Agent on limb as go-between

One Realtor says she has a solution for people who need to move but can’t sell their home during this period of slow sales.

Charlotte Mabry with Keller Williams Realty, the listing agent for Lenox Trace townhouses, said she will buy a townhouse client’s existing residence under certain conditions.

“There are plenty of buyers, but they are trapped in the home they can’t sell,” Ms. Mabry said. “We’re fixing that by buying their home.”

Ms. Mabry said she will buy a client’s house after it’s been on the market from 60 to 90 days, however long it takes to build the townhouse. She operates on a case-by-case basis, she said, and wants to help the client get the most money for his house.

Ms. Mabry said she has bought one house under the agreement, and will be buying another next week. At some point Lenox Trace’s developers, Randy Stanley and Randall Payne, may join her in buying clients’ old houses, she said.

“There’s a lot of inventory,” Ms. Mabry said. “It feels worse than it is.”

Brandi Thompson of ReMax Properties North said she once bought a client’s house. The client had three failed offers in a year on her house, which needed renovation, said Ms. Thompson, who sold her own house to the client and bought the client’s house. Ms. Thompson said she put $7,000 of repairs into the house and is about to rent it.

“That was money she didn’t have,” Ms. Thompson said.

Lenox Trace buyers typically have 20 to 40 years’ equity in their homes, she said. Many of the houses need updated fixtures and surfaces, which makes it harder for the owners to sell, she said.

“To sell, a house needs to be perfect,” Ms. Mabry said.

Alan Syler and his wife, Joan, are selling their house next Friday to Ms. Mabry. They also will close on their new townhome in Lenox Trace on the same day, said Mr. Syler, who turns 60 in May.

The couple is swapping a 2,400 square foot dwelling for one with about 1,600 square feet and bonus room. Ms. Mabry’s home purchase plan was an attractive reason to work with her company, Mr. Syler said.

The Sylers are receiving about $149,000 from Ms. Mabry, he said, and are paying $240,000 for their townhome.

“We didn’t want a mortgage,” he said. “We dipped into our funds also.”

other options

Other homebuyers turn to bridge loans, which are short-term loans a buyer uses to purchase a house while trying to sell his old home. Others use a lease-purchase option, meaning they rent the newer home they want to buy while they try to sell the first home.

Ms. Mabry said she has bought about 15 houses from clients over the last few years.

Lease-purchase options often are valid from nine months to a year, and can be renewed, said Teresa Boyer, owner-broker of Best Realty GMAC. The loans often can be renewed after they expire, but the renter/potential owner often must pay a nonrefundable deposit, she said.