Ranch Road House Fire: Home Was Sold and in Escrow

If you're a homeowner, you probably know how stressful it can be waiting for a real estate transaction to go through escrow and close. But, imagine how stressful it would be if your home was on the market, you found a buyer for the home, then the home caught fire. 

That is the unfortunate circumstance that an East Lake couple is dealing with. David and Cindi Seidel own a home at 831 Ranch Road that caught fire around 4:43 a.m., Sunday, March 3. The couple was in the house when the fire broke out and made it out okay. "No injuries. Everybody got out safely. They were fortunate," said East Lake Fire Rescue Chief Tom Jamison.

The blaze caused $102,000 damage to the home and its contents. The fire started between the chimney wall and a flue. The couple had a fire in the fireplace the evening prior, however the blaze's cause is undetermined, according to the final fire report obtained by Patch. The report also mentions that  a home inspection had been completed recently, because the house was sold two weeks before the fire.

AOLRealEstate.com shows the four-bedroom 2,806-square-foot-home as having a $425,000 list price and is located on "almost 3.5 tranquil acres". 

The photos in the AOLRealEstate.com listing show the home's roomy interior featuring exposed beams, a large kitchen and other rooms. The interior probably does not look as nice, now that the fire has caused extensive damage. The house will have to be repaired to its original state.

"There is a contract on the home. Each contract, when it's written simply states that if there is a buyer and some sort of disaster, the owner has 'x' amount of time to get the property back to its original condition," said Sam McLaughlin of RE/MAX Realtec Group, who is the listing agent for the Ranch Road home.

McLaughlin says that this is the first time in her career that she's had to deal with a home that's had an extensive fire. She's worked with homes that suffered smaller scale fires and other mishaps like collapses of swimming pool bird cages.

She says it's always important for homeowners to have adequate insurance on their property, in case of unfortunate incidents like this. McLaughlin added that the Seidel's insurance will pay for repairs to the home on Ranch Road and the sale is expected to close. 

"The buyers are okay with it. They know repairs are going to be made. They might even have their own choice of colors when it comes to painting," said McLaughlin.

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