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Author Topic: House Buying  (Read 16535 times)

brewcity77

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #200 on: August 23, 2022, 10:45:15 AM »
I would look further for mitigation systems, then. Our most recent purchase, the previous owner was complaining and refusing to spend "thousands of dollars" on a mitigation system. The cost for testing and installation was $800, which was virtually the same price we paid to have one put in back in January. And the most recent property didn't even need the system, so after testing was done no more money had to be spent. Just not that big a deal, especially when it's likely less than 1% of the total sale cost.
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TAMU, Knower of Ball

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #201 on: August 23, 2022, 11:08:41 AM »
I respectfully disagree. The mitigation system estimates for our house were $2,000 to $4,000. We got raped 28 years ago on the radon system requirement for our Naperville home and sadly, got raped again here. It's a gigantic fraud and the FTC should investigate.

How exactly did a radon mitigation system "rape" you?
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MUfan12

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #202 on: August 23, 2022, 12:03:32 PM »
How exactly did a radon mitigation system "rape" you?

That's some thick PVC, had to be painful.

The Sultan of Semantics

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #203 on: August 23, 2022, 12:23:56 PM »
One other point: Know your buyer's weakness. Our's closed on a house sale the same day and we knew they had no other options. We could be tough because the alternative was no home as thyeir children started school.

Hold on.  Are you saying that you could have played hardball with the buyer after they closed on the sale of their house but before they closed on the purchase of yours?

My understanding is that unless there was a breach by the buyer of some sort, most states would require you to go through with the contract PLUS cover any additional expenses incurred.  (legal fees, housing, etc.) 

If that is your suggestion, that is terrible advice.  Not to mention unethical.
« Last Edit: August 23, 2022, 12:35:40 PM by Sultan Sultanberger »
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brewcity77

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #204 on: August 23, 2022, 12:27:06 PM »
The idea of holding an agreed on home purchase over a family as their children are starting school seems unnecessarily cruel as well.
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dgies9156

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #205 on: August 23, 2022, 12:31:37 PM »
That's some thick PVC, had to be painful.
\

Damn straight. Ouch!

Seriously, I have very little trust in the radon people. I have yet to see a radon test (absent the one on our house 28 years ago that we bought) that showed no radon. It's like a home inspector. Of course he's going to find something wrong. If he doesn't, he will be perceived as not doing his job.

On home inspections, I'd be all in favor of telling a buyer "factor your estimated repairs" into your bid. Let your inspector do his/her work and you have two options -- move forward or cancel the proposal.

Unfortunately, that's not the way things are done today!

As to the comment on hardball, twice our buyer came back looking for more based on their view of the condition of our house. What we knew was that he/she was as motivated as we were. With an approved sale contract, he/she either had to meet our terms -- or something approximating them -- or incur the cost of temporary housing while they found another buyer to nickel and dime. The temporary housing and the uprooting of the family was going to be painful.

He/she put themselves in that situation. Are you suggesting one should cave to what is perceived as unreasonable demands on the basis of children in school? Really?

That's negotiating advantage and far from unethical.

The Sultan of Semantics

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #206 on: August 23, 2022, 12:37:29 PM »
\

Damn straight. Ouch!

Seriously, I have very little trust in the radon people. I have yet to see a radon test (absent the one on our house 28 years ago that we bought) that showed no radon.


I have sold four houses. One didn't have a radon test done. The three that did all came back well under the threshold required for remediation.

Just because something bad happens to you, that doesn't mean its a scam.
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The Sultan of Semantics

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #207 on: August 23, 2022, 12:42:23 PM »
As to the comment on hardball, twice our buyer came back looking for more based on their view of the condition of our house. What we knew was that he/she was as motivated as we were. With an approved sale contract, he/she either had to meet our terms -- or something approximating them -- or incur the cost of temporary housing while they found another buyer to nickel and dime. The temporary housing and the uprooting of the family was going to be painful.

He/she put themselves in that situation. Are you suggesting one should cave to what is perceived as unreasonable demands on the basis of children in school? Really?

That's negotiating advantage and far from unethical.


If you are saying they made demands, that you refused to meet, that is something else entirely.  And that's not the scenario that you initially laid out.

Furthermore, the buyer would need a basis on which to make those demands (home inspection, sale of their house, etc.)  They can't just say "either reduce the price by $5,000 or I am not buying it."  At worst you would keep the earnest money, but the courts would probably require them to buy it at the agreed upon price.

But again, that not what you initially said.
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brewcity77

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #208 on: August 23, 2022, 12:43:30 PM »
Except that's not how it works. The offer comes before the home inspection. And if they pull out, you are obligated by law to disclose everything found in the home inspection to any potential future buyers. "Factor your estimated repairs into your bid"? How do you factor in things that aren't determined until after the inspection is complete? That's not the way things are done today.

And it's not playing hardball for a buyer to make requests after the inspection is done. It's the seller's responsibility to make the product they are selling one that is worth the price agreed on in the offer, and if they don't, they have to tell everyone else in the future all the problems that are there.

Regardless, the way you worded it came across as "We knew we could f*** them because they wouldn't have anywhere to live at the beginning of the school year."
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Jockey

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #209 on: August 23, 2022, 01:46:40 PM »
There has been some good advice in some of the posts here that I've read.

The best advice, though (i haven't read every post so forgive me if it was given) is getting the right realtor to work with. Especially with a first house purchase because it is so scary. It took me 7 tries before I found a realtor who actually tried to help me find what I wanted.

I wanted a specific area to buy - I had realtors call me about houses on the other side of town. I wanted 3 bedrooms - I had realtors call me with 5 bedroom houses that they 'knew' I would love. A couple would call about almost every house that went up for sale.

I had realtor refuse to put in an offer. I knew that land had been purchased surrounding the house for a new subdivision. A week later a realtor for another buyer put in an even lower offer that was accepted. My realtor cost me at least $150,000.

I told every realtor that I was in no hurry and that I just wanted to come into their offices once or twice a week to look at their MLS books. Some said that was illegal. Some just said no. Finally, the 7th one said to drop in any time even if they were out of the office. I had an accepted offer within 3 weeks.

Dr. Blackheart

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #210 on: August 23, 2022, 02:37:17 PM »
That's some thick PVC, had to be painful.

It emanated from the Yadi Treasures Room. Loiuisville Sluggers, ouch.

Herman Cain

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #211 on: August 23, 2022, 02:52:53 PM »
We sold our Illinois home yesterday (second sale since April) and now own but one house in Florida. Some thoughts on the sale process:

1) Know your real estate agent well. You are going to have to live with him/her for up to a year. Make sure there is a trust factor. Above all, listen to them on price but verify using Realtor.Com, Zillow.com and Redfin.com.

2) Make sure your buyers understand they're buying a used house. There will be issues. In our case, our Chicago home was 38 years old. The buyer, after a bid was accepted, came back with $13,000 of changes. We said "no" but threw something at them to grease the transaction. In short, we're not paying for your renovations.

3) I hate HGTV. I hate the concept that everyone has to have a white or gray kitchen and I hate the idea that anything not white is garbage. It's a fad and it too will go away, like avocado colored toilets and earth tones.

4) Radon is a scam. Period. End of discussion. Don't trust anyone who uses instrumentation to measure radon. Ask for a calibration report before you allow it into your basement. Remediation is not expensive but a nusiance. Radon is an emotionally charged issue especially for an element that's everywhere.

5) Be realistic about pricing. As a seller, we reached for the stars on the Realtor's private network and when that didn't work, we went for the public market at her recommended price. Our's sold and most of the competition around us is still on the market.

6) Track comparable homes that go on the market when your's does. We had a spreadsheet and tracked days on market for 15 comparable homes in our area, when they reduced price and how we compared on a price per square foot to all our competition. Due it independent of the real estate agent, so you know before he/she recommends a price reduction.

7) Final thought: Because our primary residence is in Florida, we have to pay capital gains on our Illinois sale. Save every receipt you can, just in case. We're not going much, if anything, in capital gains because of that factor. That does not speak well of the Chicago suburban housing market, but it is reality.
I am going through tracking the improvements made right now. Very time consuming and tedious. We had a  capital gain well in excess of the allowance and so every little bit we can add to the basis is going to be a plus.
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Scoop Snoop

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #212 on: August 23, 2022, 03:02:31 PM »
There has been some good advice in some of the posts here that I've read.

The best advice, though (i haven't read every post so forgive me if it was given) is getting the right realtor to work with. Especially with a first house purchase because it is so scary. It took me 7 tries before I found a realtor who actually tried to help me find what I wanted.

I wanted a specific area to buy - I had realtors call me about houses on the other side of town. I wanted 3 bedrooms - I had realtors call me with 5 bedroom houses that they 'knew' I would love. A couple would call about almost every house that went up for sale.

I had realtor refuse to put in an offer. I knew that land had been purchased surrounding the house for a new subdivision. A week later a realtor for another buyer put in an even lower offer that was accepted. My realtor cost me at least $150,000.

I told every realtor that I was in no hurry and that I just wanted to come into their offices once or twice a week to look at their MLS books. Some said that was illegal. Some just said no. Finally, the 7th one said to drop in any time even if they were out of the office. I had an accepted offer within 3 weeks.

Wow! Refusing to present an offer may be illegal, but that may vary by state. What was his/her excuse?

And how was looking at the old, printed MLS books illegal?

The BS about showing houses that you have no interest in whatsoever is often a case of an agent wanting to tell the owners of his/her listings how many times the house was shown. Some will also show the houses to help other agents with their listings. It's a game. Remember the old anti-drug slogan, "Just say no".

You are spot on regarding getting the right realtor. Make it very clear from the beginning what your goals are and insist on staying on track. They're selling. You're buying. 
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ZiggysFryBoy

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #213 on: August 23, 2022, 03:29:58 PM »
There has been some good advice in some of the posts here that I've read.

The best advice, though (i haven't read every post so forgive me if it was given) is getting the right realtor to work with. Especially with a first house purchase because it is so scary. It took me 7 tries before I found a realtor who actually tried to help me find what I wanted.

I wanted a specific area to buy - I had realtors call me about houses on the other side of town. I wanted 3 bedrooms - I had realtors call me with 5 bedroom houses that they 'knew' I would love. A couple would call about almost every house that went up for sale.

I had realtor refuse to put in an offer. I knew that land had been purchased surrounding the house for a new subdivision. A week later a realtor for another buyer put in an even lower offer that was accepted. My realtor cost me at least $150,000.

I told every realtor that I was in no hurry and that I just wanted to come into their offices once or twice a week to look at their MLS books. Some said that was illegal. Some just said no. Finally, the 7th one said to drop in any time even if they were out of the office. I had an accepted offer within 3 weeks.

I think home buying has changed since 1967, but go on with your bad self.

dgies9156

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #214 on: August 23, 2022, 03:34:15 PM »
Wow! Refusing to present an offer may be illegal, but that may vary by state. What was his/her excuse?

And how was looking at the old, printed MLS books illegal?

The BS about showing houses that you have no interest in whatsoever is often a case of an agent wanting to tell the owners of his/her listings how many times the house was shown. Some will also show the houses to help other agents with their listings. It's a game. Remember the old anti-drug slogan, "Just say no".

You are spot on regarding getting the right realtor. Make it very clear from the beginning what your goals are and insist on staying on track. They're selling. You're buying.

The showing houses with no interest just angers me to no end as a seller. When we sold our first Florida home, we had a real estate agent who showed our home to a woman in a wheelchair. The doors were not ADA compliant and the woman could not fit through the front door comfortably. The interior steps were killers and were in the home photos.

We had several home showings in Chicago with folks who had NO interest in our home or neighborhood. We also saw it when we bought in Libertyville where our agent took our specs about "no power lines out our front window and showed us -- you guessed it -- a home with power lines in the back!

As a final thought, ya'll probably misread what I was saying. Maybe I did not explain things well, but I never wanted to change the terms of the contract or use negotiating leverage in bad faith. I do use every advantage I have though and when a buyer wants more than $10,000 of improvements after signing the contract, the answer is NO. Where the leverage entered the picture is knowing the buyer hasn't got a lot of time if he/she wants to enroll in school and avoid significant incremental expenses. We communicated through both our lawyer and real estate agent we were ready to walk and asked for a new marketing plan! That solved everything.

Goose

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #215 on: August 23, 2022, 03:36:25 PM »
Welcome back, ziggy. Put a smile on my face right out of the gate!!!

Hards Alumni

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #216 on: August 23, 2022, 07:04:21 PM »
I think home buying has changed since 1967, but go on with your bad self.

wb

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #217 on: August 23, 2022, 08:09:19 PM »
Welcome back, ziggy. Put a smile on my face right out of the gate!!!

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tower912

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #218 on: August 23, 2022, 08:13:39 PM »
I have missed the funny ziggy.   Well played.
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Lighthouse 84

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #219 on: August 24, 2022, 07:37:37 AM »

If you are saying they made demands, that you refused to meet, that is something else entirely.  And that's not the scenario that you initially laid out.

Furthermore, the buyer would need a basis on which to make those demands (home inspection, sale of their house, etc.)  They can't just say "either reduce the price by $5,000 or I am not buying it."  At worst you would keep the earnest money, but the courts would probably require them to buy it at the agreed upon price.

But again, that not what you initially said.
No and no.

In Illinois, even if the Buyers defaulted, or indicated they wouldn't buy because unless the Sellers reduced the price by $5,000, the Sellers don't get to just "keep the earnest money", unless both parties agreed or a court awarded the earnest money to the Sellers.  And in a residential transaction, if the Buyers backed out and Sellers sued Buyers, the successful Sellers would get money damages, but Illinois courts aren't going to specifically enforce a Buyer to buy a house. 
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Jay Bee

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #220 on: August 24, 2022, 08:23:14 AM »
I’m not usually one for optional warranties, but I was pleased with my purchase of a Home Warranty (from HSA.. which I think may be based in the Madison area… guess that town is good for something at least).
 
As a seller, it’s something I’ve offered to include for the buyer as well.
 
Especially in times when inspections may be frowned upon by sellers, a buyer may want to strongly consider buying one. They’re not expensive.. with the ‘7-star upgrade’ that covers more stuff, I think I paid just over $700 for a year of coverage.
 
I’ve requested a number of services and have been pleased with the companies they’ve used and the results. Won’t list out the MANY things I’ve had addressed, but one by itself covered my warranty cost alone – issue with the water softener. Need a complete replacement.
 
You have to pay a fee (for me, $100/each) to get a service person to your property, and I would tip everyone who came out.. but, that water softener was slick. He had one in his truck. Quick visit, brand new water softener. Now my hair feels like a babies (I’m only guessing) and my Marquette gear is crisp and clean.
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The Sultan of Semantics

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #221 on: August 24, 2022, 08:26:02 AM »
No and no.

In Illinois, even if the Buyers defaulted, or indicated they wouldn't buy because unless the Sellers reduced the price by $5,000, the Sellers don't get to just "keep the earnest money", unless both parties agreed or a court awarded the earnest money to the Sellers.  And in a residential transaction, if the Buyers backed out and Sellers sued Buyers, the successful Sellers would get money damages, but Illinois courts aren't going to specifically enforce a Buyer to buy a house. 


Thank you for the clarification.
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brewcity77

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #222 on: August 24, 2022, 10:04:51 AM »
I’m not usually one for optional warranties, but I was pleased with my purchase of a Home Warranty (from HSA.. which I think may be based in the Madison area… guess that town is good for something at least).
 
As a seller, it’s something I’ve offered to include for the buyer as well.
 
Especially in times when inspections may be frowned upon by sellers, a buyer may want to strongly consider buying one. They’re not expensive.. with the ‘7-star upgrade’ that covers more stuff, I think I paid just over $700 for a year of coverage.
 
I’ve requested a number of services and have been pleased with the companies they’ve used and the results. Won’t list out the MANY things I’ve had addressed, but one by itself covered my warranty cost alone – issue with the water softener. Need a complete replacement.
 
You have to pay a fee (for me, $100/each) to get a service person to your property, and I would tip everyone who came out.. but, that water softener was slick. He had one in his truck. Quick visit, brand new water softener. Now my hair feels like a babies (I’m only guessing) and my Marquette gear is crisp and clean.

I think it's a great hook as a seller. Offer the one-year warranty and you're basically telling the buyer "you're okay if anything goes wrong." As someone who's used home warranties...they vary greatly. We currently have one through Cinch for our new home and despite the realtor telling us it was really easy to use, we've had nothing but problems. Too much stuff that it turns out they won't cover and when we do finally get someone out, the share we have to pay and the time it takes to get them there isn't worth it compared to just calling someone ourselves.

In the past year, we've called for a leaky toilet, roof damage, and a sump pump all looked at. The toilet call was the only one we got any benefit from, and I'm not sure the $100 was that much money saved considering we had to wait 3 weeks for them to get a plumber out. When they looked at the roof, they claimed it had no damage (despite the damage being included in the condition report when we bought the house) and the sump pump we simply couldn't wait for them to get someone out (another 3 weeks with water on the verge of backing up into the basement).
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Hards Alumni

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #223 on: August 24, 2022, 12:42:12 PM »
I’m not usually one for optional warranties, but I was pleased with my purchase of a Home Warranty (from HSA.. which I think may be based in the Madison area… guess that town is good for something at least).
 
As a seller, it’s something I’ve offered to include for the buyer as well.
 
Especially in times when inspections may be frowned upon by sellers, a buyer may want to strongly consider buying one. They’re not expensive.. with the ‘7-star upgrade’ that covers more stuff, I think I paid just over $700 for a year of coverage.
 
I’ve requested a number of services and have been pleased with the companies they’ve used and the results. Won’t list out the MANY things I’ve had addressed, but one by itself covered my warranty cost alone – issue with the water softener. Need a complete replacement.
 
You have to pay a fee (for me, $100/each) to get a service person to your property, and I would tip everyone who came out.. but, that water softener was slick. He had one in his truck. Quick visit, brand new water softener. Now my hair feels like a babies (I’m only guessing) and my Marquette gear is crisp and clean.

Agree.  Ours was totally worth the price as well.

UWW2MU

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Re: House Buying
« Reply #224 on: August 25, 2022, 12:34:55 PM »
Swinging the conversation back to writing letters with your offer. 

Yesterday we had our offer accepted on a house.  There were at least two other offers, one came in after ours that we're told was more attractive, but I'll never know how much more attactive it was.  However, I did include a "love letter" that told them our story.  It was genuine and heartfelt.  Apparently, it connected with the sellers and they accepted our offer over the better one. 

Since I'll never know how close the offers really were in the end I don't know the value of it.  However, I do know from our agent and the seller's agent conversations that it was the piece that turned the sale in our favor.


Now I just need to figure out how to sell my house asap when we were not at all planning/prepared to do so!!!