Frustrating home selling update page 8

[Silent1CB]

Can I guess? Are they young & spoiled? Don't understand "NO"? Its all about me? Sounds it.

 

[taylor3297]

When my dad and stepmom sold their house, the buyers called after they moved wanting the shower curtains that had been in the upstair bathroom. The shower curtains weren't in the deal, but my stepmom, packed them up and sent it to them. I rather not have someone elses shower curtains myself.

There are crazy requests out there. I agree with other folks, just tell your agent to tell their agent, what your final offer is and it is firm and you will only consider a counter offer if the buyers want to pay you more money.

 

[dis-happy]

Sounds like you're not formally under contract with them yet. What your agent needs to do is keep selling/marketing your house....bring in another buyer!!! Wouldn't that just make your day.

 

[Daisy&Max]

I love the karma bit!

My uncle had a piece of land he needed to unload. He had it at a great price but the people came in and would only deal if he would give it to them at the price they wanted to pay. He was desperate so he took it. (we told him to wait but he wouldn't listen to us). Now that they have the land, the wife left the man, the tractor he borrow from my uncle that he was responsible for broke, and he lost his job. I guess that was Karma on him!

Daisy

 

[Silent1CB]

Oh and they are NOT getting a gift for buying this house.

If I'm not legally bound to leave it, it goes with me...everything down to the 1/2 used roll of toilet paper.

And because I don't have to leave it...they should expect my extra screening to be gone as well as the extra flooring & tile I bought for emergency replacement pieces.

I don't care if it ends up in the trash, they aren't getting it.

And THAT is why maybe you shouldn't try to squeeze every last penny out of your sellers!

Don't forget the light bulbs in every fixture in and outside the house! I use to be a paralegal and did bank closings and we had a client who took all the light bulbs. I thought it was pretty funny.

Ha ha!
We did the same thing with our horrible buyers. My husband even packed up the extra left-over paint so they wouldn't have any idea what color the walls were if they wanted to do some touch-ups!

I am so doing that if this goes though! My agent had actually mentioned taking the lightbulbs but the paint is great.

I am apparently generous to a fault.

In the last 2 houses we've sold we left all the paint. I actually patched all the holes from our pictures and touched them up. I even left lists of what paint went where because some of the colors were similar.

I put all the appliance manuals together so they would have them.

I had pre-paid for a year of lawn care and pest control and I just let them have that.

I made sure that there was TP, soap and paper towels in every bathroom. I've moved enough to know that is 1 thing you don't think about.

I had planned on asking if they wanted my area rugs or washer and dryer since I don't need them but now I'm not going to.

I had also planning on leaving our Entertainment Book and are discount cards for them to use but I'll find someone else to give those to.

That is so me. I would have normally left lots of things for them too.
If you give in to their demands, nope, I would leave NOTHING also.


But honestly, I would tell them. FINAL OFFER. TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT. PERIOD.

I love the fact that THEIR agent is telling you stuff about them being crazy & having the money.

 

[jen0610]

I am so doing that if this goes though! My agent had actually mentioned taking the lightbulbs but the paint is great.

I am apparently generous to a fault.

In the last 2 houses we've sold we left all the paint. I actually patched all the holes from our pictures and touched them up. I even left lists of what paint went where because some of the colors were similar.

I put all the appliance manuals together so they would have them.

I had pre-paid for a year of lawn care and pest control and I just let them have that.

I made sure that there was TP, soap and paper towels in every bathroom. I've moved enough to know that is 1 thing you don't think about.

I had planned on asking if they wanted my area rugs or washer and dryer since I don't need them but now I'm not going to.

I had also planning on leaving our Entertainment Book and are discount cards for them to use but I'll find someone else to give those to.

My cousin did the same thing with EVERYTHING that wasn't written into the contract. Once the people started with the crap, they had stated that IF there was any UPGRADES that the purchaser wanted, to be left, that they had to write it in into the contract.

Nice bronze air vent covers - taken, the plain Jane ones put back on.

The nice bronze light switch and electrical covers, replaced with the plain Jane white ones.

The nice Hunter fans gone - replaced

My cuz had gotten a really good deal on a high end washer and dryer. They had them sitting garage. The peolpe who bought the house were told multipule times that they washer and dryer inside the laundry room were staying. And it was written in the contract that the white top loading Kenmore washer and dryer were staying. The set in the garage, in the boxes, were not. They tried to say that they were to get those. Nope, that's not what was noted in the contract.

All the room darkening blinds - they were told those were going, but they would either give them the option to have my cuz replace them with standard blinds or give them an allowance to replace them with what they wanted. Again, they tried to say that they were to get the darkening blinds.

 

[MrsPete]

I'm kind of in the middle here . . .

On the one hand, everyone who's buying wants to get the best value for the money, and with so many houses for sale, it does seem reasonable to ask for whatever you think you can get. When we bought our first house 20 years ago, the seller did pay the closing costs; that's something you request in a buyer's market.

On the other hand, the constant back-and-forth shouldn't be going on. They should've put everything they wanted to negotiate into the contract so that you two could agree on it all at once.

I do agree that it's foolish for either side to be nasty to one another. Makes me remember a story I heard from a relative who was a realtor: In the contract, the buyer requested that the CURTAINS all stay in the house, and the seller agreed . . . but apparently things became tense between them before the closing, and the seller was no longer in such a good mood. The seller did leave the curtains, as required by the contract. They were neatly folded in the middle of the floor, and the CURTAIN RODS, which were not part of the deal, were removed. (If the buyer'd been smart, he would've specified that he wanted the WINDOW TREATMENTS.)

The bottom line is, do you want to sell this house? If so, just bite the bullet, accept it as something you can't control, and get through it. If not, tell them you're done with them. There are really no other options.

 

[Bob NC]

If it were me, I'd start moving back UP in my counter offers. You have agreed to pay some closing costs, call your realtor and tell them you have reconsidered and are cutting that amount in half.

Really, instead of walking away, go on the friggin offense.

 

[RadioNate]

I'm kind of in the middle here . . .

On the one hand, everyone who's buying wants to get the best value for the money, and with so many houses for sale, it does seem reasonable to ask for whatever you think you can get. When we bought our first house 20 years ago, the seller did pay the closing costs; that's something you request in a buyer's market.

On the other hand, the constant back-and-forth shouldn't be going on. They should've put everything they wanted to negotiate into the contract so that you two could agree on it all at once.

I do agree that it's foolish for either side to be nasty to one another. Makes me remember a story I heard from a relative who was a realtor: In the contract, the buyer requested that the CURTAINS all stay in the house, and the seller agreed . . . but apparently things became tense between them before the closing, and the seller was no longer in such a good mood. The seller did leave the curtains, as required by the contract. They were neatly folded in the middle of the floor, and the CURTAIN RODS, which were not part of the deal, were removed. (If the buyer'd been smart, he would've specified that he wanted the WINDOW TREATMENTS.)

The bottom line is, do you want to sell this house? If so, just bite the bullet, accept it as something you can't control, and get through it. If not, tell them you're done with them. There are really no other options.

I do want to sell the house. But they need to stop asking for the impossible, we can't give them pool approval and we don't have any more cash. So they can ask for more cash and accept it as a short sale (which they have said they won't do) or give up the pool clause (which we can not legally agree to.)

I'm not that one being unreasonable.

We've presented a final contract, on our terms, with the letter from the title company stating that they have verified we have the funds to close based on the contract being presented.

Ball is in their court.

But good luck if they think they can find a non-short sale/non-foreclosure home to enter into a binding agreement with in the next 8 days.

 

[kimmar067]

I know, it is a buyers market blah blah blah but really do they have to be such jerks? There is a fine line between being a tough negotiator and being a horses rear...they've crossed it!

They want 5% off the asking price, us to pay ALL their closing costs, get them HOA approval for a pool, and give them $2000 cash for whatever. Their agent has admitted that they are just asking for these things because "they can."

We are underwater, as is practically every house in the state of Florida.....

....well, THAT solves the pool problem....

 

[ChristmasElf]

Right and they want that money so they are going to have to scramble to get their inspection and appraisal done in a hurry.

We've been back and forth on this for more than a week. They obviously want the house.

We've agreed to a lower than asking price (not the 5% they wanted but 3%) and agreed to a flat amount of closing costs (about 1/2 the original estimate) and 1/2 the whatever money.

We CAN'T get pool approval from our HOA in time. They have 28 days to give approval and require actual plans from a pool company.

They don't seem to "get" that some of this stuff is totally unrealistic and they keep demanding more.

It has become laughable. Really.

I want to sell. We very much want to sell. BUT with the money we are bringing to closing we could pay the mortgage on this house for years while it sat empty if we had to. Or we could just spend the money and let the house foreclose. We have options. They apparently have no other houses.

Clocks ticking.

Sounds like if you are bringing that much money to the table then maybe you should walk away from this deal and considering renting the house out for a while until the market improves.
I would definately NOT agree to any of those crazy requests they are asking for. No way. And there is NO way they would ever need to see YOUR financial records. That is absurd.

 

[C.Ann]

I would speak with their agent ONE more time and tell them that what you have agreed to is your bottom line.. You will NOT engage in any further negotiations - end of story.. The only further contact you are willing to engage in is notification of the time and place where the closing will occur..

Time to put your foot down.. Either they buy - or they walk..

Good luck!

 

[RadioNate]

Sounds like if you are bringing that much money to the table then maybe you should walk away from this deal and considering renting the house out for a while until the market improves.
I would definately NOT agree to any of those crazy requests they are asking for. No way. And there is NO way they would ever need to see YOUR financial records. That is absurd.

We have considered renting out the house and it is an option. We'd have about a 10k a year deficit because there are so many rentals in the area and people are undercutting each other left and right. Home prices in Orlando are still dropping about 2% a month.

One hurricane claim and we are in trouble. If we sit on it 5 years, it'll definitely need new carpet and counter top updates which is more money to invest in the house.

And that assumes nothing major goes wrong. No new water heater or air conditioner problems, no appliance problems, we just want out.

And there is no guarantee that I could recoup any of the money in 5 years. I'd be out another $50k minimum and likely still not get out my initial investment (which was 20% down.)

We are also on the east side of Orlando metro and are worried about what the loss of NASA operations will do. They expect a lot more foreclosures in that area as those jobs are lost.

I don't want to be tied to this house another 5 years or more if I can get out now.

 

[karibritt01]

I do want to sell the house. But they need to stop asking for the impossible, we can't give them pool approval and we don't have any more cash. So they can ask for more cash and accept it as a short sale (which they have said they won't do) or give up the pool clause (which we can not legally agree to)

I would ask the HOA to agree to YOU putting in a pool, and sell the house. The agreement does not convey with the house, so let them fight it out with the HOA after you are gone. I would also consider leaving a few things. Paint... even if the colors are a little off. A little sugar sprinkled under the sink and in the pantry... to feed the ants until they move in. And blow every "wishing flower" (aka dandelion) in the backyard that you can find!

 

[bored]

Had the same problem with the folks trying to buy our home. We weren't upside down, but we gave at first but finally had to start saying no. Finally told them take it or leave it and they decided to quit the nonsense and take it.

 

[FireDancer]

It's a business deal. If they ask for more than you are willing to give, simply walk away. As a buyer I always try to get as low a price as possible. As a seller I try to get as much as possible. That's the way things work. Either party can always walk away if the deal is not to their liking.

^^^ This.

In any negotiation you are trying to get the maximum for you. The other side is free to walk away from the deal. If you present your final offer and they don't want it they can walk away.

In the end business is just business and not personal.

 

[MrsPete]

I do want to sell the house. But they need to stop asking for the impossible, we can't give them pool approval and we don't have any more cash. So they can ask for more cash and accept it as a short sale (which they have said they won't do) or give up the pool clause (which we can not legally agree to.)

I'm not that one being unreasonable.

We've presented a final contract, on our terms, with the letter from the title company stating that they have verified we have the funds to close based on the contract being presented.

Ball is in their court.

But good luck if they think they can find a non-short sale/non-foreclosure home to enter into a binding agreement with in the next 8 days.

I didn't say you're being unreasonable -- but you are emotional about it. It's a business deal, a type of business deal which is unfamiliar to them, and they're making rookie mistakes. Just tell them that what they're asking is impossible . . . and leave it at that. Try not to take it personally.

 

[MrsPete]

We have considered renting out the house and it is an option. We'd have about a 10k a year deficit because there are so many rentals in the area and people are undercutting each other left and right. Home prices in Orlando are still dropping about 2% a month.

Since you have the option of selling, I wouldn't get into the rental thing. Too many people just don't care for a house like they should, and you could easily end up with a house worth less than it's "today value" AND in need of serious repairs. It'd be too much risk for me.

 

[RadioNate]

I didn't say you're being unreasonable -- but you are emotional about it. It's a business deal, a type of business deal which is unfamiliar to them, and they're making rookie mistakes. Just tell them that what they're asking is impossible . . . and leave it at that. Try not to take it personally.

I'm actually laughing at them. I'm annoyed and not being very nice but if I was very emotional, I would have walked a long time ago. They have done some inappropriate things (including calling us liars) that I can't believe that their agent even allowed.

I feel like we have worked hard to get this deal done and they won't give on anything. And on the few things they have given on they've replaced them with equally ridiculous things.

I think their agent needs to reign them in. I actually think she might be trying but they are still out of control.

They really want the house or they would have walked by now.

Since you have the option of selling, I wouldn't get into the rental thing. Too many people just don't care for a house like they should, and you could easily end up with a house worth less than it's "today value" AND in need of serious repairs. It'd be too much risk for me.

I completely agree! My DH was all for the rental option but I'd much rather cut my losses now. Bird in the hand and all that.....

I just need them to agree. Part of doing a business deal is realizing when you have a good deal and not pushing it so far that you blow it. Our deal is fair, we are at rock bottom and we can get them their 8k. It has gotten funny actually.

 

[busyshrew]

RadioNate, I completely sympathize with you.

It's one thing to be a tough negotiator and to try to get a good deal. But it's quite another when the nit-picking, nagging and penny-pinching is to such a level that reveals a mean, petty, advantage-taking soul. Shame on those buyers, they deserve to have this sale dry up and disappear.

I just purchased a house on my mother's behalf. And our agent tried to get us to go for an additional 2K reduction, but I refused. Because the agent just needs to get a sale (and the commission). But we need to move into that house, and we want that move to go smoothly without stress! So we took the seller's very reasonable counter offer, refused to keep up the back and forth (for the equivalent of 0.3% of the purchase price, really???) and EVERYONE was happy.

And it's worked out so well - after having the house inspected we (politely) asked for some service work to be carried out before closing. Did the sellers balk or kick up a fuss - absolutely not! The work got done 48 hours later. We (politely) asked for an extra visit (to get some measuring done). Was there any trouble about that - again no! The answer is "anytime, please just call!"

Having good will on both side is so important, now my parents are enjoying and looking forward to their new home with great pleasure and little stress. No worries about what condition the house will be left in. Worth the slightly higher price we paid, IMHO.