Agent Lady team member Brittany Loeffler writes about the reality of buying a home in Philadelphia through a series of short stories.
Stormy Waters
It had been smooth sailing for the Knott family as they went through the motions of buying their first home in Philadelphia. After spending some time in Maryland near the Chesapeake Bay, they decided it was time to move to the city for Mr. Knot to advance his career. It was hard to give up their beloved boat, Rebecca, they had made so many memories on, but they decided that a salary increase was what was best for the family.
Luckily, they were introduced to Cherise Wynne, a real estate agent who specialized in first time home buyers in Philadelphia. She was known around the city as the Agent Lady. She had been extremely helpful and accommodating with showings and the distance they had to travel to see homes. In fact, she even got her hands on a pair of virtual reality goggles so they could tour a listing in West Philly from the comfort of their home!
Everything was going well, the inspection came back with just a few minor repairs and the appraisal was on point. The Knots were getting everything they had ever dreamed. A beautiful three-bedroom house in Mt. Airy for a great price, and the agreement that the sellers would be paying all of the closing costs.
It had been surprising that the sellers had changed their minds and initialed off on paying the closing costs. The listing agent had informed Cherise that the counteroffer wouldn’t include the closing costs, but when they received the document, it had been offered. The Knotts felt extremely lucky that the sellers had changed their minds.
At least, that was what they thought had happened until the day of settlement. Sitting across from an older couple who had decided to pack up and retire down in Florida, the Knots signed many pages of documents and had their down payment ready to hand over. Just before the end of settlement did a ruckus arise. “What do you mean we owe you for all of the closing costs? We never agreed to that!” the sellers yelled at the title company representative.
“Ma’am, in the Agreement of Sale, both you and your husband signed off on covering all closing costs. I’m sorry if you thought differently, but that is what is stated in this contract.”
“Lenny, what is this?” the seller yelled as she turned to her listing agent. He flipped through the Agreement of Sale frantically, knowing that this must be a mistake. He knew he had taken this out in their counteroffer. Until he came across it, that is. “We told you we didn’t want to pay their closing costs!”
Cherise put a hand on Mrs. Knott’s arm to assure her that everything was going to be okay. It was in the contract, meaning it was binding. The sellers and their listing agent took their conversation outside to figure out what was going to happen. The Knotts grew nervous. They never wanted there to be any trouble.
After a few minutes and some loud, but muffled conversation later, the sellers and listing agent came back in. “We have it all figured out. Mr. and Mrs. Knott, not to worry, you will not be expected to pay the closing costs.” Lenny took out his checkbook and wrote a check to his sellers. Because of his mistake, Lenny was now responsible for covering those costs.
The rest of the settlement was awkward, but once the Knotts received the key to their first home, they couldn’t help but be joyous and give Cherise a tight hug for all of her help. They couldn’t wait to go home and start unpacking to start their new life in Philadelphia.
About Brittany: Brittany is the super organized (and awesome) 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.
