Tuesday, March 18, 2008
temple mba candidates = assholes.
the ordeal is over. one week later, and we have decided not to go through with the agreement of sale.our reasons for backing out:
1. we did not get the $ credit (for the inspection) that we wanted. the seller decided that he would only offer us 3/4 of the cost to get integral plumbing done. it's not like we were trying to rip him off. we just didn't want to have to pay for something that he should be vested to fix himself, since it's still his house and he would be living there until the end of july.
2. we felt that we were making all the compromises (late settlement date; 10-day inspection period; no credit for the AC unit as was listed on the agents' listing sheet; having to get all of the plumbing work done on our own time after settlement, etc), and he wasn't giving us anything in return.
3. we did not appreciate the seller making comments, through his agent to poyu to us, that there were a lot of buyers out there that he could sell his house to. basically, threatening us that if we didn't accept his "firm" inspection contingency counter-offer, that it would be fairly easy to get the price he wanted (or more) for his house from other prospective buyers. i think there was a moment where we almost took his counter-offer credit, but when poyu informed us that the seller/seller's agent consistently bragged about how there were other buyers in the market that would pay more than what we were offering for the house, we were immediately turned off. it didn't feel professional because at that point, the seller was still committed to us and if our offer was not "acceptable" to him, then why did he accept it in the first place?
it's sad. i purposely distanced myself emotionally from the house itself, so i'm basically over not getting this particular house. though, i am sad that we spent much time and effort to buy our first home and we got stuck with an asshole seller that seemed concerned only about getting his wants, was not willing to compromise, and tried to take advantage of us as first time home buyers.
but even after yesterday's disappointment, i'm realizing it was the right decision, and we are just going to take it as a learning experience (though, i already knew that there are lots of assholes in the world). so i guess we're still waiting for our house to find us...
2 Comments:
It seems improbable that you would not get a counter-offer from a seller unless they are remarkably desperate. I figure a seller will always try to get more for the home. So I wouldn't be too afraid to shave dollars off your offer for whatever reason...as long as it's not a total lowball. And if you don't really love the house but think it's a good investment, hell...go ahead and lowball 'em.
The thing that you guys found yourself dealing with on this house (and probably will on every house) is the fact that there are all sorts of ways to make and lose money on a deal. I heard this guy at work the other day chastising someone for paying closing costs on the house they bought. Well that's fine...but if you're paying that much more for the home (i.e. you agreed to a higher price because they agreed to pay closing costs) it's a wash. And that can happen is a lot of ways. You meet in the middle after their counter-offer, and then they won't pay for any repairs. They'll pay your closing costs, if you come up to their counter offer. Don't ever agree to anything on the spot...always take time to think about it carefully and work out how it's going to cost you and/or save you.
In my opinion, if a seller talks shit about how easy it will be to sell their home, call their bluffing ass (again...unless you absolutely must have it, which again, is dangerous). If it's more than you want to spend on what you'd get, walk away and let them fight off all the outrageous offers they're praying for.
That's great that you like your Realtor. And that's great that your inspector is hardcore. Pay attention to everything he tells you and do your research to find out how much it will cost. Don't be afraid to make your offer based on estimates (your dad might have some input). If there's one thing we were told that we didn't listen to and should have, it's that. If you want to make an offer but your inspector tells you something is sketchy, get an estimate on it and use that in determining your offer (assuming you still want to make one). I can't emphasize this enough.
Good luck...buying a house may suck as much as moving, but it makes that one particular move a great one.
We pulled two offers, and each seller made it sound like they had hundreds of offers to choose from. To that I say good luck.
Both houses are still on the market.