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and after then? or if/when the buyer foolishly waives the right to inspect?
Most of the time after a certain point the buyer would lose his earnest money. With as is there should be an out during the inspection period and it is foolish not to do any sort of inspection. Even with as is you should do an in depth check of the house and see what it is you would be buying as is and make the purchase contingent on the buyer accepting what ever issues are found with the inspection. It is fair for a buyer to know what they would be buying, but it is also fair to the seller that a buyer can't just walk at any time during escrow. The inspection is usually during the first week or so.
Why do the agents keep bringing up these ideal or common or expected scenarios as if they
had any bearing on what questions/issues apply regarding the OP's quite different situation?
Why do the agents keep bringing up these ideal or common or expected scenarios as if they
had any bearing on what questions/issues apply regarding the OP's quite different situation?
The OP hasn't explained the situation fully enough for the question to be answered, but I did the best I could. Getting the earnest money back will depend on where they are in the transaction and what the contract says.
The post you are criticizing was in response to a question you asked me.
I never got back to you. I offered a home inspection before the purchase and they turned it down. They didn't want to pay the money even if I went half with them.The contract said house sold as is with termite inspection being passed. I had no idea there were termites because I had been paying a company every year to spray. Yes there was a real estate agent involved. The agent even called the bank to see if buyer could be loaned just the extra money to go half with me on repairs. Evidently the buyer had poor credit and bank would not loan them another dime. The contractor who repaired my house found no water damage. He did find some leakage around foundation due to termite damage letting water drain in.
Your agent should be taking care of this. You should be getting advice from them.
Offer to get a third party to give you an estimate. If that doesn't work offer your original quote for the repair. It sounds like the agents involved are not communicating very well. This happens all the time and it's why agents get a bad rap. Selling or buying a house is not about winning, it's about being reasonable.
What you don't want is to have the house go back on the market. Both parties need to be reasonable and it sounds like you are. Maybe the buyer is nervous or is not getting good advice from their agent.
The fact of the matter is the longer your house is on the market the less it's worth. Best of luck.
Real estate laws are different in every state.
The seller is not an expert nor professional pest or vector control expert. He has no idea of what termites do in response to efforts to eradicate them and has no obligation to find out.
Having an ability to know something does not imply or mean knowing anything nor a responsibility to know. If the seller never looked for damage he is not responsible for knowing about damage or that damage could occur. For all the seller knew, once the termites were eliminated the problem was solved. That is the end of that story.
There is no responsibility for "should have known". There is no vicarious liability laws that apply to an individual selling a home. if he didn't know or was not away, also, end of story.
Coulda, shoulda and woulda do not apply. He either knew or did not know. Seller has no obligation to discover things to disclose, only to disclose those things already known.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Bill
If the termite inspector found termite "damage", that means there were termites, whether they were active or not at the present time. But they had been there and caused damage, according to the report you mentioned.
You actually knew the termites had been there, and had the ability to know they had caused damage.
You had the house treated in 2010, but the termites can come back. Most termite treatments are usually warranted for one year. Some from a builder is 5 years.
Did you give the buyer a property disclosure statement that disclosed the fact that there was water under the sink causing foundation damage, and that there had been termites previously and that the home had been treated in 2010?
I don't know about your state, but in Arizona a seller is required to disclose anything about the property that would be a material fact that would affect the amount of money a buyer is willing to pay.
The water damage under the sink should have been known to you. Since it was apparently visible, you are not able to claim that you didn't know.
If this were in Arizona, and those items were not disclosed, the buyer would be able to cancel and get his earnest money refunded because of the sellers failure to disclose items that are a material fact.
You may want to check on your state's disclosure laws.
Seller is under no obligation to get quotes for anything other than what was agreed to in the contract.
Once you go down the road of accepting liabilities for which you have not previously agreed, all you do is make a mess of things and insure you'll end up paying for them.
If the buyer is looking for a way out, it really doesn't matter is one, the other or both are represented, the buyer will bail. Then it becomes a matter of the EMD and liquidated damages what the contact says about it.
This is so simple. Seller either agreed or did not agree to make certain repairs. If no, then seller can agree but at his discretion unless some law requires otherwise.
His discretion, not buyers demands.
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