I'm guessing one of two things going on. Owner rekeyed entire place when it was shuttered up so not a lot of extra keys anymore. And the realtor probably had a key but lost it and is just passing the buck.
Or the realtor just doesn't want to deal with it today so made something up.
Not necessarily the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. But this place is on the market. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the realtor should have a way to access it when a potential buyer wants to see it.
But don't worry. If the sale goes through, you'll look back on this with wonder as other stupidities start piling up during the whole renovation process. This will seem like very small potatoes..
No really--place has ONE key. This is not an area big on locking up but really! It is not re-keyed; Three entry doors: they can't find the one to the back door; another door only locks from the inside! Realtor is sharp as a marble. Owner is plain goofy thinks we should import "good grafiti artists" from Chicago, and turn it into a grafiti gallery--in the NORTH WOODS!! Architect could not believe these two!! Will drive three hours again tomorrow to pick up THE KEY. Will call first.
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Not that it was a large house, but my last one had 6 entry doors and there was one key when we bought the place. Well, the front door had a skeleton key that was always in the door, but for actually locking up only one door had a key.
And, right you are, we sold the house 10 years later the same way.
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I must confess that our old place had one skeleton key too. However, the addition had a door with a key, which the realtor copied for the lock-box. It never occured to me that a realtor would not have a key available. Of course he also does not have it listed in the MLS or under commercial--just burried in his general listings--which you can't search or sort. Who does business that way anymore? Just getting tired of trying to deal with this duo. Sorry just venting.
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white pine said:
Of course he also does not have it listed in the MLS or under commercial--just burried in his general listings--which you can't search or sort. Who does business that way anymore?
Hmmm. There must be a reason for that and I'd sure ask him why. I'd hate to think I was doing all the legwork on permits and architectural drawings and all that stuff if they weren't totally serious about selling it. It could just be that the sellers negotiated a really low commission so he's not going all out. Or it could be something else.
Have you presented any kind of offer at all yet? Wouldn't you want a conditional agreement so that, contingent upon permitting and basic structural integrity and any other conditions you'd want to include, you'd have something that protected your interests?
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The realtor is a fishing buddy of current owner. He is over an hour from the property and is probably doing this gratis or for very small commission. Both are "characters" which must be seen to be believed. They are serious about selling, just inept.. Owner is behind in taxes, and has been calling him daily.
We had building inspection last November. Architect laughed heartily when I expressed concerns re: documentation/ permitting. He assures me he trusts no one--all is in writing was burned way back when.. DH does compliance review work. We are cautious people-- took me 8 years to decide to marry him.
We picked up the title work for our lawyer to review. Our lawyer will draw up the offer/contract. We do not trust the realtor to do this. We discussed with the realtor the price and conditions we were thinking of and asked him to discuss this with the owner. Price is about half what the owner had initially hoped for and about 75% of listing price. This will be contingent on some further inspections. From what realtor sez I think he will go for it.
If not, we can live happily and feel good we gave it a try. In the interest of preserving the place, we will offer to market it with the National Trust for Historic Preservation site, and suggest & maybe pay for some better placed ads. It deserves better than these jokers.
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