Thread: Amusing story about an owner showing on a condo

Today my friend and I went to look at a condo that is listed as a short sale. The listing agent for the seller was at a closing so he could not meet us at the condo. Instead, the owner occupant was home and he showed us the condo.

Having an owner occupant / non-investor show us a property made me realize how a homeowner’s view of their property is so different than an investor’s.

This homeowner gave us the showing from hell. Ok, it wasn’t that bad… but remember that this is a small 750sf condo and it’s a short sale. We basically wanted to see if it was trashed or not. It was apparent though that he was going to show us everything… and I mean everything in the condo.

Here are just some of the things he said to us…

• “It’s got a gas fireplace (proceeds to turn it on) and you can open up the glass here, the flame is close to the edge so you can roast marshmallows.”
• “It’s got a moen faucet (points to the $15 cheapo faucet) and wood cabinets, not sure what type of wood it is, but they look nice.”
• “It’s the only 1 bedroom with a pool view. You can’t see it now because those trees are in the way but in the winter when the leaves are gone you can see 1/3 of the pool.” Pool is literally 300ft away from the window also.
• “The master bedroom has got a ceiling fan, light switch for a lamp and blinds.”
• “In this closet is a water heater. I’m not sure what the size is but judging from it’s height I’d say it’s a 50 gallon. I’ve never run out of hot water taking a shower.”
• “The washer and dryer is in this closet and it’s a large closet, you’ve got room for an ironing board.”

And then he started to go on about the amenities…

“There’s a pool, community center… have you seen the pool?”
“Yes.”
“We’ve got 2 pools here. What about the west pool? Have you seen the west pool?”
“No.”
“You want to go see the west pool?”
“No.” as we ran away as quickly as possible.

Let's suppose I own the bank 100K but the market conditions mean that a buyer will only pay 15K for the place. The owner is facing foreclosure and agrees to sell for less IF the bank accepts to take less money that is owed.

For the bank the benefit is to avoid the cost of the foreclosure and recoup part of the money faster than taking the case to court, pay lawyers, not receive payments meanwhile and then try to sell as REO (bank-owned) for whatever the market will pay for it.


For the owner-seller the benefit is to avoid foreclosure. The negative side is that the bank is forgiving a debt so they will have to pay taxes for that money (as it were income)


I hope this helps to explain what a short sale is.