Agent Lady team member Brittany Loeffler writes about the reality of buying a home in Philadelphia through a series of short stories.
Killing the Deal
There was a bittersweet feeling as Katie signed the Agreement of Sale for her potential new home in Society Hill. It was a beautiful part of Philadelphia, brick townhomes and cobblestone streets made up the expensive neighborhood. Although, moving away from her friends and family in Boston made it even harder to finish signing her name. If it weren’t for the required relocation for her new job promotion and increased pay, Katie would have stayed in her hometown of Boston. She had been to Philadelphia on many business trips and was familiar with the city, but moving here was another story.
Currently staying in an AirBnB studio apartment for the last two weeks had been a struggle, but it was cheaper than booking a hotel room. She was relieved to finally find a one-bedroom condo that wasn’t currently under contract. It wasn’t the most ideal situation, being pressured to buy a home, but it made more sense to buy than to rent, especially in the current market condition.
This was all explained to her by Cherise, Philadelphia’s trusted “Agent Lady.” A coworker who had grown up and established herself in Philly recommended Cherise with a five-star review. “She’s enthusiastic, fun, and always on the ball. Just meet with her,” her coworker pushed. Katie agreed and initially went with the intention of having Cherise help her find a rental property with a month-to-month lease. Going the extra mile, Katie’s new agent plugged away at some numbers and showed her how much she could save if she bought a condo, rather than rent and pay someone else’s mortgage. After thinking it over, which didn’t take too long after a phone call back home to her family, she decided that it was time to purchase her first home.
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Katie was surprised with how much she would be able to afford with her salary increase. Cherise brought her into beautiful condos with amazing kitchens, large windows, and fantastic fitness centers. When she walked into the condo that was now under contract, she knew she stumbled on something special. Now, it was time to wait, she could only take living in a studio city apartment for so much longer.
It had been a couple of days since fully executing the agreement of sale. Katie was eating a salad from Hip City Veg in Rittenhouse Square, thinking about how unusually warm the weather was for the middle of November. She imagined her friends bundled up in scarves and hats back in Boston. Her cell phone rang from inside her leather jacket. She put her salad down on her lap and answered the call.
Cherise was on the other end, asking if Katie had scheduled her home inspection yet. “I was actually thinking about skipping the home inspection. Is it really necessary to get one since it’s in a condo building? Wouldn’t it have already been inspected when it was built?” Cherise had dealt with her fair share of clients who did not want to spend the few hundred dollars to get a home inspection. She strongly advised that first time home buyers get one done, because if something is terribly wrong with the property, they can negotiate with the seller to have it fixed or the price.
“I really think you should get the home inspection, Katie, especially as a first time home buyer. A few hundred-dollar investment is worth it if you end up buying a home that has so many problems with it, it isn’t worth its value. It’s completely up to you, but I strongly encourage you schedule one.” Katie thought about it, she never liked to give in to other people. She was usually the one advising others. Taking a step back and looking at the roles she and Cherise were in, she realized that Cherise did know better and she should be taking advice from her agent.
“Okay, I’ll schedule one. Can you email your recommendations again, please?” Cherise agreed, happy that her client was being careful and smart about her first big home investment.
Katie scheduled her home inspection for the following Friday, just two days before her home inspection contingency end date. Things were moving quickly, settlement was just three weeks away and she had been in constant contact with her lender trying to get documents sorted out and signed for her mortgage commitment to be ready on time.
Come Friday, the inspector walked Katie through the condo showing her the good and bad things about the apartment. The most alarming part of the inspection was the condition of the heater. “You’ll probably have to get a whole new unit,” the inspector suggested. Katie ran her fingers through her hair, another thing that she would have to worry about.
Once the inspection was over, she gave Cherise a call and told her the situation. “Don’t worry about it, Katie. We still have the reply to inspection to complete. This gives us another chance to negotiate the terms, since we have even more information about the property now.” Katie sipped on a glass of wine during a quiet happy hour at one of her new favorite bars.
“Can we get the seller to pay for it? I really would rather not replace the heater if I can help it.”
“That is definitely something we can negotiate.” Katie ordered another glass and waited for the seller to agree to fix the heating in her soon-to-be home.
It had been a couple of days and Katie hadn’t heard from Cherise. She was starting to get antsy, especially being cooped up in her rental studio. Still waiting on hearing back from the seller on replacing the heating unit was stressful. If he wanted to sell his condo, then he would do ask the buyer asks, right? Wrong. After an intense phone call, involving misdirected anger with Cherise, Katie found out the seller refused to replace the heater. “If she wants the condo, she gets it as is,” were his apparent words.
Knowing that the real estate agents involved in the deal were merely liaisons right now, Katie couldn’t help but feel cheated. They had come so far in the home buying process, how could it just all end here? Briefly, she considered replacing the unit herself, until she looked into how much it would actually cost. If winter wasn’t approaching and she had more time to save some money, she would have replaced it, but that wasn’t the case. It was a hard decision to make, and one that Katie didn’t particularly like, but she decided to kill the deal and keep on with her search.
Cherise was encouraging, sending Katie an email full of condos in Society Hill, some of them with swimming pools available. It was hard to be mad at Cherise, especially since it wasn’t her fault the deal fell through, so Katie directed it towards the seller that she vowed to never forgive.
About Brittany: Brittany is the super organized (and awesome) office and marketing assistant that helps home buying and selling clients have the best experience possible. She also shares her creative side by writing compelling short stories about the home buying process that are loosely based on actual client situations. Expect to receive emails and phone calls from Brittany if you decide to work with the Agent Lady team to buy or sell a home!
