Real Estate Horror Stories

We’re letting the skeletons out of the closet by sharing a few lending and real estate horror stories. Are they true, or simply urban legend? We’ll never tell.

Julia Spencer-Maness of Re/Max Suburban has had more than her fair share of horror. Check out her worst days on the job:

You Never Know Who’s Lurking
“I have a lot of horror stories, most of them relate to a seller forgetting about a showing and having me and potential buyers enter the home while they’re showering or whatnot. This one time I was showing a so-called vacant condo with a first-time homebuyer and her mother. We walk up the stairs and a large man, who was the owner’s son, bursts out of the master bedroom. We all had a scream over that one, but the buyer actually made an offer on the condo, so it worked out.”

It’s an Apiological Jungle Out There
“The worst was when I worked as a corporate relocator. I was sent to this gorgeous, vacant home to see why it wasn’t selling. It was on the market for ages, and the listing agent must not have checked on this house in months. I enter the home and immediately see hundreds of dead bug carcasses. A walk into the family room pointed to the source: a hive on the floor and what had to be thousands of bees flying around. I’m allergic to bees, so I just starting screaming and ran out the door. It was pretty much the most terrifying day of my life.”

Wow, that’s more than scary fun, that’s scary dangerous. Bee safe out there, Julia. And now, we turn to a local appraiser, who’d like to remain anonymous:

A Mysterious Fleabag Tells His Tale
“I got fleas from a home I appraised a few years ago. I didn’t even think humans could get fleas, but oh yes, they can. They started in my hair, landed in my car, and even made themselves at home in our appraisal office. My boss had to get an exterminator to bomb the place. It was disgusting. My co-workers still call me ‘Flea.’”

Ugh, sorry to hear that, anonymous appraiser who we all know answers to the name ‘Flea.’ Mike Dulla of United Home Loans now joins the fun and shares a lending nightmare come true:

Tickets That Did Not Lead to Paradise
“We had a borrower purchasing a home for $1.8 million. He had an $800K down payment, so it was both a fantastic loan and real estate transaction. He refused a preapproval, but his financials looked great, so we did our standard credit check and started the underwriting process. Well, lo and behold, a collection came up from a local village for, get this, parking tickets. Unpaid parking tickets resulted in a 100-point credit score drop and an underwriting denial. It was a disaster. This poor borrower could not get a jumbo loan to save his life. We tried every avenue, and the parking ticket collection was a dead end at every turn. So, no deal for the lender, no sale for the realtor, and no dream home for the customer.”

Moral of the story: stay on top of your credit report. And, of course, pay your parking tickets.

From the staff of United Home Loans, have a safe and happy Halloween. Do you have a story to share? A house to buy? A client that needs an awesome lender? Get in touch with us! We love hearing from you, so contact us below or call 708-531-8388.