Have any of you ever sold a house as a gift? i.e., “Oh, honey, by the way, here’s the key to our new house.”
Does that really ever happen? And, if so, how?
“Since both husband and wife have to be on the deed (homestead,) it is not possible to surprise someone after closing with the gift of a house. I’ve had several people over the years ‘want’ to do this, however. In fact, one gentleman wanted to surprise his mistress with a new home; he was a little dumfounded when I told him that his wife would be required to sign the deed.”
-John Nicholls, Re/Max Specialists
“I have never sold one as a gift but I did have a lady purchase a condominium to live in without her husband. They moved across country and he saw it a half hour before closing. And this was in the times before virtual tours and the Internet. And one other time, the husband picked out the lot and I helped choose the floor plan to be built and supervised the construction process while the wife never came to see until closing. Everything was done via phone and cameras, and they weren’t digital, either.”
-Janie Boyd, Norville Realty
“Yes! In 2000, I got a call from an American living in France. He was calling about a listing that he thought might fit his family’s needs. He saw the home on the Internet; it was my listing. He wanted to locate in the Ponte Vedra Beach community because he had heard the schools in St. Johns County were excellent. We had several long distance conversations and he came to the states a couple of weeks later to take a look at some homes that I felt would suit the needs of his growing family. I had talked to his wife several times and, in one of these conversations, she asked me to ‘not do anything without checking with her prior to putting in an offer.’ He ended up making an offer on one of the homes he had seen. I wasn’t exactly sure if it was my place to call the wife and inform her of the decision - after all, I am a Realtor, not a marriage counselor. We wrote an offer and after several negotiations, our offer was accepted. I assumed that he had consulted with her and she was in agreement to proceed.
As it turned out, this is what had happened. He had e-mailed her the information and she was pleased. The priority was to get their family settled here as soon as possible. The first time I met the wife was after the home had been closed and they were staying in a hotel until their furniture arrived. His wife was pleased with the choice he had made. The kids were also delighted with their new home with the swimming pool that was located in the beaches area close to the beach, tennis, on a lake and close to the schools. The family is still living in the home so I feel the decision that he made for his family was a good one. As a Realtor/mother, I felt the advice that I shared with him on the homes we looked at gave him the confidence to move forward and purchase a home without his wife’s physical presence.”
-Saundra West, Watson Realty Corp.
“Yes! I did. It was an incredible experience. I had customers who wanted to move to The Villages in Lake Mary. I listed their home in Palm Coast and the market had slowed there. We weren’t getting any offers. The owners very visibly depressed. They really believed that The Villages was the place they wanted to live and they were afraid that even if they found a buyer for their home, they wouldn’t have enough money from their current home to buy the new one and they are on a fixed income. When their son became aware of the situation, he called me. We went to The Villages, found them a home that he thought they would like and put it under contract. I called them and told them that I thought there would be a good deal on this house and told them that they needed to see it. They loved the house. I put them off by telling them that we would have to wait for a while to let the current owners (who were going into assisted living) get used to a low offer. Their son closed on the home within a week of their seeing it and asked them to meet him for lunch. I happened to run into them while he handed them a little gift bag with a card, the house keys and other documents for the home. He let them sell their home in Palm Coast and keep the profit, giving them the extra cushion they needed.”
-Luann Allen, North Florida Properties
“No, I don’t think I could be quite that brave! I have sold one to ‘just the husband’ only to have the wife arrive, she literally ‘hated the house’, ‘hated the area’ and three months later they were on their way north again!”
-Kathy White, Re/Max Professional Group
“Yes, I did sell one house like this. The couple had been looking at several houses after moving from Tampa. My customer’s fiancé loved my listing but it was at the top of their price range and he told her that he was going to purchase a different property. My buyer put the contract in a box and surprised his fiancé for the holidays.”
-Lisa Simon, Lifestyles Realtors
“A sweet beautiful young lady had been saving pictures from magazines for nearly four years of things she wanted in her dream home. Then one day, she actually met a tall, handsome man on the elevator at work. It must have been love at first sight! Not long after, she found herself assisting her fiancé with all of the selections for their new home. He had already owned two lots in a beautiful subdivision of custom homes before they met. Once they determined which lot to build on, we put the other one up for sale. In the meantime, we began the new construction of their dream home on their chosen lot. This lovely couple was engaged during the selection process and married later that year. They decided to give the lot next door to his parents for Christmas. He thought it would be nice for them to build a house next door. This would enable them to be close enough to watch their grandchildren grow up. What a great Christmas present!
-Mary Ann Beatty, Prudential Network Realty
“I have never sold a house as a gift but I can tell you I would slay my husband if he bought a house without my input, no matter how nice the idea sounds.”
-Dee Bumbarger, Buck & Buck