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Well, they countered at 8% under their original asking, then we countered back at 14% under asking or approximately 40k under asking, and it sounds like the sellers are going to accept, at least from what the listing agent told our agent.
But we had a strict contingency that if they accept, we would still need to be able to find acceptable internet service. I don't think the seller's or our agent will like it, but I have strong doubts that the contingency will be filled to our satisfactory, so we will likely end up bowing out of the deal altogether.
I'm surprised that was that well received. I imagine you skipped the letter.
No internet service???? LOL It must be way in the sticks....
Well good luck! Hope it works out!
I'm surprised that was that well received. I imagine you skipped the letter.
No internet service???? LOL It must be way in the sticks....
Well good luck! Hope it works out!
No it's not way out of town, but just past a mile past the point of service. So tantalizingly close, yet so far. Even if they tell me they can get out there in the next year or two, I know the cable company- they do things when they want, and not when I want them to.
I hate this for our realtor, though. She could probably smell the commission, and I'm all but certain she won't get it, at least not from this sale.
We'll see. I'm waiting for a call back from the cable company
are there no nearby neighbors that you could ask about their own internet service?
If I were the listing agent (not even considering any sq ftg stuff), I'd be pretty against at a contingency that allowed you to walk so easily. It's completely one-sided, and avoidable. You'd be welcome to do whatever inspections you needed before we considered your offer further.
are there no nearby neighbors that you could ask about their own internet service?
If I were the listing agent (not even considering any sq ftg stuff), I'd be pretty against at a contingency that allowed you to walk so easily. It's completely one-sided, and avoidable. You'd be welcome to do whatever inspections you needed before we considered your offer further.
I think that'd be a wise move on your part Bo, and I hope at this point the seller's don't accept our counter offer.
I actually told our agent that I would have rather not countered at all until we got it straightened out. She convinced us to go ahead with the offer, based on the contingency that we could walk away if acceptable service wasn't available.
So yeah, for the record I'm not crazy about it either. My agent's reasoning was that it instead of letting the deal fall through, it's better for us to at least wait for another 1-7 days for phone call from the cable company, to see if they could make it available.
Her reasoning was that the contingency would keep the sellers locked on our price, and keep the deal open, if indeed, by some long shot the cable company will call me back anytime soon enough to give me good enough information that could make me feel comfortable moving forward with the purchase.
Nice one in bold. I like it. Raises the issue but does not box the buyer in.
I know that the selling agent may have some responsibility for being 'responsible' if the SF is listed. However, that aside, why would we not expect the buyer's agent to raise a red flag if a home is potentially overstated by 400 SF (that's 2-3 rooms!) or by 20%? By raising a red flag, I don't mean that they disagree or take an expert position but just raise this as something to be further investigated. Just like anything that might seem not as represented on the surface. Wouldn't there be potential liability issues if someone buys a home that is 400 SF overstated and their buyer's agent didn't say a word? Couldn't they argue that an approx 400 SF discrepancy is profound should have been identified by any real estate professional? Or even that the large low ceiling area should prompt a question from the buyer's agent - "hey, is that area included in the SF?....2400 seems high for the rest of the house"
Real question, not trying to make any point or trying to be sneaky. And I'm asking more generally rather than asking if the OP's agent did anything wrong as we don't have enough detail to comment on that.
When we submitted our original offer, we had our agent basically repeat to the listing agent what I had already written, simply saying that we have found the actual sf to be significantly less than stated in the listing, and as such, our offer reflects this.
Maybe it was because the listing agent heard the words came out of our agent's mouth, rather than being read in a short letter from me, that no fire works went off, and so never did the negotiation explode into fire.
It appears that the listing agent was quite interested in what I had to say about my measurements, and in no way tried to dispute any of my findings as being in inaccurate. The seller's quickly came down in price to something more reasonable as explained, in light of my findings.
I'm not a listing agent, so I can't really explain why they and/or the sellers would be be all up in arms or running for the hills if they were to read that a simple measurement mistake had been made in short and sweet letter from me.
But maybe agents have some kind of code of ethics which says they'll listen to each other with open ears and open minds, but they don't want to hear or read about a discrepancy from a buyer, even if the discrepancy points out a significant truth that had been overlooked.
A truth which could have even been an embarrassing situation to explain had a remorseful buyer came back at a later date to sue the the listing realtor for false advertisement.
Idk, maybe there is a common code among them which says "ANSI Schmanzi" when they're talking directly to a buyer with a suitcase full of cash, then changes their tune to "We understand and are willing to proceed in light of your buyer's findings" when they are talking to another agent who is pointing the obvious mistake out to them.
But now, another subject, with this whole contingency thing; if the sellers accept, then we'll all be left to just sit and wonder if the cable company will call me with good news before I finally decide to pull the band-aid off and break the deal.
Wish me luck...
Last edited by riggy_house; 09-27-2017 at 05:25 PM..
We want to put in an offer for a home that is listed as being 2400 square feet. However the listing agent clearly isn't following the American National Standards Institute for measurement, defined under section 3. CALCULATION OF FINISHED SQUARE FOOTAGE, under the heading "Ceiling Height Requirements". https://krec.ky.gov/legal/Legal%20Fo..._sqfootage.pdf
Upstairs there are sloped ceilings that according to the ANSI standard, aren't to be included as finished space. According to ANSI we estimate the sq ft to be approximately 2000 sf. Please advise on how to go about submitting offer via our buyer's agent.
My instinct is to write a simple letter quickly pointing the discrepancy, and have our buyer's agent submit the letter along with our offer.
I am hesitant, but open to allowing our agent to explain the situation to the listing agent rather than us submitting a letter, however, I'm not confident that the conversation will initially go well, as the challenge is a bit technical.
Here is my initial draft in bold that I would like to have conveyed to the seller:
To whom it may concern,
We believe your listed home's actual finished square footage to be over-estimated, and that our view is supported by the American National Standards Institute for measurement. The discrepency is held to be in the upstairs estimated square footage. Based on our own estimate, we believe the home to be no more than 2000 finished square feet.
Thank you for your considerations and understandings when receiving our offer.
Respectfully,
The Buyers
Any thoughts or advice here would be great!
Who is the square footage professional you used to calculate the amount? Because if you did it yourself... well.
I got into this thread a little late, but as an appraiser I can assure you that listing agents inflate square footage ALL THE TIME. It is one of my pet peeves. They will include detached guest houses, finished basements and finished attics in GLA (gross living area) even though they don't count as GLA. I'm in California, but I can almost see from here that you're dealing with a one story permitted home with a finished attic. That's why the public records only show the first floor square footage. While it may be nice looking, chances are there is no Certificate of Occupancy for the 2nd floor (finished attic). This is not to say that it has no value, people buy homes with bootlegged square footage all the time. However, you are correct that you will have to cite the correct square footage when you sell some day. And for the record, there is only one correct way to measure a house.
I got into this thread a little late, but as an appraiser I can assure you that listing agents inflate square footage ALL THE TIME. It is one of my pet peeves. They will include detached guest houses, finished basements and finished attics in GLA (gross living area) even though they don't count as GLA. I'm in California, but I can almost see from here that you're dealing with a one story permitted home with a finished attic. That's why the public records only show the first floor square footage. While it may be nice looking, chances are there is no Certificate of Occupancy for the 2nd floor (finished attic). This is not to say that it has no value, people buy homes with bootlegged square footage all the time. However, you are correct that you will have to cite the correct square footage when you sell some day. And for the record, there is only one correct way to measure a house.
Your operative words: "I'm in California."
In many other areas, finished basements and attics certainly DO count in the living area SF.
On the tax assessors' sites, in the real estate market, and in appraisals.
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