WE received an offer from a lovely couple for one of our listings.
They were travelling north and so were we, and we were negotiating between them and the seller by phone in the car.
We hit the magic sale number and ended up stopping in Cardwell for coffee with the buyers to sign off on the new sales amount.
As usual, we told them to be sure to insure the place, as the onus of insurance falls on the buyer as soon as a contract is signed off by the seller in Queensland.
And wouldn’t you know it, three days after the contract had gone unconditional, the skies opened and a massive flood went through the suburb of their new home, burying the place under 1.5 metres of water.
Indeed, this young couple were evacuated from their rental accommodation by canoe through a window with just the clothes on their backs, their laptops and the dog and cat.
And now they were faced with the grim reality of clearing out smelly carpets and curtains in the house that had not even settled yet.
We liaised with the owners to give them early access to carry this out and the couple notified the insurers about what had happened.
Chris had originally organised for the settlement to happen on Valentine’s Day in the new house, he had plans to propose to Kat on the day.
Settlement day arrived and so did we, with champagne and goodies for the couple while Chris popped the question.
Amid this, the insurance assessor arrived and declared the house uninhabitable.
So, all thoughts of quietly fixing the house around them were destroyed and we jumped to it to try and find them a house to live in now that they were homeless.
It took a good six months to have two bathrooms and kitchen replaced, walls re-plastered and painted and new floor coverings installed.
In addition, the whole outside of the house was repainted to cover all the water mark … a total of $143,000 worth of works, all covered by insurance.
Finally, we were able to attend their housewarming … a wonderful, joyous occasion, followed by their wedding several months later.
Since then, we have doubled down on ensuring that the buyers we work with insure their purchases as soon as the contract is accepted.
We’ve seen first-hand what can happen and it really humbled us.
– Lorraine and Brian Martin are proud owners of ONE AGENCY The Martins Real Estate Bayside at Capalaba Park Shopping Centre – right near The Chemist Warehouse.
