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OP, you are still in your due diligence period. What you need to do, is to have your agent put it in writing that as part of your due diligence, you discovered a tenant living in the house. You require that said tenant be vacated by March xxx, for you to do your preclosing inspection on a vacant house (whatever day the preclosing inspection would normally take place).
If it isn't in writing, it isn't binding. And if it isn't in writing by the end of your due diligence period, you may miss your opportunity.
I agree that most of the advice in this thread is bad advice. You can't make the seller force the tenant out today. It is still the seller's house and they can have a tenant if they choose. But you have the opportunity right now to make the tenant's vacating be a condition of closing. Don't miss that opportunity.
OP, you are still in your due diligence period. What you need to do, is to have your agent put it in writing that as part of your due diligence, you discovered a tenant living in the house. You require that said tenant be vacated by March xxx, for you to do your preclosing inspection on a vacant house (whatever day the preclosing inspection would normally take place).
If it isn't in writing, it isn't binding. And if it isn't in writing by the end of your due diligence period, you may miss your opportunity.
I agree that most of the advice in this thread is bad advice. You can't make the seller force the tenant out today. It is still the seller's house and they can have a tenant if they choose. But you have the opportunity right now to make the tenant's vacating be a condition of closing. Don't miss that opportunity.
I would also add, that make sure the tenant is out and the locks are changed so the tenant can't come back in, and see if they can make him sign something that says he has moved out and won't return, then if he does you can have him removed for trespassing and he can't claim to live there.
Disregard MOST of the advice given in this thread.
It is just astoundingly bad.
In most contracts I have ever read, the seller has up until the date of close, to vacate the property, in which the property needs to be vacant. You are putting the cart before the horse.
Last edited by LowonLuck; 02-22-2017 at 08:55 AM..
In most contracts I have ever read, the seller has up until the date of close, to vacate the property, in which the property needs to be vacant. You are putting the cart before the horse.
The problem is that the seller has a tenant who seems to not want to leave or may have no place to go. They are just looking into how to avoid any potential problems. They are just being proactive in the situation which is smart and looking for ways to avoid problems.
During my inspection, the seller and I exchanged numbers so I plan to call her in the morning and gently but firmly tell her that if she wants this deal to go thru, her son needs to be gone by the end of the month.
PLEASE don't do this. You have an agent, and this is exactly the sort of thing that they are being paid for -- get your agent on this NOW. Working outside of your agent is a sure way to blow up a deal that is, ultimately, salvageable. Your agent should know the rules re: tenants, etc. in your area. Everyone here offering advice can only offer advice based on what they know of tenant law in their area, and it varies wildly from state to state, and even sometimes from city to city.
You are stressing over "might be's", because you are afraid that they may not be out by March 10th. Why do you think they won't be out? You can't turn tenant law upside down and make demands because you are afraid of what the son "might" do.
I recall recently you said you are a worrier by nature. Can actually be a good thing when tempered to be more a "planner" or "organizer".
One thing is you are being thrown off balance because you saw the son there all of a sudden. Maybe the owner sees him as her family and not an official tenant. Hopefully, he will be out soon.
One good thing about having agents is so that the buyer and seller not deal with each other during this very stressful period...at a time when they don't know the laws and have not had the experience with what can happen very quickly and suddenly such as the house could be vacant and being tidied a few days before settlement. You could blow the whole deal by talking to the mom about her son.
Don't lose focus of the point of the inspection. Have you taken care of any inspection issues?
There's an expression....Don't make 'em any madder.
Maybe the key in "no one seems to care" is "seems to". Because experience is telling people that this may not be a problem. And , if it is, it's solvable. And if it isn't, that's unusual.
As has been said, check your contract for something like vacant and cleaned.
Remember you still have your appraiser going to the house, right? Unless you're confusing inspector with appraiser as some do.
Then you will have your walk thru before settlement. It's hard when you love something like a home to be business like until after closing. We had a situation where someone just assumed his friends could convey with the house in a suburban neighborhood...ladies of the evening no less. Figuring it was going to be a rental anyway. No, that was never the intention. So, no closing till they were gone and another walk thru done.
The other agent truly not responding to your agent is a concern. At some point your agent may get her upline to call or may call the other agent's upline or partner. Just to flesh out the story. With what seems to be a preference for the quieter, more private texting it is unusual not to get responses of some kind.
Are you getting a loan? You might get let it be known to the other side, thru your agent, when you loan commitment expires before the parameters change so that settlement needs to be on time.
1)why was the seller even present at your inspection. Seriously inappropriate. It should have just been you, your inspector, and your agent.
Quite common in some areas -- it's the seller's house, and while they often choose (or are encouraged) to be gone during an inspection (it's hard on a seller to hear the house torn apart!), there is no requirement that they vacate. In the case of an amicable deal, the seller is helpful in answering questions, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarianRavenwood
2)why are you talking directly to the seller?? It is neither your interest or the seller's to talk directly to each other...that's why you have all these other people like brokers and agents. Talking directly to each other runs the risk that you will disclose information to the other party that they have no business knowing and which may give them leverage to kill or renegotiate the deal.
Agreed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarianRavenwood
3)has your agent (or you) not informed your mortgage broker about this? Because the presence of a tenant will almost certainly invalidate your loan application. I guarantee you signed paperwork stating that you intended to live in this home and not rent it as income property---because the loan approval criteria for loans for rental property and the forms that go with it are completely different. Even if you don't intend to be a landlord, and even if the son isn't paying rent....it's still income property if you aren't living there.
The OP has no intention of renting it, and fully intends to occupy the house as an owner-occupant. Just because a tenant lives there now, doesn't mean that the tenant will be there on March 10th.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarianRavenwood
4)where the heck is your attorney in all of this? After you make an offer, your RE agent is there to guide you but really the work is then in the hands of your attorney and your broker. Your attorney should be advising you on whether or not your contract is even still valid.
Attorney is not required at this point, at least, they wouldn't be in my neck of the woods. This is still a matter between buyer and seller, through their respective agents.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarianRavenwood
It doesn't sound like to me that you are getting good advice from anyone on your team. If it were me, I'd be looking not only to walk away from this property, but also to find a new agent, broker, and attorney! A decent attorney should be able to get you your earnest money back too.
I get the feeling everyone is overreacting on this. If the seller can't provide an empty house at the agreed-upon time, then she is in default. In some states, she could invoke an automatic 8-day closing extension, for certain circumstances. If she defaults, THEN the buyer can walk away and get their earnest money back.
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