Real estate update
Mar. 28th, 2014 11:15![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zubeneschamaliSo remember this house that Mr. Z and I have been trying to sell? The one we put on the market last May and had zero interest in all summer and fall, the one where we decided not to renew our realtor's contract when it ended in December? We found a new realtor and spent a few thousand dollars getting the place fixed up (while being in NZ/AU), put it back on the market in February, and got an offer within a couple of days. Hooray! we thought.
But the house isn't willing to let go of us just yet.
The buyers had a list of things they wanted us to fix up as part of the sales contract, reasonable things like replacing a window in the basement where the wood had rotted, etc. We got those things done. They had a home inspector come by to make sure everything was up to code, etc., and since we only bought the house 7 years ago, there wasn't that much that he found, but we did have to get a few more things fixedd up. Closing was set for the 29th, so we filled out a power of attorney form and paid $100 to have it notarized (which would be free in the US) and then mailed it back home. The buyers wanted to move the closing up to Wed. the 27th, which was all the better as far as we're concerned. So with the time difference in mind, we went to bed on Wed. expecting to wake up on Thurs. with a big ol' check having been deposited in our bank account.
Instead, the buyers canceled the closing.
They did the final walk-through with their realtor on Tuesday, as you do to make sure the sellers haven't made off with anything they said they were going to leave behind or punched a hole in a door in a fit of anger (as happened the day before my family moved into my childhood home). They reported that when they turned on the shower upstairs, water immediately started pouring out of the window of the living room right below the bathroom. Obviously, this is a problem. We had our repair guy put down some additional grouting and fix what he saw as the problem--but they canceled closing anyway, claiming they "weren't ready" to talk about when they could get their own inspector in to verify it was really fixed.
Now, if they don't close by Friday the 29th, as in the original contract, they have legal problems. Which their realtor full well knows, although she can't seem to get them to understand the urgency. So Fri. morning/Thurs. afternoon (since we're now on a 16-hour time difference after DST), we Skyped our realtor and real estate lawyer, who gave us some additional information of the WTF variety. Picture our house: it's a hundred years old, and so the bathroom has a window over the foot of the bathtub, which is not free-standing, but still has one of those circular railings around it at the top from which the shower curtains hang. This means two curtains are necessary, one for the room side of the bathtub and one for the wall/window/foot of the tub. Apparently when they turned on the shower to test it, they aimed it at the window. (No idea where the shower curtain got to.) Which is why water started coming out the window on the floor below. Now they're freaking out that they did damage to the house (which, as our lawyer said, is highly unlikely from a single water incident) and might not want the house after all. BECAUSE OF SOMETHING THEY DID.
*ahem* The good news is, they could still close tomorrow, and they have a ten-day window after that before they're officially in breach of contract. Also, if they think they damaged the house enough that they don't want it, it should be pretty easy to collect damages! We're both kind of laughing over this bizarre situation, and the way that the house just doesn't want to go away without a fight.
ETA: And now they've officially bailed. Thankfully, it's prime buying season in our university town, and our realtor already has multiple potential buyers in mind, but we are SO PISSED. It was supposed to be off our hands by the time we got back. :(
But the house isn't willing to let go of us just yet.
The buyers had a list of things they wanted us to fix up as part of the sales contract, reasonable things like replacing a window in the basement where the wood had rotted, etc. We got those things done. They had a home inspector come by to make sure everything was up to code, etc., and since we only bought the house 7 years ago, there wasn't that much that he found, but we did have to get a few more things fixedd up. Closing was set for the 29th, so we filled out a power of attorney form and paid $100 to have it notarized (which would be free in the US) and then mailed it back home. The buyers wanted to move the closing up to Wed. the 27th, which was all the better as far as we're concerned. So with the time difference in mind, we went to bed on Wed. expecting to wake up on Thurs. with a big ol' check having been deposited in our bank account.
Instead, the buyers canceled the closing.
They did the final walk-through with their realtor on Tuesday, as you do to make sure the sellers haven't made off with anything they said they were going to leave behind or punched a hole in a door in a fit of anger (as happened the day before my family moved into my childhood home). They reported that when they turned on the shower upstairs, water immediately started pouring out of the window of the living room right below the bathroom. Obviously, this is a problem. We had our repair guy put down some additional grouting and fix what he saw as the problem--but they canceled closing anyway, claiming they "weren't ready" to talk about when they could get their own inspector in to verify it was really fixed.
Now, if they don't close by Friday the 29th, as in the original contract, they have legal problems. Which their realtor full well knows, although she can't seem to get them to understand the urgency. So Fri. morning/Thurs. afternoon (since we're now on a 16-hour time difference after DST), we Skyped our realtor and real estate lawyer, who gave us some additional information of the WTF variety. Picture our house: it's a hundred years old, and so the bathroom has a window over the foot of the bathtub, which is not free-standing, but still has one of those circular railings around it at the top from which the shower curtains hang. This means two curtains are necessary, one for the room side of the bathtub and one for the wall/window/foot of the tub. Apparently when they turned on the shower to test it, they aimed it at the window. (No idea where the shower curtain got to.) Which is why water started coming out the window on the floor below. Now they're freaking out that they did damage to the house (which, as our lawyer said, is highly unlikely from a single water incident) and might not want the house after all. BECAUSE OF SOMETHING THEY DID.
*ahem* The good news is, they could still close tomorrow, and they have a ten-day window after that before they're officially in breach of contract. Also, if they think they damaged the house enough that they don't want it, it should be pretty easy to collect damages! We're both kind of laughing over this bizarre situation, and the way that the house just doesn't want to go away without a fight.
ETA: And now they've officially bailed. Thankfully, it's prime buying season in our university town, and our realtor already has multiple potential buyers in mind, but we are SO PISSED. It was supposed to be off our hands by the time we got back. :(
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no subject
Date: 2014-03-28 00:28 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-28 00:44 (UTC)(Also, your perfect icon is perfect.)
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Date: 2014-03-28 01:10 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-28 03:55 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-28 00:40 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-28 00:47 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-28 01:23 (UTC)Those people are lacking a few IQ points. The house has sensed this, and doesn't wish to be accidentally burned down or blown up by their stupidity. And so it clings to its original, kind (and intelligent!) owners.
Poor house . . .
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Date: 2014-03-28 03:56 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-28 03:20 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-28 03:57 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-28 03:55 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-28 03:58 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-28 09:50 (UTC)How'd your talk go?
Sorry yet again about knocking the creaming soda over on to your pants. ;-) One of the hazards of eating with me!
no subject
Date: 2014-03-28 21:17 (UTC)It went well! I got lots of good questions and then got to geek out about transportation for the rest of the afternoon, so it was a good day. :)
No worries! It's totally something I would do. And this way I know what store to go shopping at when I'm in Sydney next week. :D
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Date: 2014-03-28 12:41 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-28 21:21 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-29 00:25 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-28 13:08 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-28 21:22 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-28 19:11 (UTC)Here's hoping the just give it up and close the deal.
*fingers crossed*
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Date: 2014-03-28 21:23 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-29 04:45 (UTC)Sorry to hear they totally bailed.