Next step with relo company inspection (contingencies, appraiser, agent, agreement)

[slashdotbin]

We recently made an offer on a house which is not belonged to the relo company yet. The listing agent was quite rushy when we were making the offer. But now things seemed slowing down. As we were told, the relo company is fixing the attic. They won't sign the contract if the problem is not fixed. Yesterday, listing agent said the radon result is coming back next week, we should wait to see if there is any problem need to be fixed as well.
All these are not making any sense. I would assume relo company and house owner both want to get rid of the house ASAP. why they want to keep the house and go through all inspections?
Is the listing agent not honest to us? Or there is any trick we don't get?

[cully]

You don't mention your buyer agent's thoughts on all this. Hopefully you didn't feel the need to use someone else's agent.

The house listing may be progressing to being purchased by the relo company. Relo companies can require a lot of repairs be done before they own it and list it.

[slashdotbin]

Thanks for the reply. Your answer is very inspiring. Let's see what will happen next week.
P.S this is our buyer agent's first case with relo company. she knows no more than us.

[suzie02]

Originally Posted by slashdotbin

We recently made an offer on a house which is not belonged to the relo company yet. The listing agent was quite rushy when we were making the offer. But now things seemed slowing down. As we were told, the relo company is fixing the attic. They won't sign the contract if the problem is not fixed. Yesterday, listing agent said the radon result is coming back next week, we should wait to see if there is any problem need to be fixed as well.
All these are not making any sense. I would assume relo company and house owner both want to get rid of the house ASAP. why they want to keep the house and go through all inspections?
Is the listing agent not honest to us? Or there is any trick we don't get?

For some crazy reason the way it works with relo companies is that they buy the house from the seller and then sell it to you. Before they buy it from the seller they make sure all repairs are made so they are not responsible for any repairs. So it is basically about liability.
In the olden days the relocation companies would just buy the house from the seller based on appraised value and then list it for sale. Now they are requiring sellers to list their houses for a minimum of 45-90 days before they buy it from them. Maybe is because houses sell better with furniture in them.

[suzie02]

Originally Posted by slashdotbin

Thanks for the reply. Your answer is very inspiring. Let's see what will happen next week.
P.S this is our buyer agent's first case with relo company. she knows no more than us.

She should educate herself. She could ask other agents and not just wait to learn by trial and error. JMHO

[slashdotbin]

Originally Posted by suzie02

For some crazy reason the way it works with relo companies is that they buy the house from the seller and then sell it to you. Before they buy it from the seller they make sure all repairs are made so they are not responsible for any repairs. So it is basically about liability.
In the olden days the relocation companies would just buy the house from the seller based on appraised value and then list it for sale. Now they are requiring sellers to list their houses for a minimum of 45-90 days before they buy it from them. Maybe is because houses sell better with furniture in them.

Thank you, Suzie.
is this 45--90 days request on the seller--relo company agreement? I think we should ask the seller agent providing more information on this.
If this is not the case, assuming the relo company is only asking the necessary repairs, should we be relaxed ? Hate to get more Gotcha in soon future.

[cully]

It depends on the agreement the employee has with his company's relocation company. That depends on his position or his desirability in taking him/her to his next city.

The owner of the home can usually opt to have the relo company buy it right away. But the relo company can offer them a lower price than they would like. So they can also try to sell it. They are given a certain number of days in which to sell.

If they are not able to sell themselves, the relo company will buy it. Before doing that, though,they send out an inspector and appraiser to be sure the home is in tip top condition. They may have already had the home appraised even as the sellers listed it themselves.

[cully]

I have to say...about your buyer realtor. It's good she is honest in saying she knows no more than you do. However, at that point she should have assigned you to her broker.

You really need good representation. You have every right to to get a more experienced agent, perhaps in her company.

You don't need to be a learning experience for your agent. Nothing wrong with learning, but she should learn from the agent who is experienced and helping you. You don't want your representative to know less than the other side's representative.

And these relo companies can be difficult to deal with.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by suzie02

For some crazy reason the way it works with relo companies is that they buy the house from the seller and then sell it to you.

I've been told by multiple relo companies that it's for tax purposes.

Originally Posted by suzie02

Before they buy it from the seller they make sure all repairs are made so they are not responsible for any repairs. So it is basically about liability.

Not necessarily true. If the house is going into "inventory" then there is an inspection and generally the owner is made to repair issues brought up in the inspection. An "inventory property" is one owned by the relocation company and is being marketed for sale. This rarely happens these days as the relo companies got burned pretty badly buying houses when the real estate bubble burst. Now ownership remains with the relocating employee. Typically, the relo company will buy the property from the relocating employee once all the contingencies have been satisfied in the contract between the relo company and the buyer. In these cases, the only repairs that are made are those negotiated between the buyer and the relocating employee.

Originally Posted by suzie02

In the olden days the relocation companies would just buy the house from the seller based on appraised value and then list it for sale. Now they are requiring sellers to list their houses for a minimum of 45-90 days before they buy it from them. Maybe is because houses sell better with furniture in them.

Every employees relo package is different. You just can't make these generalities. Plus, relo companies are not buying very many houses these days. Mostly, they just assist with marketing. I've worked with some relo clients who if the house gets under contract in the first X number of days on the market that they get a bonus payment from the relo company. So, that might be the cause of the rush the listing broker was in.

Originally Posted by slashdotbin

Thank you, Suzie.
is this 45--90 days request on the seller--relo company agreement? I think we should ask the seller agent providing more information on this.
If this is not the case, assuming the relo company is only asking the necessary repairs, should we be relaxed ? Hate to get more Gotcha in soon future.

Whether the relo company buys the property during your transaction or not, it's not going to make a difference from your perspective.

[slashdotbin]

You are very right. Seemed she is relying on the info from listing agent and passing them to us. we will suggest her to get more support from her broker here and beyond. Never knew this could be so tough. Honest, we did do some research as soon as we were told the relo company is involved. None of those online stories tell us more than we learned from this thread.

Thanks to all your advice.