Your Lake Arrowhead Realtor would like to share some local Lake Arrowhead Information with you.
An odd thing happened to a tree on a property my buyers are about to close escrow on. THE TREE was removed over the weekend! What to do and whom to blame?
Now to be upfront and fair, the tree in question was supposed to be removed.....AFTER the close of escrow. Why? Well, my buyer's home inspector expressed concerned about "the tree" in question growing through the large, cedar deck out back. Though it looks all "woodsy" and gives one that feeling of "living in the forest," trees, especially cedars, can affect the integrity of a deck. Cedar trees GROW quickly, as this one had. Already the beautiful and healthy 50 foot tree was touching the sides of the deck that was built around it. Not a good thing.
My buyer decided not to ask the sellers to deal with this problem during escrow, instead he would have the tree removed at a later time. AFTER closing. He asked me for names of tree service peeps and I gave him a link to The Association of Builders, San Bernardino Mountains. He contacted several and was waiting for their response when....
...The listing agent of the home my buyers are purchasing calls me. "Did you know "the tree" was removed this weekend?"
Well, of course I didn't. And, neither did my buyer. This could have gotten really ugly or down right nasty, but thankfully, the sellers were there when the tree guys showed up (without being told too by my buyer) and the sellers gave them the "thumbs up" to proceed.
And though we haven't closed escrow (in a couple of days), my buyer is taking full responsibility.
Whew!
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Kat That is a difficult situation; I had a guy a bit ago dig up 8 fruit trees and leave big wholes. That was a nightmare
Oh Tom, what a mess that must have been! The stories we can all tell, huh?
Hi Kat!
It took me a minute to realize that your buyers had removed the sellers tree...I thought the sellers had done it! You are right...it could have been REALLY ugly! We have actually had an escrow close in which the seller had about 4 trees removed just prior to close of escrow, without the buyers being aware of their plans. That actually DID get ugly!
Paula: I can only imagine the call you had to make when that happened.
Wow -- what a close call. I am glad that things worked out for both parties and that everyone kept a cool head!
Joan... could have been ugly. :-)