to her . It made me very upset and anxious to think about this "man" taking advantage of an older woman in a difficult situation. I am very thankful that people did step forward and do the necessary to help Daisy finally get her money and allow her to move on as she wanted. It's not completely resolved yet but hopefully by week's end we will have the answer that we hope for.

This whole scenario just points out what can happen when one attempts to sell or buy real estate on their own. Without the backing of a reputable company, one is at great risk for being taken advantage of by "sharks" or not completing the transaction correctly. According to the National Association of REALTORS, people selling by owner typically net 16% less than if they sold with a REALTOR. Most for sale by owners (FSBO) sell on their own in order to save the commission, however at 16% less they are losing the 6% comission plus an additional 10%. Daisy sold for 250K when the home was actually worth 325K but if she had been represented by a REALTOR she would have netted 305K even after the 6% commission.