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This is one of the problems with helicopter parents not allowing their kids to make their own home purchase. I've seen several deals fall through recently when the parents got involved and started demanding all sorts of crazy things.
Parents giving their opinions on a house purchase is not a recent thing and is not limited to "helicopter parents." Back in the 1960's my father's parents expressed some concerns about the new house my parents were building. My mother's father went by the place weekly/daily to tell my parents about the progress since we lived about 30 minutes away. He made sure to tell them about anything he thought was wrong.
In the 1990's when my husband and I bought our first house, a new build, my father worked nearby. He'd go over on his lunch hour or after work and check things out. He'd later report to us, and again, tell us what he thought was wrong.
None of my grandparents or my parents are what anyone would consider helicopter parents. The thought of them as helicopter parents is actually amusing.
Parents giving their opinions on a house purchase is not a recent thing and is not limited to "helicopter parents." Back in the 1960's my father's parents expressed some concerns about the new house my parents were building. My mother's father went by the place weekly/daily to tell my parents about the progress since we lived about 30 minutes away. He made sure to tell them about anything he thought was wrong.
In the 1990's when my husband and I bought our first house, a new build, my father worked nearby. He'd go over on his lunch hour or after work and check things out. He'd later report to us, and again, tell us what he thought was wrong.
None of my grandparents or my parents are what anyone would consider helicopter parents. The thought of them as helicopter parents is actually amusing.
Offering an opinion isn't helicopter parenting and isn't what I was referring to at all.
Apparently, they are asking for the additional $6,000 price reduction because they just realized that they needed to replace more than just the carpet & pad before they could install ceramic tile in one area and hardwood floors in another. However, the sub floor damage was in plain sight, if you lifted up the 8 by 10 rug in the empty loving room (as I removed the wall to wall carpet under there). You could also "feel the damage" when you walked on some uneven areas of the floor.
I think that they must need to have a completely different type of sub floor for tile and for hardwood and did not realize that.
I'm supposed to decide by 2 PM.
A friend suggested that I just send a copy of the $162,000 as is appraisal and say no to the price reduction. Another said just split the difference and done with it.
In answer to other questions. Other buyers have not had difficulty getting financing. It is a newer, youngish buyer, but she is selling another place. Her mother appears to be "calling the shots."
Input? Thanks.
After more discussion with my agent & adult children & siblings I decided to split the difference and accept $147,000 (that is a $10,000 reduction on the listing price). I asked the agent to include the narrative that the appraiser gave the "as is" value at $162,000.
Unfortunately the radon test came back slightly high (a 6 & it needs to be a 4) and to sell I must install a $800 or $900 radon abatement device. That needs to be installed ASAP, preferably today if I can get it done.
I'll keep everyone posted.
There are extenuating circumstances, as I am the fulltime caregiver of a disabled spouse (dementia & Traumatic Brain Injury), and the downsizing, showings & negotiations have been extremely stressful on everyone. It may be worth receiving less money to eliminate this stress completely.
After more discussion with my agent & adult children & siblings I decided to split the difference and accept $147,000 (that is a $10,000 reduction on the listing price). I asked the agent to include the narrative that the appraiser gave the "as is" value at $162,000.
Unfortunately the radon test came back slightly high (a 6 & it needs to be a 4) and to sell I must install a $800 or $900 radon abatement device. That needs to be installed ASAP, preferably today if I can get it done.
I'll keep everyone posted.
There are extenuating circumstances, as I am the fulltime caregiver of a disabled spouse (dementia & Traumatic Brain Injury), and the downsizing, showings & negotiations have been extremely stressful on everyone. It may be worth receiving less money to eliminate this stress completely.
We included a copy of the appraisal with the final offer of $147,000. Everyone signed off and the closing is on for less than two weeks from now.
There are extenuating circumstances, as I am the fulltime caregiver of a disabled spouse (dementia & Traumatic Brain Injury), and the downsizing, showings & negotiations have been extremely stressful on everyone. It may be worth receiving less money to eliminate this stress completely.
It absolutely IS worth losing the profit to lose the stress. I would say that under nearky all circumstances, but your situation begs to be done with this house and the sales process.
Quote:
Originally Posted by germaine2626
We included a copy of the appraisal with the final offer of $147,000. Everyone signed off and the closing is on for less than two weeks from now.
CONGRATULATIONS! Sounds like you handled this very well.
Our 20 something age daughter is living in the condo that my husband and I own and are selling, "as is". Yesterday she called me up in a panic saying that the doorbell rang early in the morning, while she was asleep. She looked outside and there was "a bunch of people" waiting including a House Inspector. She asked me what to do. I said to get dressed, let them in & I would call our real estate agent.
I finally got a hold of our agent and she did not have a record of them setting a date to do a house inspection and the buyers real estate agent was on vacation and the person helping her with her clients was "clue less".
It sounds like someone dropped the ball and it wasn't the inspector. My wife is a home inspector and the typical procedure for home entry goes like this:
1. The buyer or buyer's agent calls her and schedules the inspection.
2. She calls the seller's agent to confirm the time and that the house is ready for inspection.
The home inspector normally does not talk to the sellers directly at all. The inspector goes through the seller's agent to make sure the arrival time is OK. Inspectors don't just show up willy nilly. They have a definite time and date they are supposed to be there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by germaine2626
I finally arrived at our condo and discovered, two House Inspectors, two contractors, the buyer, her mother, and four children. BTW, when I arrived the children were upstairs, roaming the house unsupervised. Ten people all around our condo, who came without an appointment and my daughter was trying to stay calm and cool.
I arrived when they had been there for an hour. I was livid, but I stayed polite. If we would have known that the House Inspector was coming we would have done the dishes, straightened up and our daughter would have been up and dressed. While the house was not a mess, we realized later that my daughter had left cash laying out on the counter, together with grocery bags, from when she went shopping the previous evening, jewelry & medicine out on her dresser and things like that.
Obviously there was some type of mix-up because everyone acted like we were supposed to know that they were coming. They even had a dog in the car for part of the visit barking & barking (someone must have taken it somewhere else before I arrived). Those ten people stayed for over two hours
My questions are.
1. Is it common or reasonable to have that many people come along with a Housing Inspector?
2. From my view from the couch, I noticed the House Inspector took photographs of every area of chipped paint, stain on the carpet, damaged edging, listed every window crank that did not work, etc. Aren't they looking for structural damage more than cosmetic problems?
3. I overheard him telling the new buyer that there was a lot of lint behind the dryer (which IMHO, is not true). Why in the world would a house inspector care or notice that?
4. He also informed the new buyer & her mother that they basement windows were only single pane and did not have storm windows. They acted like that was shocking and unacceptable news. The House Inspector opened up the dishwasher and commented that some of the "posts" were damaged & the dishwasher was "old" and again the potential buyer acted shocked and amazed. She could have opened up the dishwasher when she had the private showings.
5. What do you think. Are they going to come back and revise their offer because of these cosmetic things that they should have noticed during the private home showings? To my knowledge there are not any structural problems and we did list the damaged walls & carpet & window cranks in the report (plus they were in plain view).
Arrggg!!!!
BY the way. Our appraisal came in "as is" at $162,000. We listed at $157,000 (since that is what recent condos sold for in our complex). Our appraisal was probably higher as we have a three bedroom condo & the others were two bedrooms & we have a new furnace & new air conditioner. We have a signed, accepted offer at $150,000 with them and are scheduled to close in two weeks.
Two hours is a normal length of time for an inspection. And good inspectors take pictures of EVERYTHING. My wife typically takes about 200-400 pictures of the homes she inspects. It is true that inspectors call out structural problems rather than cosmetic, but often these two are intertwined. For example, if there are areas of chipped paint, the poorly covered areas may make a wall more susceptible to to water penetration.
I'm actually very surprised they are just now getting an inspection done when you have already scheduled to close on the home. Most buyers require an inspection report and possible negotiations based on the results of it before they decide to buy the house at all. Buyers can ask for anything; you have the option of negotiating or not, although at this late phase of the sale, I don't know if they have any negotiating room at all. One last point: inspectors are not concerned with the cleanliness of a home. As long as the areas they are trying to inspect is not blocked by the owner's stuff, it doesn't make any difference to them. Dirtiness is after all, cosmetic and not something the inspector concerns him/herself with.
I'm actually very surprised they are just now getting an inspection done when you have already scheduled to close on the home. Most buyers require an inspection report and possible negotiations based on the results of it before they decide to buy the house at all. Buyers can ask for anything; you have the option of negotiating or not, although at this late phase of the sale, I don't know if they have any negotiating room at all. One last point: inspectors are not concerned with the cleanliness of a home. As long as the areas they are trying to inspect is not blocked by the owner's stuff, it doesn't make any difference to them. Dirtiness is after all, cosmetic and not something the inspector concerns him/herself with.
I think this is very dependent on which state the property is located in. In my state a closing date is established with the offer contract. Then there is typically a 10 day window for the buyer to conduct any necessary inspections. The buyer can back out of the sale after the inspection if they want, but house isn't inspected until after the house is under contract and a closing date is established. I know other states work differently.
I think this is very dependent on which state the property is located in. In my state a closing date is established with the offer contract. Then there is typically a 10 day window for the buyer to conduct any necessary inspections. The buyer can back out of the sale after the inspection if they want, but house isn't inspected until after the house is under contract and a closing date is established. I know other states work differently.
I agree; these policies are geographically dependent. It's very similar here. The option period here is also usually 10 days, although it can be as short as 7 days. It just seems unusual for the buyer to be getting an inspection now when they are only two weeks from closing because the seller and the buyer have theoretically not agreed on a final sales price until the results come in, thus the bank doesn't know how much to finance. After they have agreed on a final sales price, the closing date is typically 30-45 days out. In Texas anyway.
After more discussion with my agent & adult children & siblings I decided to split the difference and accept $147,000 (that is a $10,000 reduction on the listing price). I asked the agent to include the narrative that the appraiser gave the "as is" value at $162,000.
Unfortunately the radon test came back slightly high (a 6 & it needs to be a 4) and to sell I must install a $800 or $900 radon abatement device. That needs to be installed ASAP, preferably today if I can get it done.
I'll keep everyone posted.
There are extenuating circumstances, as I am the fulltime caregiver of a disabled spouse (dementia & Traumatic Brain Injury), and the downsizing, showings & negotiations have been extremely stressful on everyone. It may be worth receiving less money to eliminate this stress completely.
Quote:
Originally Posted by germaine2626
We included a copy of the appraisal with the final offer of $147,000. Everyone signed off and the closing is on for less than two weeks from now.
While I am slightly disappointed with the $147,000 figure & the added expense of the radon device, the sale price was acceptable due to the quick closing, only 11 days from now.
But, the whole thing was so stressful that I woke up this morning with the first migraine headache that I had since last fall. The medication & an extra couple of hours of sleep did not make it go away so I'm going to take some more medication and go back to bed.
Everyone, thank you for your suggestions and advice.
BTW. It is our 39th wedding anniversary, today.
PS. Man, that inspector was thorough! He made a special note, complete with photographs of a small amount of dust in the ceiling vents in the bathroom. I have to admit that we removed and cleaned each and every vent/cold air return/etc. in the past weeks but completely forgot about those. Perhaps he noticed them more because the rest were completely spotless/dustless.
Last edited by germaine2626; 06-18-2016 at 09:40 AM..
Reason: added PS.
Congrats. germaine. I know this has been a very difficult time. It's hard to imagine, but in a few months you will barely remember all this drama.
Now you can rid yourself of THIS stress and focus on other things. Happy anniversary!
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Ten people all around our condo, who came without an appointment and my daughter was trying to stay calm and cool.
