Sold our house and ice maker isn't working

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just call an appliance repair handyman. Shouldn't cost more than a couple hundred to fix, if that.

Good one. We have a 3 year old Kitchen Aid fridge and we have been trying to get the ice maker fixed since January with no real luck. The factory repairman has been out 4 times so far and has replaced 2 different parts and it still doesn't really work. Each time they order a new part it takes 8-10 weeks to get the part in as well. Something is wrong with the electronics and so far they have replaced the power supply board, and the main CPU board.

CPU? You all have some fancy ice makers. Pretty sure mine consists of a powered mechanical switch, a water tube, and a lever bar.

At any rate, I agree with all the folks saying to write the buyers a modest check ($200) at closing, assuming it still isn't fixed. The suggestion that the buyers are owed a new fridge is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The day we signed our listing agreement we discovered the ice maker wasn't working. We emptied out a large chunk of ice, reset it and expected it to be working the next day. We discussed this with the realtor and decided we would get it fixed therefore we did not disclose it wasn't working. However, we have replaced 2 parts and are waiting for a third to come in and it still isn't working. We obviously want to be fair to the new owners, how do we determine what the fridge is worth at this point? I have seen numbers on depreciating an appliance for a rental, is it the same for a personal home?

Fridge is 4 years old.

TIA!

Why not just buy a new fridge? You don't want to list the house that has a broken fridge. The buyers will eventually just ask you to replace it as part of the sales contract, so just do it now.

Yeah - just throw it away to rot in a landfill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP is there a home inspection? Without that contingency it’s all sold as is. Heck if I know of any of the appliances in the house we are buying even work let alone the ice maker. I don’t know where all these people arguing over a $300 ice maker are buying but in the area we didn’t make any offers with inspections.

This is the important question. Was there a home inspection done? If so, why did they not realize the ice maker was broken?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Instead of doing this, you should talk to the buyers.

This. Just tell them that the ice maker broke, that you have parts on the way to fix it, and ask what they want to do about it. Maybe they'll just want enough money for the repair once the part comes in, maybe they'll want money toward replacing the fridge (though that seems over the top for an easily fixed fridge component), or maybe they won't even care at this point. No one—not you, not the buyers—is going to let the sale fall through over a broken ice maker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For this sort of thing just write a check for like $150 at closing.

$150

that doesn't being to pay for the fridge issue. As the buyer i would demand the value of a new fridge, it's clear the current one is past it's life expectancy.

OP write a check for $500.

Its 4 years old!

The age of the fridge makes no difference! OP didn't disclose the issue with the fridge!! Therefore as the buyer I would demand the full replacement price for a new like-kind fridge. Why is this a hard concept to grasp, especially in this market!

😂 You don’t seem to grasp what “this market” actually means. As the buyer you can demand the full replacement price, and the seller can laugh in your newbie face and turn around and sell to one of the dozen other offers she has. I guarantee none of them will bat an eye at a broken icemaker.

Wait, are you the buyer who thinks it’s a grievous insult for someone to put their property on the market with a 10-year-old kitchen?

[Anonymous]

my parents are replacing their fridge over a broken ice maker... so I guess depensd how much the buyers rely on using theirs.

our fridge was functioning but had some cracked drawers, etc. and the dishwasher had a missing rack and sellers gave us a $2000 credit for both. we moved the fridge to use as a spare and bought a bigger/better one an new dishwasher. but this was 2020, not 2021 market.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For this sort of thing just write a check for like $150 at closing.

$150

that doesn't being to pay for the fridge issue. As the buyer i would demand the value of a new fridge, it's clear the current one is past it's life expectancy.

OP write a check for $500.

Its 4 years old!

The age of the fridge makes no difference! OP didn't disclose the issue with the fridge!! Therefore as the buyer I would demand the full replacement price for a new like-kind fridge. Why is this a hard concept to grasp, especially in this market!

YHou have that backwards. In this market, the seller has the juice, not the buyer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For this sort of thing just write a check for like $150 at closing.

$150

that doesn't being to pay for the fridge issue. As the buyer i would demand the value of a new fridge, it's clear the current one is past it's life expectancy.

OP write a check for $500.

Its 4 years old!

The age of the fridge makes no difference! OP didn't disclose the issue with the fridge!! Therefore as the buyer I would demand the full replacement price for a new like-kind fridge. Why is this a hard concept to grasp, especially in this market!

😂 You don’t seem to grasp what “this market” actually means. As the buyer you can demand the full replacement price, and the seller can laugh in your newbie face and turn around and sell to one of the dozen other offers she has. I guarantee none of them will bat an eye at a broken icemaker.

Wait, are you the buyer who thinks it’s a grievous insult for someone to put their property on the market with a 10-year-old kitchen?

If the issue were disclosed, yes. But here, the buyer is entitled to expect a working refrigerator (it's not that hard to spell, people), including an ice maker. That's what was represented was for sale. The seller can't just throw $100 at then and expect the issue to go away - she has to (i) fix it before closing), (ii) pay the realistic cost for the repair, or (iii) replace the fridge.

Were I the buyer, I would say let's keep $2000 in escrow after closing. The seller can pay for repairs, but if they don't work in __ period of time, the $2000 will be used to purchase a new unit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of doing this, you should talk to the buyers.

This. Just tell them that the ice maker broke, that you have parts on the way to fix it, and ask what they want to do about it. Maybe they'll just want enough money for the repair once the part comes in, maybe they'll want money toward replacing the fridge (though that seems over the top for an easily fixed fridge component), or maybe they won't even care at this point. No one—not you, not the buyers—is going to let the sale fall through over a broken ice maker.

This. Since the sale already happened, obviously it’s not going to fall through, just tell them that the icemaker broke during the rentback, you have parts on the way to fix it, and see what everyone agrees to do about it. That’s what the escrow on your rentback is for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of doing this, you should talk to the buyers.

This. Just tell them that the ice maker broke, that you have parts on the way to fix it, and ask what they want to do about it. Maybe they'll just want enough money for the repair once the part comes in, maybe they'll want money toward replacing the fridge (though that seems over the top for an easily fixed fridge component), or maybe they won't even care at this point. No one—not you, not the buyers—is going to let the sale fall through over a broken ice maker.

This. Since the sale already happened, obviously it’s not going to fall through, just tell them that the icemaker broke during the rentback, you have parts on the way to fix it, and see what everyone agrees to do about it. That’s what the escrow on your rentback is for.

OP never said the house sold. Said it broke when they signed the listing agreement. Is the house even on the market? OP, just get it fixed before listing. Or before closing. This isn't rocket science.

We just sold and are renting back. Our dishwasher door broke while we were under contract prior to closing. We paid to have it fixed. Now that we're renting back, anything that breaks is on the new owners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of doing this, you should talk to the buyers.

This. Just tell them that the ice maker broke, that you have parts on the way to fix it, and ask what they want to do about it. Maybe they'll just want enough money for the repair once the part comes in, maybe they'll want money toward replacing the fridge (though that seems over the top for an easily fixed fridge component), or maybe they won't even care at this point. No one—not you, not the buyers—is going to let the sale fall through over a broken ice maker.

This. Since the sale already happened, obviously it’s not going to fall through, just tell them that the icemaker broke during the rentback, you have parts on the way to fix it, and see what everyone agrees to do about it. That’s what the escrow on your rentback is for.

OP never said the house sold. Said it broke when they signed the listing agreement. Is the house even on the market? OP, just get it fixed before listing. Or before closing. This isn't rocket science.

We just sold and are renting back. Our dishwasher door broke while we were under contract prior to closing. We paid to have it fixed. Now that we're renting back, anything that breaks is on the new owners.

Reading comprehension. You have a lot of details wrong.

OP said that they sold the house, and they are currently in a rent-back. The rent back ends at the end of the month (I presume end of June). They assumed that they would have the broken icemaker fixed before they left, but they have had two visits, one replaced some components, but still didn't fix the problem so more parts are on order that will not be in before they leave their rent-back. They don't know if the replacement components will fix the issue since they won't be in the house any more.

OP--you should talk to the buyers and see what they want done. Will they be okay with the repairment coming to replace the parts that have been ordered and you paying for the repair or would they rather have you write a check that can be applied towards a replacement fridge. Then negotiate the price.

But rather than crowd-sourcing, you should just talk to the buyers. If this was pre-listing, then crowd-sourcing ideas to see what seems to be the most popular is appropriate since you are trying to satisfy the biggest potential audience of buyers. But here, you only have and audience of one, the people who actually bought your house. Talk to them and negotiate a deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For this sort of thing just write a check for like $150 at closing.

$150

that doesn't being to pay for the fridge issue. As the buyer i would demand the value of a new fridge, it's clear the current one is past it's life expectancy.

OP write a check for $500.

Its 4 years old!

The age of the fridge makes no difference! OP didn't disclose the issue with the fridge!! Therefore as the buyer I would demand the full replacement price for a new like-kind fridge. Why is this a hard concept to grasp, especially in this market!

😂 You don’t seem to grasp what “this market” actually means. As the buyer you can demand the full replacement price, and the seller can laugh in your newbie face and turn around and sell to one of the dozen other offers she has. I guarantee none of them will bat an eye at a broken icemaker.

Wait, are you the buyer who thinks it’s a grievous insult for someone to put their property on the market with a 10-year-old kitchen?

If the issue were disclosed, yes. But here, the buyer is entitled to expect a working refrigerator (it's not that hard to spell, people), including an ice maker. That's what was represented was for sale. The seller can't just throw $100 at then and expect the issue to go away - she has to (i) fix it before closing), (ii) pay the realistic cost for the repair, or (iii) replace the fridge.

Were I the buyer, I would say let's keep $2000 in escrow after closing. The seller can pay for repairs, but if they don't work in __ period of time, the $2000 will be used to purchase a new unit.

Even if you're otherwise right, it does not need to be a new fridge. Can be a used, 4 yo fridge of similar quality with a working ice maker.

[Anonymous]

The 3rd part and labor will probably do the trick. I’d cover that and no more. If I bought a house and the ice maker was broke n, that is what I would expect to pay out of pocket.

[Anonymous]

FYI, don’t buy frig/freezers with in-the-door water and ice dispensers. They are notorious for breaking Buy the ones that dump ice into a bin inside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ice makers are notoriously crappy. ours has given us trouble from pretty early on. we have tried fixing it multiple times. We have just given up on it at this point. The Fridge and Freezer still work just fine.

This. To be honest, I'd prefer to buy a fridge without an ice maker, but they don't seem to make those unless it's a very tiny basic model.