Thursday, September 21, 2006 - Shredding Documents - 9/30/06

NBC4, Mercantile Potomac Bank and Shred-It are teaming up for a series of Safe & Secure Community Shred events. The next event is September 30 and the closest location is Rockville, but it's worth it to get rid of cancelled checks, old medical papers, tax returns, etc. safely. Take up to 5 boxes of papers and they will be shredded for FREE! Clicking on the link will let you know what else you can shred -- computer disks and credit cards are accepted as well.

I know that when my mother passed away, I was faced with boxes and boxes of papers that no longer mattered to anyone -- my grandparent's tax returns from the 1960s, cancelled checks from my grandmother (who'd passed away 10 years earlier). I know Mom wasn't saving this stuff for posterity, she just didn't know what to do with them. 

I know many former clients of mine who sit and shred papers in front of the television at night, trying to tame the paper tiger that has taken over our lives -- trying to get rid of the stuff instead of packing it and moving it.

Take advantage of NBC4's event -- up to 5 boxes of papers, shedded for free. It's such a relief to get rid of this stuff -- safely and securely.

(C) 2006 Susan Pruden.

Saturday, September 16, 2006 - Satisfied Seller, now a Frustrated Buyer

As I mentioned in my last post, I had a frustrated seller whose house sale didn't go as he wished. Well, settlement on his home went very smoothly yesterday and we were in and out of the settlement office in about an hour.

However, as you may remember, we were to go from the selling-settlement to the buying-settlement on his new house. Unfortunately, the "everything is done, no obstacles remaining, paperwork delivered to title office" transaction came to a screeching halt late Thursday afternoon. I called the title office to find out when I'd get a preliminary settlement statement just to find out that a major title issue had been discovered. Tuesday. TUESDAY!!!

Apparently the title company had spent two days trying to reach the seller, who is uncommunicative. It will take as much as 60 days to cure the title. Needless to say, my client is pretty upset, but he'll live with it. He's already moved into the house and will pay rent to the seller until things are settled. The listing agent is working hard at taking care of the outstanding title issues, so we may get to settlement sooner than 60 days.

I hope so.

(C) 2006 Susan Pruden.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006 - Story of a Frustrated Seller

I'm working with a seller who has a house that has hit the century mark and more in years. She's a stately, beautiful house with tons of character, a gorgeous yard that looks like a park -- over 2 acres of flowers, trees and grassy knolls.

The seller has loved this house. He had the vision to take it from a absolute dump seven years ago -- missing walls, unplumbed bathrooms, disgusting floors and a barely functional kitchen -- to a real beauty. In his eyes, the house that he is selling has a few flaws, but they're all minor compared to the joy of living there. When you own a house built that long ago, you learn to live with the challenges that an old house brings.

But the buyers didn't feel the same way. Where he saw a cellar with dirt floor barely covered by a concrete veneer, they saw a scary, wet basement. Where he saw asbestos covering over the pipes in the cellar, he just sealed them in plastic and forgot about them. The buyers saw a health threat that they couldn' t live with.

It took weeks to negotiate the repairs. The seller was unhappy, the buyer was unhappy. But, we negotiated our way through it, settlement is in two days and I'm really hoping this has a happy ending. The loan is approved, everything is done...or wait! No, now the homeowner's insurance wants more repairs done and a tree trimmed. The seller is so stressed he's about to go ballistic. The buyers scrambled to work it out with their insurance agent and now we just have the walk through to get through.

Meanwhile, the seller is moving into his new home, which has not been without challenges as well. Maybe even bigger challenges that the first transaction. The seller on that transaction has left a house full of furniture and personal belongings, with no intention of removing them prior to settlement. So, instead of moving his stuff IN to the house, my client is also moving stuff OUT. We negotiated a fee for this, but it's not nearly as much as I think it should be.

This is all very typical of today's market. Gone are the days when the seller could set the terms and get it all his way.

Friday will be a very happy day for all of us if we make it through!

(C) 2006 Susan Pruden.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006 - Recalls -- How do we find out about them

Once in a while, a home inspector will notify a buyer that an appliance has a recall on it. Then the buyer asks the seller to take care of whatever the repair is. Usually it's that simple and it costs the seller nothing.

But occasionally the recall has expired and the manufacturer says they are happy to do the repair -- for a fee.

So check out recalls now -- there's a terrific site that combines all the different agencies that oversee recalls -- recalls.gov. It's worth a little exploring.

(C) 2006 Susan Pruden.

Monday, September 11, 2006 - Client Safety

Client safety is definitely a part of REALTOR® Safety Week. This article targets real estate agents, but buyers and sellers will get good tips from it as well.

(C) 2006 Susan Pruden.