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I would run from this property. Sitting on the market for over a year? You do not need the baggage that comes with this house. You may look at it like you were thrown under the bus. I view it as the lucky, narrow escape. I see dollar signs in every word you wrote.
I would never advise first time buyers with no experience to buy in a flood plain. We have many rivers here, and flood plain is one of the first things I check. Even if the house is elevated, the rest of the yard, barns, gardens, and cars won't be, necessarily. It's not enough.
I appreciate the advice, Diana. As first time buyers, I think you're probably spot on. It would probably consume us trying to figure out how to mitigate the risks of living in a flood plain.
You may look at it like you were thrown under the bus. I view it as the lucky, narrow escape.
After all the advice we're now receiving, my wife and I are coming around to the conclusion that you are probably absolutely correct. I think we were getting so caught up in how much time and money we'd spent on the trip—that it was quickly winding down, and how it was the second summer in a row that we'd been at it—that we were starting to lose sight of the fact that we should just remain cautious and move slowly.
I think your time would be better spent by putting all this information into a letter to the state's licensing board than discussing it here. Confidentiality is generally a requirement for a real estate salesperson.
Your agent would have known about the flood zoning and the wet basement.
Your agent would have known the lot was way smaller than represented.
As your buyers agent, was required to inform you, instead of covering it up.
And your buyers agent should have known about the pending tax sale.
As a Realtor representing your she is required to reveal everything to you where there is a serious problem such as she hid. She needs to be put out of the business, to protect the public.
I say this as a retired real estate broker from 1972 untill I retired, without 1 complaint against me.
Good luck in your future house hunting.
Write a formal complaint to the State association of Realtors, and the same to the state agency licensing Realtors. This kind of agent needs kicked out of the business, as they damage all Realtors, and the public.
You did nothing wrong. Everyone else is being dramatic. Of course you did research on the home that you're thinking about buying. Of course you used the negative information that you found as a bargaining tool to try to get a lower price.
There's no reason for the tax collector to sit back and cry like, "OMG, I trusted them with such private information and they betrayed my trust!" when you're talking about things like back taxes that are clearly public information.
People shouldn't have so many secrets. Then they wouldn't have to worry about things like this.
This is all just silly small-town BS. This kind of thing is exactly why I HATE living in a small town.
You are fortunate that you are not buying this house. It is a real 'Money'Pit'. In the future, you must take your time and do your research on every property you are considering to buy.
Our home is going on the market in August. Here in south Florida, we are required to disclose any negatives we know about our home. If we don't do this, the buyer could potentially sue us for hiding information.
Back in the '80s when I bought a home, the realtor showed me the plat book (zoning was three homes to the acre). What she neglected to mention was that, the vacant land across the street was being re-zoned for apartment buildings. So, despite my due diligence, I was duped.
I learned to take my time and thoroughly investigate. Today, with the internet, your search will be much faster. Talk with the home's neighbors, too. They can tell you a lot about the neighborhood and home. NO HOME IS WORTH BUYING if you haven't done this.
Don't fall for the trick of hucksters; 'hurry-up, the train is leaving the station'. The old adage of 'sin in haste, repent in leisure' could be altered for you to say, 'buy in haste, regret in leisure'.
As for the agent, her sense of ethics should be reported to the real estate's board.
And while you want a small town to live in, well, you've just been given an example of what it will be like to live in that one. Everyone will know your business. Is that really how you want to live?
I actually think you knew you exactly what you were doing when you named names in your letter. And you were hoping those people would go to bat for you when the seller and their agent got all offended - and it backfired on you. That's small town living. You're an outsider and you always will be....I don't care if this is a small podunk town in the middle of nowhere or a top-50 wealthiest zip code in America. You'll be hearing "well I was born and raised here" until they take you out feet first. Love it or leave it. But you've learned lesson #1 the hard way and that's that the long term residents will trump you every single time, no matter what.
It still makes no sense that you wanted this house. There's no reasonable explanation for that "we thought the agent would go to bat for us and instead were hoodwinked"....go to bat for you with what? AN OFFER. Right? In a town like this all the agents likely have an unspoken "understanding" about "how real estate works". Even in the microcosm that is NY real estate, the small town we bought our first house in was that kind of "we do it our own way here". If you didn't understand the unspoken, unwritten rules, you were SOL.
Move on. There's no deal to be had here and it's over for you in this town for years to come.
Last edited by twingles; 07-14-2018 at 06:15 AM..
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