I arrived before my buyers and thought "uh oh" as I was struck by the lack of curb appeal for a home in this price range, in this neighbourhood....with pieces of wood in the driveway (it kind of reminded me of having a "car up on blocks" except the car wasn't there), lawn that was cut but not weedwacked so that it looked all scraggly etc. It was surrounded by homes that had good to great curb appeal so that made it's lack of it stand out even more.
Once we got into the home we quickly discovered that it was not what my buyers were looking for, the main floor was a little too small and they didn't really like the layout but we did make the rounds of the whole house.
Laundry piled up in the laundry room, dirty toilet and dirty grout in the shower of the master ensuite, stains on the carpet, food bits all over the carpet in the basement...I had booked the appointment a day and a half in advance so it's not like we caught them off guard with a last minute showing!
I've shown a few rented properties and the majority of the time the homes are clean and show pride of "rentership" but sometimes they're an absolute disaster! This one did not qualify as a disaster but knowing my buyers, it had me kicking myself for not previewing it first and crossing it off the list so as not to waste their time!
Now in all fairness when I spoke to the agent after the showing he did let me know that the seller had plans to fix some of the issues once the tenants moved out at the end of the month but how many buyers are going to look at this property in the next month and cross it off their list based on the current first impression? It's an unfortunate situation for the seller!
My buyer brought up an excellent question when it comes to rented properties...what happens if you buy it and the tenants trash the place when they move out?
The answer to this is that the seller will most likely have insurance to take care of any damage but regardless there are a number of clauses/conditions we can insert into our offer to protect him as the buyer and if they are not met then he doesn't have to close the deal.
There are inspection clauses (in addition to the usual home inspection), seller representations/warranties, and maintenance clauses that specify the condition the home must be in upon completion (the closing date).
At the end of the day this was simply not the right home for my buyers but if it was, there are many ways I could protect their interests in this type of situation and help alleviate their concerns about buying a home that had been used a rental propety.
That's what I'm here for!
Until Next Time…
Kelly
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