Capital Homes

If I hadn't opened my big mouth, I'd be writing a contract instead of a blog post!

There is this couple I’ve been working with. I’m their second agent, and a dear friend and veteran of many buying and selling transactions as a client referred them.

By the time I met them, they had found a neighborhood they liked in Northern Virginia. Since I’d not familiar with this subdivision, I took a couple of hours to blitz every house in the neighborhood that was currently listed, and there were two standouts listed well within their comfort zone for price. We went back together, and they really liked one of them. Yesterday, we went back for a second time, and they decided that, yes, it’s Dream House.

We went over the listing information (it hadn’t been out on the previous visits) including a survey, and something caught my attention. There was a creek forming the boundary of the back yard.

“Is this in a flood plain?” I asked out loud.

Well, there was a survey from when the current owners bought the place that said it was not in a FEMA-designated flood zone. And most agents would have left it at that.

But I am the daughter of the guy who headed the office at the US Geological Survey that was responsible for designating flood plains, and the type (10-year, 50-year, 500-year, etc.). I knew a little bit about it from dinner table conversations. And I knew that the survey was dated 1999, and the maps were redrawn every 2 or so years, and there’s a creek not all that far from the back door. It was like my father’s voice was calling down from heaven, “Check the maps!”

On my advice, the buyers decided to do some homework on flood plains. And after a couple of phone calls, they found out that, yes, the house is in a 100-year flood plain - not just the back yard, but about 10 feet of the rear of the inside of house. They were informed that a lender would require them to obtain flood insurance as a condition of making the loan.

So, we just concluded a discussion about what the risks were.

* If they had to buy flood insurance, what would it cost?
* If the creek did flood the house, how much would they likely have to pay to clean it up?
* Are the risks of a house built on a flood plain having the basement flood out any greater than having any other house’s basement flood? (My basement has flooded 3 times in the 20-some years I’ve lived here, and I am nowhere near a creek or stream.)
* Were there ways to mitigate the risks - taking up carpet and putting down ceramic flooring?

But the space in the fully-finished walk-out basement was one of the big attractions. So, they changed their minds about this super adorable house that, except for this one little thing, was completely perfect. It was more than completely perfect.

And I have to ask myself if I really did the right thing. Did I over-react? Chances were they would have lived in a home they loved for decades with no water in the basement.

And in this part of the country, we’re starting to wonder if it’s ever going to rain again!

Payback Time?

Throughout my real estate career, I've enjoyed working with buyers. Maybe it's because I started off in a strong buyers market, and the habits and skills I developed were geared to finding buyer prospects and then finding their dream homes. 

I gained a reputation for being a great negotiator and for being able, when necessary, to put together complicated deals and make them work.  And as a strategy, the buyer thing worked very well for me, at least until the late 1990s.

That was when the market went from slow to normal to hot to red hot to white hot!   All of a sudden, being a great buyer broker looked like it could become the path to starvation. 

To help balance things out, the listings I got were much easier to sell, so I didn't have to resort to eating cat food.  But this white hot market was just not a lot of fun when I was on the buyer's side - and sometimes being the listing agent presented interesting challenges.

The strong listing agents (the ones who suffered with whiny sellers when nothing was selling) suddenly ruled!  Some of them actually got pretty cocky, especially when one of their listings drew 30 or 40 offers and sold waaay above asking.

I had a really hard time telling my buyer clients what they had to do to win a bidding war.  You know - pay way over asking, have the home inspection done before making an offer, agree to take the house in "as is" condition, and give the sellers a free rent-back for a couple of months while they found a new home.

To my way of thinking, this is not the description of a "good" market.

If the house went way over asking, the sellers got ticked off thinking the price was too low.  They hated their agent!

The 39 buyers who lost out went into mourning. They hated their agent!

The lucky winners of the bidding was often woke up three days later screaming, "WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?"  And, of course, they blamed their agent for getting them into this dreadful situation! 

So, once again, here in the Washington area, things are back to normal.  I probably have more than my share of buyers who are ready, willing and able, and listing agents are being very respectful, although that could just be that I'm so old.

And now that the tables have turned, I know that I cannot afford to get cocky, because they could turn again at any moment!

      

 

Condo Owners' Insurance - Don't Move In Without It!

Here in Washington, there was a sad lead story on tonight's 11 o'clock news.

A lovely old condo building on Adams Morgan had a 4-alarm fire that burned today for seven hours. There was a sad looking shot of the unit owners sitting in a large circle in the park across the street talking with the building managers. The building itself looked pretty sorry, with a wrecking ball hanging overhead from a tall crane.

Thank God no one was hurt.

Another building on that block had a serious fire about fifteen years ago, and that fire brought home to me the importance of advising clients buying condos and coops to make sure they call their insurance agent. Many people are under the false impression that the owner's association master insurance policy will cover them in the event of a fire or other catastrophe that seriously damages the property.

It doesn't.

While the master policy will cover repairs to the building, owners need their own policies to protect their personal belongings - things like furniture, clothing, jewelry, musical instruments, your DVD and CD collection, and your computer.

The people who own units in this building will have to continue to pay their mortgages and condo fees during the months of reconstruction, even though their apartments are not habitable. Those with unit owners coverage will have their interim living expenses paid by their insurance companies.

For the past bunch of months, I've been whining about the contractors who invaded my house after a pipe burst. I've been living in my basement apartment with two cats and Willie-the-hyperactive Labradoodle puppie, which is somewhat inconvenient. Compared to the victims of this fire, I got off easy.