Home Selling Key: When Things Don't Go According to Plan

I recently had a property listed where we accepted an offer, negotiated repairs identified in the home inspection, and started scheduling and completing the repairs with plenty of time before settlement. In the meantime, my client started traveling and left me in charge of making sure all of the repairs were completed before settlement.

I stopped by the unit one day to meet a contractor and discovered that there had been a backup in the kitchen caused by the building that had leaked out onto the dining room floor (it was a very small kitchen) and had caused some damage.

Luckily, I had a good working relationship with the general manager and office staff. I was able to have the engineer identify the issue immediately and then work with the building to have the floors repaired. Of course, this happened right before the holidays, but, I also have good working relationships with a number of contractors. One of them was able to get me a quote right away and then worked through the holidays so we could get the floors repaired without delaying settlement.

Hopefully, you’ll never experience anything like this when you’re buying or selling a home, but if you do it’s important to have a team, led by your realtor, who can make sure that everything you were expecting can be taken care of quickly and correctly, so that your property settles on schedule.