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You forfeited your earnest money over a drywall repair?
Not a drywall repair. A water leak and damage that the seller and agents were trying to conceal from him, and were not professionally repairing, it seemed to OP (tacky work). The normal thing. Sellers don't want to spend money on a house they have a contract on.
Here's what I don't understand. You had a deal to buy the house. However, you get so upset after seeing the landscape wasn't clean you threatened to make problems during the final walk-through. You demand your agent come over as soon as possible and let you do an interior inspection.
Why did you insist on inspecting the home instead of demanding a landscaper get over right away and clean up the front and backyards?
There were more stuffs that the seller did not do it right on the inspection report ( outside of the house) that we saw on that day. Plus, it is not me who demand the yard to be mowed. It is the seller said on the report he will mow for me and my agent said it was done but it was not. Those added up with the moving closing date, there were a big storm during my vacation, my agent's words doesn't add up etc...make me feel uneasy somehow. First I just said " the yard is not done". My agent is the one said he will come right over then since I was there I said" well if you come right now, I will wait". Then he just changed his words and the rest is what I posted. You see, I did not start it at all. Things just flew at my face that something shady is going on.
All buyers should do a walk-through a day or two before closing. To make sure nothing was damaged in the move-out, things are essentially the same, the sellers didn't take all the light fixtures and such w/them (it happens), the sellers didn't leave a huge mess to clean up.
The OP did the right thing on insisting on a walk-through. See how he caught this leak issue, that they were trying to keep from him? And it wasn't being professionally repaired, either. He would have walked in after closing and seen that tacky patch job that wasn't there before, and possible other damage. And would not have known there was a leak or where it came from. It's suspicious.
It's my understanding this wasn't the final walk-through. This was the OP driving by and seeing the landscape hadn't been cleaned.
What I don't understand why the OP didn't demand a landscaper come by immediately and clean the yard.
There were more stuffs that the seller did not do it right on the inspection report ( outside of the house) that we saw on that day. Plus, it is not me who demand the yard to be mowed. It is the seller said on the report he will mow for me and my agent said it was done but it was not. Those added up with the moving closing date, there were a big storm during my vacation, my agent's words doesn't add up etc...make me feel uneasy somehow. First I just said " the yard is not done". My agent is the one said he will come right over then since I was there I said" well if you come right now, I will wait". Then he just changed his words and the rest is what I posted. You see, I did not start it at all. Things just flew at my face that something shady is going on.
So, now you're saying there were more things the seller agree to which which weren't done outside the house?
Such as?
I'll be the first to say your RE agent might well have been just interested in getting this deal done and collecting a check.
I think the story adds up just fine. Sometimes, in fact almost all the time, when things go wrong, it's not one thing, but a series of events that lead to the end result.
He was trying to get a walk through to check on the other issues and the agents were trying to put him off and delay... he insisted, and now we know why they were trying to put him off.
I think the story adds up just fine. Sometimes, in fact almost all the time, when things go wrong, it's not one thing, but a series of events that lead to the end result.
He was trying to get a walk through to check on the other issues and the agents were trying to put him off and delay... he insisted, and now we know why they were trying to put him off.
What issues? All he mentioned was the landscape.
This all started because he drove by and saw the landscape hadn't been cleaned. So, call and demand someone gets out there right away and clean it up.
Why the walk-through? That's not going to clean the yard. Where's the landscaper?
So i decided to go check outside of the house since the seller promised to mow the yard for me. When i came, i saw the yard was undone. So i texted him why? He said he will come and check right now. I said i will wait but he texted back saying "right now" he was showing houses to clients so will be in a few hours. I said i need to check inside the house and you have to do whatever you can, either have your partner opens the door or tells me the code or i will wait til night but i will check it today. Or else during final walk through if i see they done a bad jod fixing stuff, i shall not sign any paper
And what's that all about? The threatening tone seems out of line with the landscape issue.
My guess is the OP was looking for a way out of the deal before he entered the home that day.
I suspect the reason the OP didn't get his deposit back is because there is more to the story than what he's presented.
What process did he break? It's normal for a buyer to do a walk-through a day or two before closing. And he should do that. He shouldn't have said "if anything is wrong...." But in reality, he does have the right to withdraw if there is anything significantly wrong, or at least to push the closing back until he has time to learn about the problem, have it inspected and professionally addressed.
Add to it the seller and agents were intentionally trying to hide the leak from him...unethical, dishonest. They can't be trusted.
He needs to hire his own plumber, postpone the closing for the time being, and then see what repairs need to be done. At the seller's expense.
The seller has the right to fix anything broken before the close. It is in every real estate purchase agreement I have seen. When the buyer refuses to close over a seller repair he breaks the process.
Buyer certainly has the right to reasonably verify the fix has been properly done. But the problem and the fix do not cancel the contract.
There is absolutely no indication that the sellers or the agents were trying to hide the problem. The seller was, as he should have been, driven to fix the problem. And that would have likely been true if the home was not being sold. Most such leaks require turning off the house water which makes living there difficult - so you try and fix it quickly.
And what's that all about? The threatening tone seems out of line with the landscape issue.
It's about a breakdown in communication and trust that begins to poison a transaction.
Welcome to working with imperfect people, and getting them through a transaction. It ain't as easy as it looks. I think everyone involved here made their share of mistakes.
You are well within your rights to proceed as you have. You were there and felt the vibes. None of us were so you have a much better view.
On the other hand this is a formal process with a well determined route. You broke that process. Unfortunately that has cost you.
Be somewhat more sympathetic to the seller. Here within days of closing he has a leak which threatens all sorts of stuff. So he scrambles to get it all repaired and fixed before it queers the deal. That he should inform the buyer is probably the furthest thing from his mind. Not trying to cheat the buyer or something...just trying to get it all done. Likely paying big premiums to get it done today.
If I am sympathetic to the seller, who will sympathize with me after I bought it and leak and mold broke out in my house? I read many posts about leaks discover weeks or month after closing a contract and most of the time the buyer has no chance to win and everybody is like buyer should done final walk through blah blah blah...
Plus please don't say seller want to close a deal fast and stuff. Honesty and dignity is a must for everyone.
If I am sympathetic to the seller, who will sympathize with me after I bought it and leak and mold broke out in my house? I read many posts about leaks discover weeks or month after closing a contract and most of the time the buyer has no chance to win and everybody is like buyer should done final walk through blah blah blah...
Plus please don't say seller want to close a deal fast and stuff. Honesty and dignity is a must for everyone.
The leak and mold thing can happen in any house. This house was probably a little less likely on average because they just fixed a problem.
I once ran a study at a major copier company to understand the effectiveness of repairing a large electronic assembly. What we did was corral the incoming returns of a particular assembly and then run them through a process that make it sure they actually worked correctly after repairs. We played some games to make sure we got all the failures of the repaired assemblies back. We, as we projected, found they were at least a factor of 10 more reliable than fresh built assemblies.
Same thing will be true of a repaired house. It has had a source of failure removed. Therefore it will end up a little more reliable than the standard house.
So actually you may have turned down the better house to get the lesser one...
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I think everyone involved here made their share of mistakes.
