Here’s a true story that tops my list of foreclosure experiences so far. Unfortunately, the list is longer than I care to recall.
Not so long ago Dmitry and I listed and sold a Birmingham foreclosure that had previously been owned by a builder who had tried to sell it for about $2,000,000. He couldn’t find a buyer, so he moved in, decorated the place and called it home while he tried to sell it. In the mean time, I believe he lost a couple of other homes to the bank.
When we met him to take the keys on behalf of the bank (and give him some cash for handing them over) he took Dmitry through the house. It had been stripped of every light fixture, door handle, appliance, and even a few doors. He insisted that those things had never been in the house, even though we could see them in the MLS photos and we remembered them from when we toured the home years before. Still, not much we could do about it.
We found a buyer and put the house under contract. Then the air conditioner was stolen. Not uncommon in foreclosures, but a pain for me, the bank and the buyer, nonetheless. I think that police report went directly in to the “cold case” file box.
The buyer moved in.
Shortly after closing the former owner knocked on the door and asked if the new owner would like to buy any of the wonderful things he had for the house: handles, doors, appliances, etc. . . You get the picture.
Nervey. Yes.
Desperate. Yes.
A sign of our times. Yes.
Foreclosure isn’t pretty.
Written by Maureen Francis
SKBK Sotheby's International Realty, 248.430.4450
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caleb mardini 07.29.08 at 2:59 am
That’s an incredible story. I can’t believe someone would have the gall to do such a thing.