Coming fast on the heals of Tuesday’s post…I started thinking of some real life stories that I’ve either heard or experienced in the last month or so. Would anyone argue that an experienced real estate agent would have a distinct advantage when negotiating for a buyer or seller in these situations?

* An agent I know told me a story about  a deal she was involved with on an REO property in Redwood City where the lender required the buyer be approved by them prior to ratifying. The buyers decided to use this lender for their loan and right before closing this same lender required that an illegal element of the house be removed prior to funding. Since it took some time for the buyers to comply, the deal closed a week late…and the lender charged a $350.00 a day fine to these buyers for closing late! If the buyers backed out the lender threatened to keep their deposit. Remember, this lender was on both sides of this transaction…they own the house and they’re doing the buyers loan! They made all of the rules the whole time.

* I have a client who has an interest in a property in South San Francisco that’s sort of the Winchester Mystery House. It’s garage was converted into a family room and an addition was placed on the back that features an illegal second kitchen and a second story that includes 2 bedrooms and a bath. The additions were all done with permits(except the second kitchen). A large trellis and awning covers a concrete patio in the back of the house and behind that are 3 small storage buildings and a driveway that opens onto an alley. Turns out the back yard, including the patio, the storage and the driveway actually don’t belong to the seller! It’s property owned by the City of South City. In spite of that all these permits were approved 30 some years ago by the City. Imagine buying a house and discovering that the back yard isn’t really yours. I’m actually not sure how this will eventually play out but I have no doubt we’ll be spending plenty of time with building and planning should this client decide to move forward.

What does all of this say about real estate? It’s always something!! I’m really serious about that…there is always something that seems to present itself in transactions that come out of left field.  The truth is that nobody has all of the answers in every situation. A good agent will have the awareness of how to find the answers, or at the very least, be able to ask the right questions. Many of the waters we find ourselves are treacherous right now and finding the right navigator is critical…maybe more now than it’s ever been.