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I think one thing you did wrong was the size of the earnest check... I have bought a few homes in my lifetime, even one in Mexico and I never put more that $1000 on the table..
I let our realtor drive that bus. She said if we put down more, the offer will be taken more seriously. I have only bought vacant land in the past and built upon it. I dealt directly with the property owner and paid cash for the land. This is the first time I've bought a house. Live and learn.
I let our realtor drive that bus. She said if we put down more, the offer will be taken more seriously. I have only bought vacant land in the past and built upon it. I dealt directly with the property owner and paid cash for the land. This is the first time I've bought a house. Live and learn.
Earnest money is very location specific. Out here 1% of sales price is expected as a minimum. So the $1,000 isn't going to fly. I know some parts of the east coast that high EM is common. Don't listen to people from all over the nation regarding what may or may not be acceptable for your area.
So, why can't you agree to extend for 30 days and maintain the right to revoke and get your earnest money back if another acceptable property comes along? They can't sell the house to anyone else right now anyway and they need to keep plugging away at ensuring a legal transfer of the property. No sane buyer is going to make an offer on the house until the chain of title is clear anyway. It doesn't harm them to give you the right of revocation.
So, why can't you agree to extend for 30 days and maintain the right to revoke and get your earnest money back if another acceptable property comes along? They can't sell the house to anyone else right now anyway and they need to keep plugging away at ensuring a legal transfer of the property. No sane buyer is going to make an offer on the house until the chain of title is clear anyway. It doesn't harm them to give you the right of revocation.
I don't know the standards here but I can't see any reason why making the changes you mentioned would be a problem, unless the seller freaks. If I explained it to her, I don't think she will but I'm not sure how she would react if her realtor explained it to her. They don't seem to communicate very well.
When we started looking last April, there were plenty of houses that fit what we wanted and were within our price range here. They are all gone now. I didn't want to make any offers until we sold our house, which happened quickly in August. I now check daily and there is nothing. If this doesn't change, we will either have to change our parameters or look elsewhere. That's why I'm hanging onto this like I am.
This is a mess big enough to need better than advice on line. Ask your attorney if you can just change title companies if you find one that will insure title. Had it happen before that one title company won't insure, but another will.
Changing title companies won't change anything. There's a title defect, it has to be cleared.
We met with the seller yesterday. She says the son (Trustee) has now been contacted and says he believes he has the trust. He was on the road and will look for it when he gets back. So now two of the three other heirs have responded somewhat positively. Time will tell if they actually come through.
We agreed to a plan where, if things look promising, we will extend the cure period for 30 days. At that time the contract will be adjusted to reflect the price reduction and we will get back half of the earnest money. If another 30 days passes and the title defect still hasn't been cleared, and things are moving along well, we will extend for another 30 days, get the remaining balance of our earnest money back and enter into a rental agreement so we aren't left homeless when our present rental expires.
Of course, all along, we have to see things moving along toward a favorable resolution. The attorneys will have to feel the same, too. We will still be keeping our eyes peeled for a comparable or better home but I'm not holding my breath. The trend here has been heading toward a feeding frenzy. Houses are getting scooped up pretty fast.
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