The past few days have held some frustration for me as I tried to get information about a property from the list agent.
This particular home is an attached single family cluster home, so it has a monthly homeowner's association fee. Single family implies that the maintenance of the home is the solely the responsibility of the homeowner, but what happens when it is time for a roof replacement? How do you replace the roof when your home is attached to other homes?
So began my list of questions for the listing agent and I was disappointed as I so often am that she did not have this information at her disposal.
Here is what the listing agent did not have:
A copy of the decs and bylaws
A financial statement and/or budget
The name or number of the management company
I ended up calling other agents I knew to find out the name of the management company. The folks there were very nice and gave me the name of the website where a lot of the documents were available. They were not willing to send me a financial statement and said it would have been sent to the homeowner so I should get it from her or her agent. So I sent an e-mail to the agent yesterday and I am still waiting for a response.
Contrary to old school belief where you buy first and throw in a bunch of contingencies, the wise buyer, and their agent asks a lot of questions before putting in the bid. This may not always be possible, as in the case of multiple bids, but that is when you add all those contingencies.
I can't stress enough that if you are going to sell your condo or cluster home, you must make these documents and information available to a potential buyer. If I, as your listing agent can provide these documents to the selling agent within hours of their request, just imagine how much more quickly you might get an offer.
I am convinced that I had received answers to my questions when I asked for them, I would be much closer to writing an offer and the seller might be closer to having his home sold. As it is we are going back for a second showing on Saturday...hopefully I'll have answers by then.
A little preparation goes a long way!
If you would like to buy or sell a home in the southern communities of Cleveland Ohio, please call me at 440-263-7496, or you may want to visit my website for more specific information on the communities I service: Brecksville Ohio Real Estate, Broadview Heights Ohio Real Estate, North Royalton Ohio Real Estate Independence Ohio Real Estate, Seven Hills Ohio Real Estate, Parma Ohio Real Estate, Parma Heights Ohio Real Estate and Middleburg Heights Ohio Real Estate. Information is obtained from Neohrex (Northeast Ohio Real Estate Exchange) and is deemed reliable but not guaranteed and should be independently verified. Properties subject to prior sale, rental, or other status changes. All properties that are advertised as being listed or sold by Barb Szabo are in conjuntion with ReMax Trinity.
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