Kathy Wall

Vacant Homes a Target for Homeless and Criminals
February 10, 2011 · · 2 Comments

I was scheduled to do an open house at one of my listings in a terrific San Francisco neighborhood today.  When I arrived at the property and unlocked the door, the first thing that I saw were 2 men’s socks and a bunch of dirt, along with something that looked like a dirt clot, but later turned out to be a rock.  

Since this house has always been immaculate, I knew that something was radically wrong, so instead of entering the house, I first called the owners.   When I was unable to reach them, I decided to call the police.    Although it turned out that the intruder had already left, I’m so glad that I did call them, because it turns out that they were able to get really good evidence of who had entered.

This home had previously been “staged” and furnished, but the owners had requested that the staging be removed due to cost concerns, so it is now completely vacant.    Although we kept the front drapes closed so that people would not notice that it was vacant, someone clearly noticed, broke a downstairs window and spent at least one night in the property, apparently ripping down one of the drapes and using it as a blanket.      Read more

Kathy Wall

Environmental Issues When Buying A Home
June 29, 2009 · · 4 Comments

I recently had to renew my real estate license for another 4 years and, as part of that process, had to take 45 hours of continuing education.    I’ve been selling real estate for 16 years and, after all of that time, you start to think you know it all.    Clearly, I was wrong, because I learned a lot from taking these courses.    

The course that covers environmental issues in  homes was of particular interest.   I thought that some of the things I learned might be of help to my readers, so my next few articles will cover some of the environmental issues people need to be aware of.   Today, I’ll talk a little about asbestos. Read more