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I recently sold my house and the buyers were aware very early in the process that we would be staying in the house for a couple days to move on the weekend. We paid rent (amounting to the daily interest on their loan) and left the house in the same condition they saw when they did the walk-thru.
We left a couple grand in escrow which was returned to us after we left the house and it was a pretty smooth and painless process. I feel for you that you got stuck buying from some unscrupulous people but sometimes that happens. All you can do is make sure you have all the terms in the contract and make sure you have a good lawyer!
When is the house that you are buying technically yours? Is it when you sign the contract and give an initial down payment or only after the closing? If they haven't lived in the house for awhile will that make a difference on when you may get the keys?
When is the house that you are buying technically yours? Is it when you sign the contract and give an initial down payment or only after the closing? If they haven't lived in the house for awhile will that make a difference on when you may get the keys?
Once you close (money changes hands), the house is yours. And that's the time you should get the keys...
We had our sellers stay for a week and they left the home absolutely filthy. I know a "broom sweep" is all that is required but the place had inches and inches of dust, food left in the fridge, and a layer of mold in the bathroom... things that weren't there at the walkthru (at least I didn't notice the mold).
They did leaves us wine and champagne... and boy did we need it!
From what I've gathered, it's fairly commonplace for a seller to maintain possession several days after closing. I'm having a hard time grasping this concept.
So I will OWN the house and be paying the mortgage while a stranger lives in it? They are putting several thousand dollars into escrow, but what if something gets seriously damaged? Or, what if they refuse to leave? Get injured on the property? And so on.
My lawyer had me sign the contract, but every time I mention this to folks, they think it's nuts.
How can I make sure I am protected? Is this normal?
I did this once before, and the previous owner paid me rent for each day. Money was put in escrow as a security deposit. Take pictures during the walk-through, and use them to determine if there has been damage.
When is the house that you are buying technically yours? Is it when you sign the contract and give an initial down payment or only after the closing? If they haven't lived in the house for awhile will that make a difference on when you may get the keys?
Why would it be yours after putting down a down payment. The house belongs to the owner until s/he/they have been paid for it. This happens at the closing.
The contract is a contract to buy. The guarantees that the house is taken off of the market. That the seller won't sell it out from under you. It alo guarantees the seller that you won't bail because you've put up a large down payment you hope not to lose by violating the contract.
When I did this with my first house, my lawyer put in a daily rent, but if for some reason they stayed beyond the time they needed to close on their new house and get out, the daily rent increased over time.
When we rented the house we bought, the rent became increasingly punitive. It was designed to pay our emergency rent in the event that they stayed beyond the agreed time and beyond the point we HAD to leave our apartment.
For us, the transaction went very smoothly. My initial fears were unfounded, though it certainly could have been plain luck.
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This isn't that big a deal.
