Oh, Rats!

This is not a blog for the squeamish!

We REALTOR®s are specialists in solving problems to ensure a smooth transaction and a happy ending for our buyers and sellers.     We have to think on our feet, and go the extra mile, at a moment’s notice.

Case in point:   Last Friday was close of escrow for one of my buyers.   Well, really, the loan was supposed to fund on Wednesday, but naturally there were issues holding it up.   Investigation revealed the seller’s proxy at FNMA hadn’t yet signed off on their title and there was a last minute bit about the HUD1.   But then everything got back on track.     The furniture was scheduled to arrive, the pressure was on.

This being a foreclosure, the previous seller had made off with various things like the woodstove, the toilet seat and most of the light fixtures.    We did the final walk through amidst all of this, after work as the sun was disappearing beyond the hills.   The buyers’ son found trouble with his flashlight and squealed in horror.    His parents were also, reasonably, upset.

Apparently, during the home or pest inspection, the trap door to the underneath of the house had been left open.   Two fairly decent sized rats had made the unfortunate discovery that water in a toilet bowl is not a safe place to drink.

I didn’t think much of it at the time.

But it didn’t sit well with the buyers, and within a day there was a pretty upset e-mail addressed to everyone about how horrible this situation was for them and wanting to know exactly how this problem was going to be fixed.

The listing agents are from over the hill as we like to say – city agents an hour away – a good team with a lot of foreclosed listings but not a lot of time.    Naturally, title, escrow, and lenders don’t handle this kind of problem.      So, it fell on me to make my clients happy.    First thing Friday morning, I was there armed with the equipment to remove the poor creatures, leave a strong yet green cleanser in the bowl, turn on the fans and open the windows, 3 hours prior to the buyers’ arrival with the moving truck.

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