Anonymous
05/03/2023 21:15
Subject: getting out of contract
Never ask for any repairs, always ask for a credit.
That said I can’t imagine backing out of a house over paint a drywall. What are they going to do a week after the close when the shower diverter breaks or they have a party and overwhelm the sewer line which turns out to be full of roots?
This is a great time for them to become homeowners and learn to patch and paint.
That said I can’t imagine backing out of a house over paint a drywall. What are they going to do a week after the close when the shower diverter breaks or they have a party and overwhelm the sewer line which turns out to be full of roots?
This is a great time for them to become homeowners and learn to patch and paint.
Anonymous
05/03/2023 21:09
Subject: getting out of contract
Anonymous wrote:Everything has to be to their satisfaction at the walk-through. If they don’t like the agent, ask the broker to send someone else to walk-through and closing. They can ask for money to do the job properly in order to close.
Immediate PP is correct that friend needs to read the contract. But what the contract could say is that for any work that the buyer asked the seller to do, the seller needs to provide receipts that the work was done by a licensed contractor. It doesn’t sound like that was the case, so if true that’s the in to request money instead. Get some quotes in advance of closing for what it would take to fix everything to friend’s satisfaction.
AgentX
05/03/2023 20:35
Subject: Re:getting out of contract
1) Read the contract. What does it say with respect to repairs.
2) I always tell clients, you can ask for it to be fixed or just ask for some money and you fix it. Always go for the money. Once you agree to the "fix" it's out of your hands for the most part. It doesn't have to be good, it just has to be done.
3) You have nothing until you're within the hour prior to closing. You still don't know if these repairs will be adequately completed or not, so you may have to wait.
4) I realize everyone wants to blame the agent around here, but you do realize that an agent isn't a party to a contract and thus cannot "okay" any work to be done.
5) See #1. Your friend really needs to read the contract and/or consult an attorney and see what it says. We can't answer these questions without the contract.
2) I always tell clients, you can ask for it to be fixed or just ask for some money and you fix it. Always go for the money. Once you agree to the "fix" it's out of your hands for the most part. It doesn't have to be good, it just has to be done.
3) You have nothing until you're within the hour prior to closing. You still don't know if these repairs will be adequately completed or not, so you may have to wait.
4) I realize everyone wants to blame the agent around here, but you do realize that an agent isn't a party to a contract and thus cannot "okay" any work to be done.
5) See #1. Your friend really needs to read the contract and/or consult an attorney and see what it says. We can't answer these questions without the contract.
Anonymous
05/03/2023 20:22
Subject: getting out of contract
Is there a contingency? Like a finance or inspection contingency that you could leverage?
Anonymous
05/03/2023 20:18
Subject: getting out of contract
Anonymous wrote:A similar thing happened to us but the work wasn't cosmetic. We had a great realtor who ended up speaking with the sellers realtor (they were divorcing so everything seemed to take longer) and we ended up getting money at closing to fix the (big) issue because the sellers didn't fix it like they said they would. We told them we would walk otherwise. Needless to say I think it's always better to get money for any serious issue found in inspection so you can do it how you want it. Sellers will usually pick the cheapest option to fix an issue.
Have another realtor come in and speak with the seller's representative to get this done, may be better to ask for $$ instead so they can do it how they want. Paint and drywall is an easy fix, smoke smell... not so much.
+1. Get $$ and fix it yourself.
Anonymous
05/03/2023 19:06
Subject: getting out of contract
A similar thing happened to us but the work wasn't cosmetic. We had a great realtor who ended up speaking with the sellers realtor (they were divorcing so everything seemed to take longer) and we ended up getting money at closing to fix the (big) issue because the sellers didn't fix it like they said they would. We told them we would walk otherwise. Needless to say I think it's always better to get money for any serious issue found in inspection so you can do it how you want it. Sellers will usually pick the cheapest option to fix an issue.
Have another realtor come in and speak with the seller's representative to get this done, may be better to ask for $$ instead so they can do it how they want. Paint and drywall is an easy fix, smoke smell... not so much.
Have another realtor come in and speak with the seller's representative to get this done, may be better to ask for $$ instead so they can do it how they want. Paint and drywall is an easy fix, smoke smell... not so much.
Anonymous
05/03/2023 18:57
Subject: getting out of contract
Anonymous wrote:Truly asking for a friend here - put a contract on a house and scheduled to close next week. There was a list of work to be done, and while most of it is "done", some of it is VERY shoddy. EMD is $5500, which friend really doesn't want to lose, but they also don't want to have to pay to get all of this work redone. Their agent SUCKS (didn't fully read the work to be done and ok'd it, and it didn't include several things that they had discussed the seller needing to do). Is there any recourse? Things that look bad to me are paint that doesn't cover drywall patches (as in, you can see the crack, and the patch through the paint, to the point where I'm not even sure they painted). Holes in the drywall. Drywall that is "wavy" (but was supposedly patched). Missing baseboards on walls that were supposed to be patched and have baseboards fixed.
If they like the house and its not overpriced, take the bullet but do aak broker to mediate. That being said, buyers do lose good options due to cold feet and end up buying homes with similar or higher legel of problems.
Anonymous
05/03/2023 18:47
Subject: getting out of contract
Ask the managing broker to step in and mediate but these do sound cosmetic and subjective. I am surprised they agreed to cosmetic. If they’re trying to get rid of smoke smell it’ll take a lot more than patching.
Anonymous
05/03/2023 18:12
Subject: getting out of contract
Anonymous wrote:Everything has to be to their satisfaction at the walk-through. If they don’t like the agent, ask the broker to send someone else to walk-through and closing. They can ask for money to do the job properly in order to close.
OP here, and thank you! I will advise her of this.
Anonymous
05/03/2023 18:12
Subject: getting out of contract
Anonymous wrote:That stuff is fixable but depending on the age of the home cracks will happen and they/you/agent sounds unrealistic about things. Its very hard to remediate smoke except to tear out everything.
OP here, and yes, I'm well aware that cracks exist (they sure do in my house), but I also know that immediately after they're patched and painted, it looks fine. This does not look fine. I do know it's almost impossible to remediate smoke, and I wish my friend had listened to me over the stupid agent, but that's in the past.
I'm making the home sound like a disaster - it's actually got a lot going for it, but I don't think my friend should have to pay to have someone re-do work that was supposed to be done before closing.
Anonymous
05/03/2023 17:44
Subject: getting out of contract
Everything has to be to their satisfaction at the walk-through. If they don’t like the agent, ask the broker to send someone else to walk-through and closing. They can ask for money to do the job properly in order to close.
Anonymous
05/03/2023 17:41
Subject: getting out of contract
That stuff is fixable but depending on the age of the home cracks will happen and they/you/agent sounds unrealistic about things. Its very hard to remediate smoke except to tear out everything.
Anonymous
05/03/2023 17:39
Subject: getting out of contract
Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised the owners agreed to fix all cosmetic stuff. They can refuse to close until it is done.
What I listed sounds cosmetic, but some of the work being done was to remediate the smell of smoke (cigarette smoke). I tried to talk my friend out of putting a contract on this house, but they were pretty desperate, and their agent told them it was fixable and would be fine.
Anonymous
05/03/2023 16:10
Subject: getting out of contract
I'm surprised the owners agreed to fix all cosmetic stuff. They can refuse to close until it is done.
Anonymous
05/03/2023 16:09
Subject: getting out of contract
Truly asking for a friend here - put a contract on a house and scheduled to close next week. There was a list of work to be done, and while most of it is "done", some of it is VERY shoddy. EMD is $5500, which friend really doesn't want to lose, but they also don't want to have to pay to get all of this work redone. Their agent SUCKS (didn't fully read the work to be done and ok'd it, and it didn't include several things that they had discussed the seller needing to do). Is there any recourse? Things that look bad to me are paint that doesn't cover drywall patches (as in, you can see the crack, and the patch through the paint, to the point where I'm not even sure they painted). Holes in the drywall. Drywall that is "wavy" (but was supposedly patched). Missing baseboards on walls that were supposed to be patched and have baseboards fixed.