By Living Room Realty, June 28, 2019
Our client Kara had only one piece of criteria in her home search that was a MUST and that was being blocks from her sister’s house and the school she teaches at. There wasn’t a whole lot out there in Mt. Tabor in her budget until a fellow Living Room agent listed this little house. From the outside, you can’t tell how big this house is because the hedges are like a fortress around it. Once inside, the floor plan is open and breezy with big windows and cozy fireplace.
The selling point, besides location, was that the seller had finished out the basement into an apartment. It wasn’t a legal apartment because it lacked an egress window but the potential to offset the mortgage was huge. It was already plumbed, the 2nd kitchen was in place, and a full bath. I explained the cost of adding an egress is anywhere from $2500-$4k and Kara thought it was a no-brainer.
We sent our offer in knowing there were going to be multiple offers. For a while, it was looking like we were the front runner until a neighbor saw an opportunity to put his mom next door. We were ultimately outbid and the neighbor won. We were offered backup position and we took it. I had a strong feeling this house was going to come back to us and sure enough a week and a half later I got the call. The neighbor got cold feet because the basement wasn’t legal and backed out. This happens so often where someone who is not in the market to buy, not educated by a realtor, impulsively decides to make an offer then immediately has buyer’s remorse. It’s frustrating for all but it worked out my our buyer this time. She’s stoked she’s able to have someone offset her mortgage payment in a separate living space. Congrats, Kara!!!
