Someday soon I’ll write a full-blown Realty Reality post about this transaction. I’ve written about it several times already, but my client is quite right in telling me, “This should be Chapter 14 in your book!”
What am I talking about? It’s a home that finally closed this week — after much back and forth, feint and parry, sturm und drang, threat and counter-threat — all in a day’s work.
I first wrote about this in an Ask the Broker post about a divorcing seller who was reluctant to move.
I talked about my own buyer briefly in a post about the realities of what we suppose to be tech-infused real estate brokerage.
Two weeks ago, I wrote what I thought was the last chapter in the story for the Arizona Republic (permanent link):
Sellers who aren’t motivated can create headaches
When Realtors speak of unmotivated sellers, what they normally mean are sellers who are unwilling to do what’s necessary to make their home appealing to buyers — price to the market, attend to repairs or keep the home show-ready.
I have a home in escrow right now where the seller doesn’t seem to be motivated to do anything.
I represent the buyer. When first we saw the house, it was graced by a great deal of debris. Not trash, necessarily, but not treasure, either, and none of it put away. When we were back in the home for inspections, nothing had changed.
And, to my knowledge, nothing has changed since then.
I have been driving by the home every other day or so, looking for external evidence of changes. Nothing discernible.
We were there on Friday for the final walk-through and we discovered one important change: The key in the listing agent’s lockbox no longer works. The seller had changed the locks.
What does this mean? The home is about to close and, to all evidence, the seller seems unmotivated to move out. There is every reason to suppose that every bit of debris we saw in the house a month ago is still there.
What happens next? We close the transaction, withholding funds in escrow to pay to have the seller’s personal property removed, if necessary.
After the deed is recorded, I’ll show up at the home with a locksmith, and we will proceed to change all the locks. If necessary, I will arrange for the police to remove the former owner from my buyer’s property.
What happens after that is anybody’s guess. When this house closes escrow, the structure, the land and any remaining personal property will belong to my buyer. The personal property will have to be removed, and where it goes will depend on whether the seller has found a new place to live.
And where will I be? Up to my neck in debris, I’m afraid.
The next time someone tells you that the Internet will replace Realtors, remember this story.
I wrote that on Tuesday. The house failed to close on Wednesday, so I didn’t post this column to BloodhoundBlog that Friday.
Why did the home fail to close? The seller didn’t move.
The house finally closed this Wednesday, two weeks late. I wrote about it twice this week, first reflecting on the notion that Realtors are overpaid for the work they do, and second addressing the work determined Realtors do in even the most routine of transactions.
Now, you would think I had learned my lesson, but I wrote about this transaction for the Republic again this week (permanent link). This was written Tuesday for Friday’s paper, so I didn’t know as I was writing how things would work out:
Seller who doesn’t move out on time can create legal tangle
Here’s some happy news: I’m not the only Realtor in the Valley who has had to deal with a truly unmotivated seller.
I wrote two weeks ago about a house that had not closed because one of the sellers was still in the home — along with all of his personal property. So here’s some unhappy news: As I write this, we still have not closed.
Gary Edick of U PayLess Realty wrote to say that he has faced similar situations, the consolation of a shared adversity.
Justin Schlegel of Re/Max Preferred Choice phoned to warn me that recording the sale with one seller still in the home could be construed as creating a “tenancy at sufferance,” legally the same situation that would obtain if a tenant failed to move out at the end of a lease. The only recourse for my buyer might be a “forcible detainer action,” an eviction, which can take anywhere from 30 days to three months.
This is a fate to be avoided, even if a judge were to rule that a seller is not a holdover tenant. Even then, we would inherit all the risks of a post-possession, which we’ve talked about before.
Roger Gordon wrote to me, wondering about the specific details surrounding this transaction. Here is the short version:
The sellers are divorcing. Their legal wrangling over the disbursement of the funds is the motivating cause of the delays in closing.
Cross your fingers, but everything may have worked out at last. The seller is to move out Tuesday. My buyer is to move in Wednesday. By Thursday, the universe should be restored to its proper order.
What happens if something goes wrong? That would be the most unhappy news of all. My buyer is moving out of a rental home. She has to be out by Wednesday.
If her new home doesn’t close on time, I suppose I could offer her the master bedroom at our house.
Where will I sleep? There is a real bloodhound behind Bloodhound Realty, so I guess I’d be stuck in the doghouse.
Despite all the conflict with and among our sellers, my buyer and I got through the whole mess in good humor. At one point she mentioned drawing a line in the sand, so I told her the story of Gaius Popillius Laenas versus King Antiochus IV.
About 168 B.C., the Syrian Monarch Antiochus Epiphanes attacked Egypt. The Egyptians appealed to Rome for an army to repulse the invaders. The Roman treasuries were depleted by the Punic Wars and there was no army to send. The elderly ex-counsel Gaius Popillius Laenas and his twelve assistants were sent instead.
Laenas and his twelve headed east from Alexandria and soon met the great Syrian army. King Antiochus came forward to see why his army had stopped.
“What are you doing in Egypt?” Antiochus demanded of Laenas. “Your Majesty, I believe the question rather is, What are you doing in Egypt?” replied the senator.
Antiochus demanded that the senator move, but Laenas stood firm. The king’s laughter ceased and he demanded:
“Who do you think you are? Behind me stands an army of thirty thousand men.”
Laenas replied “Behind you stands only a visible and rather small army. Behind me stand the invisible legions of Rome. In the name of the Senate and the People of Rome, I order you to go home.”
As the king hesitated, Laenas took his staff and drew a circle in the dirt around the king. When done, he stated “Step out of the circle, King, in any direction but east, and you will answer with your kingdom and your life.” Time passed as the king studied the resolute old senator. Finally the king turned around, stepped out of the circle to the east, re-mounted his horse and headed home.
— Kent Polk
After that, I swear I could see our twelve armed lictors behind us everywhere we went…
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Marty Van Diest says:
Great Story!
Divorce sales can really be something. An agent called me just yesterday to tell me another great divorce sale story. Seems the husband is under a court order to sell. After a lot of calls the first showing was yesterday. As soon as the buyers entered the house he went into the bathroom to feed his pet boa constrictor a live chicken. As you might imagine, it only took a few squawks to send the buyers and their agent packing.
February 3, 2007 — 2:40 am