On Friday I previewed a real estate owned home (REO or foreclosure) for a client & called him to give him feedback on it.  He asked me to show it to his family on Sunday.  Since this was a vacant home, I didn’t need to make an appointment, only to “open the door” and show the home. Lots of questions arise after a showing.  I had a list of questions to answer but amongst them I had one that was particularly difficult to get an answer for.

Question: Was the subject property connected to the sewers?

We couldn't ask the seller if it was connected, since the home is bank owned.  So I started in the next place I thought I might get an answer, which is on Navigate LA’s website.  Although that is a great start, this is not always going to give you a definitive answer and in this case it didn’t.  I called the city of L.A. & was transferred around several times. Of course nobody knew the answer and everyone had different ideas of whom I should speak to (other than them) in order to get an answer.  After leaving several messages, I finally received a return phone call and the city clerk informed me that the property is on a septic system and that there is no sewer system at all on this particular street.  Not the news I was hoping for, but the "news" became worse.

Although, the property was just listed in the MLS, I still called the listing office to verify availability (number of offers if any and to be certain that the home wasn’t sold).   I called again on Sunday evening (not expecting a call back until the following business day) and after several messages for the agent on both Monday & Tuesday with no call back from them, I learned today that the bank has already accepted an offer. 

A good reminder that even though the market has slowed, well priced properties continue to sell quickly.

After an offer is accepted, the buyer has 10-17 days (depending on what they negotiated in their contract) to remove their inspection contingency.  I will be keeping in touch with the listing agent because the property isn’t completely gone (in my opinion) until the buyer removes their inspection contingency.