by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
If location, location, location is the main factor in what can sell a house, then filth, stubbornness and indecision may be why the “For Sale” sits in the ground for months and even years.
Today’s real estate climate in Northeast Florida is the best it has ever been and is one of the strongest in the nation. Houses are selling in weeks, days and even without being listed. Neighbors can come home to find a “Sold” sign in the yard of someone they had no idea was even interested in selling. However, not every sale goes as smooth as silk.
Selby Kaiser has been with Prudential Realty Network for many years and has sold hundreds if not thousands of houses to clients from all walks of life. One house in particular, though, gave her fits a couple of years ago.
“I was trying to sell a house that the husband insisted on overpricing and the wife never made it convenient to show the house,” said Kaiser. “She missed at least half her opportunities to show the house.”
Kaiser declined to identify the client or the difference in asking price and potential selling price (it’s a lot, let’s put it that way). In fact, the house is still on the market today.
“It still hasn’t sold,” she said. “It has been on the market for four years. We (Prudential) have listed it twice and now they have a new broker. The owners are getting more realistic about the price.”
Kaiser said this scenario perfectly illustrates why a house might linger on the market, regardless of neighborhood.
“There are people who want to sell their house and there are people who have to sell their house,” she said. “These are people who wanted to sell their house.”
One agent asked to not be identified because the story may hurt the agent’s relationship with the client. In a nut shell, there’s a communication issue in which the buyer wants to be informed of virtually every step in the home-building process within nanoseconds of that step being completed. It has turned into an e-mail nightmare.
Annette Krestalude is a manager with Prudential, but she has been an agent for years. A couple of years ago, Krestalude had a client whose house needed a little more than a dusting here and a little Windex there.
“Every time I showed this house it was filthy,” said Krestalude. “They had dogs and cats and I kept telling them to please clean their house. It finally sold, but it was on the market for about 90 days. It was priced right, but it was filthy.”
Krestalude said real estate agents have an option when dealing with a client whose house needs a cleaning service long before a “For Sale” sign: they can be diplomatic or direct.
“I drop the hammer immediately,” she said. “How you sell a house and how you live in a house are two different things. It finally sold as-is, but I told them dozens of times to clean it up.”
Judy Hicks of Re/Max Coastal Real Estate eventually took a dirty house into her own hands.
“They (the sellers) had two dogs and four cats and it was the filthiest house I have even been in,” said Hicks. “It stunk. It smelled like someone had died in there.”
Hicks said she gave the owners a report she has written that gives sellers a list of things that need to be done in order to sell their home. It didn’t work.
“They finally moved out. I went over there on a Friday afternoon with cleaning supplies and cleaned the house myself,” said Hicks. “It sold right away, but for about $8,000 to $9,000 less than they were asking. It stayed on the market for 90 days when it should have sold in 30 days.”
Mary Anne Eldreth of Coldwell Banker Walter Williams Realty said her nightmare sale involved an owner who was contractually obligated to make repairs. She said the owner had purchased the home with the intent of doing a little work and then “flipping” the house. However, once her client signed a contract on the house, the seller refused to do the work in the signed agreement.
“My client paid for two different home inspections because the seller did not want to step up to the plate,” said Eldreth. “I had to remind the seller we had a legally-binding contract.”
Eldreth said the issue never got heated in person.
“But it got ugly in e-mails,” she said. “I did not threaten them, but I had to remind them many times we had a legally-binding contract. Thanks to technology and e-mail, I was able to document everything.”
Miwa Kouri has been with Watson Realty for three years. Her most trying client to date was one who couldn’t put the bong down.
“I had a druggie that kept changing his mind,” said Kouri. “When he was messed up, he didn’t want to sell. When he was sober and could think straight, he was ready to sell. We went through six contracts and finally I caught him on a good day. It took three months to sell the house when it should have taken two weeks.”
Kouri said the issue was mildly amusing.
“It was both frustrating and comical,” she said. “Toward to end, he finally went into rehab.”