After my Dad moved himself into assisted living, we kept his house for over a year, which was certainly convenient as a place to stay for me or my brother when we were in town visiting. But after awhile, it just wasn't economical for my Dad to pay utilities, upkeep, and insurance as glorified Air BnB for his adult children.
With Dad's agreement, I took the lead in selling the house, while my Sister managed the large task of clearing everything out. As this wasn't the house we grew up in, there was very little emotion involved in letting it go.
At the recommendation of the HOA President, I chose Patty Meese of Friedrich Iowa Realty, who my Dad already knew from previous community volunteer work. As my Dad can sometimes be a little tentative, his comfort level with Patty was a big plus. My Sister liked her too.
I enjoyed working with Patty, even thought it was only in person at select times, as I live in Northern Nevada. My Sister and Dad helped pick up the slack with Patty and in the end we sold the house at over asking and relatively quickly. I thought she was very attentive and professional within the central scope of selling the house.
However, I do think that a hail storm-related roof repair issue involving the HOA could have been managed better, starting with the fact that I was notified at least a full month after the fact. Once the house was listed, the next phase was when a number of chatting neighbors would invite themselves in to the Open Houses and tell any prospective buyers (who would listen) multiple versions of the "true" story. I've never been part of a sale where house showings turned into what seemed like a neighborhood scrum. That resulted in a "few" unnecessary phone calls to knock down the here say. That was on the agents to control the situation in the house at the time.
The subsequent HOA feud (Dad shared his emails) regarding the issue and the often poorly executed insurance company coordination was above any agent's pay grade. However, I found that I should have been given better information all around to best advise my Father. In the end, my Dad took it in stride, even though I feel that the check he had to write post closure (and repair completion) was higher than it should have been. The icing on this cake was the HOA President agreeing with my assessment that their Board decision threw my Dad (who was HOA Treasurer for years) under the bus.
Would I use Patty again? Absolutely, as she got the house sale done at better than our price. It was a unique externality that turned a part of this process pear shaped. And in hindsight, I should have been more physically present and better prepared and engaged to set (and execute) some of the parameters of the sale. read more
