In this episode, we sit down to unpack a transaction that took an unexpected turn when a seller passed away mid-contract — and the remarkable kindness that surfaced from every direction. We share how a contractor, a buyer, two of our agents, and even a dog rescue community stepped up to do the right thing, reminding us that good people are still everywhere when we look. We also dig into the practical side: why an emergency contact, a will, and a "hit by a bus" plan matter more than most of us realize. Our hope is that you'll walk away with both a fuller heart and a clearer checklist for protecting your clients, your family, and yourself.
▶ Listen to Episode 120
Transcript
Steven L Burch (00:00)
All right, welcome to the leading lane podcast. ⁓ so we, before we started recording, we were talking about.
good people in the world and how sometimes there's unfortunate situations that happen when we now discover good people in the world. But it's refreshing to know that there's still good out there. And I think there's, we can go on many, many, different stories, but being able to take something in a negative manner that's happening and turning it into a positive and making sure that you're
giving feedback to people too, right? Making sure that you're being thankful and showing your generosity and caring and compassionate and helping people through these unfortunate events. So actually you've had some transactions that have been a little sticky here lately. What's going on with them and let's talk about the good.
Ashley Fredrick (00:58)
Yeah, right. think there's a lot of like heaviness in the world. I think people get ⁓ caught up in that. And I think a lot of times if we would just look closely, there's actually a lot of good going on even within our own offices, within our own communities. You just have to look a little bit harder, but also be willing to acknowledge those people. ⁓ You know, been in real estate almost 15 years and have never had a
unexpected death in a transaction. So I think that it's probably more so that it would happen that it was expected, right, like somebody was on hospice or like a power of attorney was in play and like all of that, everything was lined up. So if something happened in a transaction, everybody was set. But we had an unexpected death in a transaction. So the seller unexpectedly passed away. And I think that in itself kind of stops everyone in their right.
tracks as to like, oh my gosh, like what happens next? Who's who needs to be contacted? So note to offices that are listing it and important to make sure you have an emergency contact listed for buyers and sellers, which I, you know, we had to change our protocols a couple of years ago and we had an emergency at the office. So we have emergency contacts for all of our agents. But guess I never really thought about having emergency contacts for buyers or sellers. A lot of times there's a
know, spouse or somebody that's involved, but I guess, you know, something to definitely consider that if something happens, you know how to get a hold of someone else. ⁓ You know, so it's kind of a shock for everyone. You know, a series of unfortunate events really, ⁓ but I think what's kind of happened over the past two or three weeks is just really seeing people ⁓ step up and be extremely ⁓ caring about the situation.
You know, it was actually one of our contractors had found the seller and I think that that in itself would be extremely hard for someone. You know, our heart kind of broke for him to have to experience that. ⁓ You know, but like the next day he was calling and apologizing that he wasn't able to finish his, you know, test. And obviously all of us were like. Least of our concerns, ⁓ so kind of you to care about that, but we'll worry about that later. ⁓
Steven L Burch (03:08)
Hmm.
Right.
Ashley Fredrick (03:18)
You never know too, as far as the other side of the transaction, that might ⁓ have a buyer choose to walk away, which they would have the right to do so under these terms. But same sense, like I had a buyer that was extremely caring and ⁓ was so sorry for the situation. We also had a dog that was involved. So there was a dog at the property. ⁓
Steven L Burch (03:42)
Hmm.
Ashley Fredrick (03:45)
They wanted to take it to the pound and an agent of mine wouldn't let them take it to the pound. So instead, two different agents from my office, doing what they thought was best, went night and day to feed the dog, but realized that she wasn't eating that much or whatnot. were ⁓ scavenger enough to be able to find where she was getting her vet care.
and call that number to which they found out the dog was diabetic and needed to be on insulin. So obviously now had gone a couple days without. We were able to reach out to a rescue that took the dog. They raised funds because obviously she wasn't well without her insulin. Took her to a clinic with about a $5,000 bill, but they were able to.
get all her levels back, they're able to find her a foster family. I believe it's an older lady that is also diabetic, so she plans to, when she gives herself her own shot, she's gonna give the dog ⁓ her shot as well. But that in itself with the whole amount of people coming together to raise funds for a dog that no one knew, but just knew the circumstances, took volunteers to drive.
that dog to a clinic three hours away on the weekend, ⁓ those types of things. ⁓ But I just feel like everybody on each side, like the family of that seller, wanted to make sure that the buyer knew that they had all intentions of seeing through the contract and they were gonna try to ⁓ hurry things through for her. Yesterday, the buyer dropped off a card for the family,
I think I just as sad as the situation was, it was just a little bit for all of us. Like everyone has been extremely kind to one another, right? Like, you know, one lesson, at least in our state is that the listing dies with the seller, you know, so obviously that that made things happen. Another thing is that the offer stays with the property and supersedes any, you know, handoffs and wills or anything like that.
You never know how that's going to be taken by family members or whatnot either. But everyone again has been more than kind of everybody wanted to work together to see it through. And I think it was just a really good reminder for me that there are really good, kind people in the world that just want to help each other in an unfortunate event. I guess that makes me just think too. I think it was Friday night, we had a tornado, probably like 40 minutes from us.
Wild, it took out like 75 houses. ⁓ Miraculously, there was no ⁓ deaths, no major injuries. ⁓ Props to our weatherman, like they were on top of it for like 24 hours before that. But same thing, like they actually had to ask people to not come to the area because so many people were trying to come and help. ⁓ mean, in like schools have been ⁓ inundated with ⁓ food and clothes and...
They have these GoFundMe pages and it was like all in a matter of 24 hours. Like people said, like they literally had everything that they could think of. So I do think that there are just a lot of good reminders lately that there's good happening. There's good people. People really do care about one another when you just sit back and think about it.
Steven L Burch (07:19)
Absolutely.
You know, I think that here is too, like, yes, people are stepping up and extremely thankful. But what is the reason why that us, me included, why don't we look at that every single day? Why aren't those actions how we act every single day? Why does it take an unfortunate situation to occur to then be able to step up? Why aren't we stepping up all the time? And it's hard, right? Like it's hard to see it that way constantly.
It's
hard to, there's a lot of things that are happening every single day to all of us and it's all about perspective and how we're looking at it. But it's hard to have that chin check with yourself and that reality check for yourself to like, okay, am I being a part of the problem or am I being a part of the solution? And my goal is always to try to be a part of the solution, but I know that every day I'm not acting in that same manner that I would
when an unfortunate situation would happen. it definitely is a reality check to me as well. So this transaction could have went south very quickly. ⁓ I think automatically in my mind when death occurs, greed is what you see in people. And I think that's on multiple different avenues of ⁓ the family. Maybe they think that they can get more.
I'm not saying this is where they're at by any means, but I'm thankful that, you know, look at all the different negatives that could have happened. And the buyer, you know, not wanting to be a part of it whatsoever, thinking that they can get a major discount off of it or, you know, whatever to be able to benefit off of the situation. So it is great to be able to see when everybody comes to the playing field and making sure everybody is still compassionate and caring. ⁓
Ashley Fredrick (08:52)
Thank you.
Steven L Burch (09:20)
with it while still maintaining the transaction all the way through. So I think that's a huge win all in itself right there because we all know how quickly transactions can go south and that's a huge situation that will derail everything.
Ashley Fredrick (09:35)
think
the other thing, you know, we've talked about it a couple of times, but the one reason that we're able to stay on track is because there was a will in place. So had a will not been in place, right? ⁓ This could be pushed out six months. mean, right? Like then it's a matter of getting in front of a lawyer and then there's a matter of assigning a personal rep and then there's the probate and all of that where like a will, you know, obviously they've already determined.
Steven L Burch (09:52)
Right.
Ashley Fredrick (10:03)
All of that, if you will, you just have to have a lawyer kind of put it all in place. Things can still get sold. It'll just be held in an estate. I know we talk a lot about that, even ourselves personally, ⁓ having those things in place. ⁓ But even just a matter of where is it? Who knows where it is? Who knows to this family that they knew where everything was? ⁓
Steven L Burch (10:23)
Thanks.
Ashley Fredrick (10:29)
And like one certain family member knew how to get into computers and phones and things we don't actually think about. I think I've joked with Ben that, I don't know, he wouldn't know how to access anything. I just take care of everything, right? Something happened to me, there'd be a big headache. And so I think that it's probably a good reminder for us all to have a plan that more than one person knows about if it's in a...
Steven L Burch (10:44)
Right.
Ashley Fredrick (10:58)
security box at a bank or if it's in a safe somewhere just like where your personal documents are. I think that was a really good reminder for me that like we need to make sure that ⁓ we have those things in order just because we never know what tomorrow brings.
Steven L Burch (11:13)
So I'm Heidi and her project that she works on the Tuesday project, right? Is this exact thing that she she's trying to help others out there is, you know, having she has a whole book that logs all of these different things. And she's speaking from experience. Her husband passed away unexpectedly. And so she doesn't want other people to go through those types of things. Right. So being able to have that book, if you will, like when I died,
book, here you go. And having all your affairs in line for someone to be able to pick up because there's a lot of moving parts. And I think sometimes too, forget how many different aspects of life we really have. And so yes, we have it in our brain. We may be used to all the different aspects, but in reality, when you put it on paper, like what happens next? And it's the hit by the bus plan is truly what that is.
intended for so that people can continue to operate and move forward. And something else in the conversation that we were talking about is talking about like our moral compass and our core values. You know, I think it may be silly, but I'm talking out loud here with it. Like with this ⁓ hit by the best plan, I think it like that cover sheet needs to be, this is my core values and these are what I have built all of this off of. And these, my wishes for you to continue to adhere to my
core values, right? And if they do or not, that's on them. But at least it's articulated properly that you have built the success and where you are now based off of these core values and these decisions.
Ashley Fredrick (12:56)
Yeah, you know, was an interesting part of that. Like when our agent went out the property, ⁓ the septic alarm was going off, ⁓ right? Which probably didn't help the poor dog. ⁓ So she silenced it, right? And she just said she wasn't sure what to do since nothing was in play or whatnot. ⁓ And right, like I just made the executive decision that we're going to have them pumped. ⁓ And if the family didn't agree, like that's fine. I'll take care of that cost because
To me, there's a greater cost of not having that taken care of. Like if the sewage flows out into the yard or backs up into the house or any of those types of things. right, like just trying to make those decisions that again, like morally, like that's the right thing to do. Although we don't know how, you know, if the family wants to pay for it or not, I'm sure that they will. But if not, like for me, that was worth not having that family have even a more of a headache 30 days from now.
Steven L Burch (13:28)
Mm-hmm.
Absolutely. And then sticking that initiative.
to be able to put your money where your mouth is and be able to step up with it. And it's not all about the money by any means, but that's a decision that you may need to be able to protect the property essentially is what you're doing. So going above and beyond what's necessary. Now I think it's super important and there's been so many different life events that, mean, life events happen to every single one of us every single day. But it is putting into perspective for yourself and maybe looking
from a different set of glasses of how you can be a better human, you can be, ⁓ you know, contribute more every single day and continue to impact lives. I mean that's what it's about. That's why we do everything is to continue to impact lives in a positive manner. So I love it. Very unfortunate situation for sure, but being able to see that silver lining is ⁓ also a blessing and a gift to be able to have as well.
Ashley Fredrick (14:50)
There's plenty of good left in the world and just simple thing, right? mean, simple as holding the door for someone, smiling back at someone. Like we can all do our little part to be a little bit of a difference maker.
Steven L Burch (15:04)
Well, as always, we appreciate you tuning into the Lady Lane podcast. If you have a topic or if you want to be a guest here with us, please reach out. We'd love to hear from you.
