Once upon a time in 2011 I listed a short sale property up in Lakemoor. Time has been ticking along, we had a buyer, they walked right at the end, we have another buyer, the bank are taking their sweet time making up their mind, and after 14 months they finally decide they want to take care of the property themselves, the bank that is. Not that the seller wasn’t, she’s been a dream, paying her utilities, paying the Home Owners Association monthly bill, so when the bank finally gives the green light, our buyer gets a decent house with no nasty surprises at the end.
It’s now January 2013 and because said bank wants to take care of property they break in, remove my lock box, and add their own really crappy and really cheap locks. (Excuse my language but seriously sometimes it’s the only way to let my readers understand things.) Anyway fast forward to last weekend when my sellers visits her home to find her keys no longer work and my lock box is missing. We find out what the combo is for the new lock box, just in time for the buyers appraisal which was scheduled with me for today.
It’s not a busy day and I am in jeans, I set off in plenty of time for a lazy drive in this odd winter weather from Barrington to Lakemoor. Upon arrival the combo code is good, I have the new keys and we get inside. I am turning down the heat stat for the seller, there’s no-one living there and some nice preservation company thinks it needs to be running at 70f. Mr Appraiser is a nice chatty guy and he’s pretty quick, by the time I am done with my quick walk around, he’s ready to leave. He goes to the front door and it’s locked, he cannot open it. I try, he tries, we try a credit card, we try wiggling and wobbling and this silly door is well and truly locked.
I set off for the garage, they’ve unplugged the power. Mr Appraiser, well he is very tall, thank heavens he can actually reach to plug it back in. We hit the button and it stops at 3 inches. Oh wonderful, I am not that skinny! We eventually by-pass a padlock and get the door a foot off the floor, I crawl underneath, glad I have jeans on! I trot to the front door and try the keys, always glad I keep them in my pocket, but the door still does not open. New plan. The only way out is the garage. The door is already off the runners on one side but we get it open, I leave and Mr Appraiser, remember he’s tall, hits the button and runs to get out making sure he does not trip the safety as he comes. Made it!
Without Mr Appraiser I wouldn’t need to be there, without him I would still be there! Scary……
It amazes me why preservation companies use such cheap and crappy door locks. I have called it in to them, now they have to visit again, re-secure the property and I have no doubt it’ll be another set of crappy door locks. Really looking forward to getting this short sale to closing!
