My agent just called. The buyer is saying if we won't fix all the items on his list then he wants an additional $3000 allowance! See ya.
My agent then wanted me to explain to him, because apparently he doesn't understand, why we are having problem with this. I said we are having several problems with it.
1) We bought this house with the same exact issues (less than 2 years ago) and same things on the inspection report done then. It was not a requirement by our financing to fix any of it. We did not ask the sellers to fix anything on the inspection report, as we felt their agreement to accept less than their asking price was already them accommodating enough.
2) I also explained why DH did not fix the few cracks in the siding after we moved in. Because in his opinion putting caulking down the cracks was going to make it look worse than just the cracks and then it would look like that whole side needed repainting. There are 2 foot eaves around this house, so DH was not worried about water/weather damage. In fact, the photos of the cracks look exactly the same as the photos taken 2 years ago. If this was a house we were going to stay in, long term, then we would fix the cracks when it was time to repaint the whole house.
3) We disclosed the 2 main issues (siding and concrete) with our listing, per agent's instructions! DH told him that was the 2 issues he was aware of (and not that serious to boot) and we weren't fixing for a sale. Agent said to disclose it in our listing documents and then they can't come back to us about it. I reminded him that is what (or at least that was how we both took it) he told us.
4). We already agreed to give the buyer $4000 back. We are not doing anymore. Period.
5) I said I guess my idea of the purpose of an inspection is different. My purpose, as a buyer, would have it done to make sure there are no major issues with the house that a regular person could not see, or know to look for, while viewing the house. If there was something major found, then yes, that would be cause for re-negotiating the price. Not to pay $3000 to the buyer because he wants stupid little stuff, that's normal wear and tear on a 10 year old house, fixed and put back to new.
He also tried to bring up "well VA might call out the siding, but that is probably the only thing". I said well, then the buyer can fix that if he wants. No other financing would call it out and require it to be fixed, so why should we pay extra because of his financing?
"Well, I'd hate to lose the sale". I said this $4000 allowance and another $3000 allowance may be no big deal to you - you and the other agent still get the commission on the full amount, no matter how much allowance we give back!
We aren't that desperate to sell this house. If anything has come out of all the delays in building our shop - we've learned nothing works out according to the timeline planned anyway.
The really stupid part is this is not a run down house - at all. It is practically like brand new still. I have a feeling we will now end up putting off selling this house and building the house until next Spring, so we aren't living in a shop in the winter, because we all know the builder isn't going to get it done quickly. One upside I guess would be that once the shop is done we could then get things moved over there as we had time and energy and not all in a rush over a week or so period.
I wonder how much it would cost you to do these things? First, I would remove the listing from this realtor because he is working for the other people! And, his urging you to help them irks me. Then, I would over the winter fix the two things on your own time and as cheaply as you can. I don't mean shoddy. THEN, I would get another realtor when your house is almost built and not show it to same people. Let them go find a nicer house.
ReplyDeleteWe sold to someone getting VA loan and it was a nightmare and took nine months to close. You might want to not even show it to VA financed buyers if that is legal.
I'm not sure how much. Probably not a whole lot. The point though, for us, was they are minor problems and if a buyer wants to fix, then they can fix at their own expense. It didn't affect the sale of the home, when we bought it from previous owners, and really didn't affect getting an offer this time. He could see the cracks (not to mention they were disclosed!) and if he had an issue with it, he should have made that part of his original offer, not come back on it after the fact and want more. Yes, you can legally offer you home as "no VA or FHA financing". We had to end up doing that with our previous house as FHA at last minute denied it because it was on that community water well system with more than 4 homes on it.
Deletewe are knee deep in this shop/house and DH is out there every single day for 12 hours a day. He doesn't have time (nor the patience to find yet another contractor to deal with) which is why we disclosed it as part of the listing, so if a buyer felt it was an issue they could 1)not buy it, 2)make an offer with an allowance including it or 3) fix it themselves. This buyer wanted to then negotiate it after we already agreed to a $4000 allowance
DeleteI'm with you: I wouldn't give them more. They tried asking for everything, you said no, now they deal with it. They already have a $4k allowance - which is insane in the first place! I wouldn't fix anything either. Someone will come along, or these people will pull their sh*t together :) It's rough, but hang in there.
Deletethank you! I agree about the $4k we already agreed to. Like my DD said when they bought their house. They asked for an allowance (for closing costs) and were given it. She said they didn't even think about asking for any of the minor items on the inspection report. They already had gotten enough back.
DeleteUggghhh! I agree with Linda about changing the realtor. While I read it, I felt like he was pushing the sale at your expense. What a schmuck!
ReplyDeletethat's really how I'm starting to feel too! I was kind of insulted that he asked me to explain to him why we have a problem with another $3000. I just emailed him that since we are being asked to explain - maybe it needs to be asked of the buyer and his agent: why, since the siding and concrete were pre-disclosed, why they did not include in in their initial offer, if it was going to be an issue for him?
DeleteGood move to throw the ball back in the prospective buyers court. To me all agents have pretty much the same agenda, which is to sell the house. Like you said they get their commission if it costs you more or less to close, and commission is what it is all about to them. Since the agents split the commission I would think the buyers agent would be pushing them to accept without the additional money.
ReplyDeleteWhen you put it that way - it sure is backwards! Our agent is acting like we're being unreasonable and losing a sale. and like you said the buyer's agent is probably trying to save the sale on his end. Who's working for who?
Deletethere seems to be a lot negotiation about 'fixing' things and who pays for what. In Australia a home is sold pretty much 'as is' and the price is negotiated not so much any repairs. it would annoy me no end to have prospective buyers making so many demands.
ReplyDeleteit is extremely annoying. Any house is going to have minor issues, normal wear and tear etc. We priced the house accordingly to it's condition and age. I can assure you a brand new house would cost more. Australia is doing it right.
DeleteI think your new plan sounds really good - you aren't under any time restraints and it gives you plenty of time to get the shop built with all the things you need to live in it. Not quite the plan you had in mind, but might be better for both of your blood pressures!!!!!
ReplyDeleteexactly! in the grand scheme of things we do not have to sell this house and start building our house right away. and we certainly don't have to sell it just to make someone else happy (ie buyer and agents)
DeleteWe are trying to sell our house at the moment, so I feel your pain. I wouldn't give in either.........
ReplyDeletethank you. I think we gave in enough already. It's nice to have confirmation that others think I'm doing the right thing too.
DeleteIn the past seven years I have sold three houses. The first one, the realtor insisted I list everything on the disclosure form. I did. We had listed low because there were a few issues. I still ended up going down another thousand. The second house was two years old. Nothing to disclose, but there was a bit of fix up on two baseboards. The purchaser saw them when they went through. They questioned me after. It turned out that the realtor did not tell them, I couldn’t do the small two inch patch job as I am allergic to what is used. They were okay. On the last house I sold, after four days, the realtor wanted to drop the price. When I was on the purchasing end, it was give the seller what they want or you won’t get the house. There was $30000 worth of work that had not been disclosed. I backed off and bought a new house. The realtor asked if they drop the price will you take the house. In all my instances, I realized that Realtors are in it for themselves only and will side with which ever side they think they can persuade to do things their way. Part of the problem is the parent real estate companies have quotas of how many houses they need to sell each year. What a farce. I am in a Manitoba, Canada and I see more and more people selling on their own or listing with Comfree which I believe is a Canadian company. Comfree does not take any commissions. They are paid a flat rate. I Like reading your everyday adventures.
ReplyDeleteI so agree with your assessment on realtors only in it for themselves and which side they can play to their advantage. And you are so right about when you are the buyer they tell you to just make a full price offer or you won't get the house. Thank you so much for commenting and reading my blog.
DeleteI'd hold my ground on this. Sounds to me you are being played by both sides. Time to turn the tables and put the ball in the buyer's court.
ReplyDeletethank you. I think are right about both sides. Especially when our agent has to ask "now what exactly is your issue with this?" Um...we're tired of being out of more money, but no one else has to take a hit to their money in any of this. How's that for starters. So frustrating to deal with people, especially when you are trying to be fair. At least we thought we were when we agreed to the $4000 allowance without even countering back.
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