Baby-sit a boa. Tend a tortoise. Coddle koi. Vanquish phantoms.
Sometimes, that's what it takes to clinch a deal on a house these days. Buyers and sellers are agreeing to some odd conditions that go way beyond the usual contingencies of inspections, mold and termite remediation, and furniture and appliances that will stay in the house.
"It's obscene to see how far buyers will go to get a house," said Raymond Schuldenfrei, manager of Re/Max Sunset in Hollywood. The tales make it to the cocktail circuit when the chatter turns to wacky home deals.
A Hollywood Hills seller, for example, recently offered his five-bedroom home with a swimming pool for $1.5 million. There was a catch, however: A nesting tortoise was comfortably ensconced on the property, and the seller demanded it remain on-site, undisturbed, until the hatchlings arrived.
Although the buyers, who were planning an immediate remodel, were nervous about caring for the reptile during construction, the seller was adamant and said so in the escrow contract, said Schuldenfrei, who represented the seller. No tortoise, no sale. So the buyers planned the construction timetable around the tortoise, and the former owners picked up the whole lot after they hatched.
"The buyers knew there was competition [for the house], so they were willing to make concessions, even though it interfered with construction plans," Schuldenfrei said. "They wanted the place badly."
Perhaps not as badly, however, as a San Fernando Valley buyer who agreed in writing to allow a seller's hibernating pet boa constrictor to stay under the house until it awoke, ostensibly hungry, from its long winter's nap, said Allan Erdy, owner of a Sherman Oaks escrow company who handled the deal. When the serpent appeared, the seller was called and the reptile was whisked away.
"Some weird stuff gets written into contracts," Erdy said. "And sometimes outside of contracts."
A purchase contract spells out who represents the buyer and seller, the sale price, terms and conditions, and timetables. It includes counteroffers; the Transfer Disclosure Statement, which details the condition of the property; property inspections; and more. It also details the conditions, or contingencies, of the purchase.
