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My closing attorney said his service ended when we closed. He is going to charge $200/hour. So I decide not to retain him.
Finally, I have received explanation from the buyer's attorney. The buyer discovered the sewage backed up the day after he moved in. We had no problem with this and even our guests who stayed till closing were not aware of this. The buyer contacted the home warranty company but got declined because it was the pipe outside the home. Buyer thinks we had knowledge about the issue and hid it from him. He hired a contractor, assuming we will pay for the entire bill. The repair was done 4 weeks ago but the bill got lost in transition and I just received it 2 days ago.
Even though I know I'm not liable because we did nothing wrong, I offered the buyer $1,500 (1/3 of the cost) to share his financial burden. It seems the attorney had to convince the buyer to accept the offer. They will be releasing any issues and litigation.
This should be the end of this mess.
I do appreciate your help and comments. It guided me what the right thing to do is. I truly hope that the buyers can now fully enjoy their new home without any more hassle.
From the way your post sounds is that you moved out but still had guests living in the house.
You know, stuff happens. They had an inspection, everything was fine. Who knows what happened, could even be one of the buyers movers used the toilet and backed it up. Once you close, you close, it should be their problem.
They are very lucky you offered to pay what you did. We wouldn't have.
I do hope that you are able to now enjoy your new life as you don't need any more of this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by acegolfer
BTW, I never said I'll pay half the cost.
I think it was assumed after reading this:
Quote:
Originally Posted by acegolfer
Being generous, we are willing to share the cost to alleviate the buyer's remorse. I want the buyers to love the house as much as we loved the house for 5 years. I'm not admitting of our fault, as we fully disclosed everything to our best knowledge. I'm a college professor and we teach ethics in my school. Lying is the last thing that I do. I just want to help the buyers, who spent thousands of dollars.
Litigation in any real estate matter is treacherous.
Almost all RE contracts have a loser pays clause. That says that if you lose you pay the other sides litigation costs.
The buyer shows up with a plumber who testifies there was lots of indications that whatever happened had happened before.
Now you are defending against you did know or should have known...you could easily lose.
Mostly these things should be settled. Taking them to court involves substantial risk.
All the heroes that claim "closed is closed" don't understand. And an "as-is" is useless as a defense against "knew or should have known" and failed to disclose.
You pretty much always settle unless a lot of money and you are absolutely certain to win.
The problem with as-is:
1-buyers assume you have something to hide.
2-they know they won't get repairs so they try to discount the price instead
3-they may not even offer because of a fear of latent defects
Hooey. As-Is is As-Is and simply states just that and implies nothing. We never have an issue getting an As Is agreement signed by a buyer and they are rarely renegotiated based on price unless repairs are extensive.
The fact is, as a buyer, you hire your own inspectors and you hire your own contractors for estimates. If you don't like what you hear/find, you can walk for any reason. If you're Ok with it, you go forward. More deals get squirrled by buyers who submit repair reports (by inspectors who are paid to find things wrong) and then the seller makes the repairs and the buyer doesn't accept the quality of the work or materials and everyone wants to argue over THAT. FORGETABOUTIT.
Let the buyer hire their own people and spend as much or as little as they like or for that matter never make the darn repair if they don't care enough.
"What you see is what you get" and "caveate emptor" don't mean that the seller's a crook or that the seller has anything to hide. It means "As Is" and nothing more - and more deals close quietly because of it.
It's certianly that way in the commercial world, always has been and it works just fine.
Hooey. As-Is is As-Is and simply states just that and implies nothing. We never have an issue getting an As Is agreement signed by a buyer and they are rarely renegotiated based on price unless repairs are extensive.
The fact is, as a buyer, you hire your own inspectors and you hire your own contractors for estimates. If you don't like what you hear/find, you can walk for any reason. If you're Ok with it, you go forward. More deals get squirrled by buyers who submit repair reports (by inspectors who are paid to find things wrong) and then the seller makes the repairs and the buyer doesn't accept the quality of the work or materials and everyone wants to argue over THAT. FORGETABOUTIT.
Let the buyer hire their own people and spend as much or as little as they like or for that matter never make the darn repair if they don't care enough.
"What you see is what you get" and "caveate emptor" don't mean that the seller's a crook or that the seller has anything to hide. It means "As Is" and nothing more - and more deals close quietly because of it.
It's certianly that way in the commercial world, always has been and it works just fine.
Nope. "Knew or should have known" trumps "as-is" everytime virtually everywhere. Does not work against foreclosures or holders in due course but all others should pay attention.
The fact that you have been lucky is no guarantee you will be next time out.
I think the lesson learned from all of this is for buyers is to have the sewage line inspected during the due dilligence period. In the Chicago area, there is a company that comes in and does a video line test for about $300 (that's all they do - no repairs, etc..) that checks for cracks, roots, etc...
Really important especially in the older established neighborhoods with lots of trees, etc... Tree roots just love to grow right to that source of water and can create some real damage. The survey should show where the sewage line is running and if there are any mature trees within 30 feet -- the $300 is well worth the money to save everybody future headaches, etc..
Given all the rain we have I know that the grasses and weeds grew several inches in the course of a week. If tree roots do the same thing a sewer could scope out fine at "inspection" and then be completely blocked a month after close...
Still, it might be worth having to support the "it was good when we had the guy out here" line of reasoning.
We had our line scoped and found a nice clean offset due to tree root jutting through. It only cost $100 but well worth evidence for the sellers to pay $2000 for the repair. By the way, $2000 is a good reasonable price, ours was even a 9' dig, so in your buyer's case they probably didn't get bids and definitely overpaid.
Nope. "Knew or should have known" trumps "as-is" everytime virtually everywhere. Does not work against foreclosures or holders in due course but all others should pay attention.
The fact that you have been lucky is no guarantee you will be next time out.
That's just not so. If you give the buyer the time and opportunity to conduct a home inspection of their choosing, and they do so, and they remove the contingency, then the house is sold AS IS (provided it's in the contract as such).....period.
If they hired a bad inspector...too bad. As long as you don't materially misrepresent or hide something on the disclosure that should be disclosed, then they have no recourse.
That's just not so. If you give the buyer the time and opportunity to conduct a home inspection of their choosing, and they do so, and they remove the contingency, then the house is sold AS IS (provided it's in the contract as such).....period.
If they hired a bad inspector...too bad. As long as you don't materially misrepresent or hide something on the disclosure that should be disclosed, then they have no recourse.
Nope. You don't have to fix things etc...but if you knew or should have known you have troubles.
Here is an older Realty Times article on the subject.
This is a matter of state law. But in most states you cannot escape disclosire laws by sellling as is. Think about it. What good would disclosure laws be if everyone could escape them by selling "as is"....
Note you pretty much agree...your last sentence says that "as is" works as long as you disclose what you know...and just add to that should have known...
As always, it is wise to maintain focus on the differences in state laws.
In North Carolina, nothing needs to be disclosed if the NC Residential Property Disclosure Statement is marked, "No Representation."
As long as the Seller makes no misrepresentation of the property, i.e., does not lie, Seller's knowledge of any condition is covered by "No Representation."
Seller can know that termites ate the building, that the subfloors are rotted out, that there is an underground storage tank, etc, etc, and via "No Representation," Seller can avoid disclosing any of these things.
This is as close to "As-Is" as we get here in standard forms.
Of course, such a disclosure has an intrinsic negative impact on market value...
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