House-Can't Close on Time

[BellyBaby]

Help! Frustrated! I've no idea where else to turn. We were supposed to close on a house in Florida today, seller (Bank owned) cannot close on time.

We thought 6 weeks was plenty, especially after THEY put in May 13th as a close date, WE pushed it to end of May. This is my problem:

We booked flights, took holidays, and now pretty much have to go. So now we are wasting a week of holiday time, have to pay for a hotel, and now will probably have to come back (another trip) to finish cleaning the house and furnishing it.

If we were at fault to close, we had to pay a penalty. Now that THEY are at fault, there seems to be no consequence.

WHAT THE HEY?????? Does anyone know? Is there nothing I can do??? This is going to cost a LOT more money than is would have. I'm ready to flip right out! It makes no sense that they can do this. How on earth are people supposed to schedule power hook up? Phone? Furniture deliveries? What if I was selling my old house? Do people go homeless for weeks while the seller just drags their......

 

[mikehn]

This is normal business. You just have to be flexible.

 

[msmayor]

Do you have an attorney? This is where he/she could step in and help.

 

[Mom of three]

Is there an agent involved at all? Did they give you a reason why it wasnt able to close on time?

 

[Pakey]

This is very typical of bank owned sales. We just closed on a rental property that was a bank owned foreclosure and had the same issues. Our agent said that there was nothing to be done about it. You are not dealing with an individual; the bank has no attachment to this house or to you.

 

[ZachnElli]

This happened on our house last summer. We didn't get it closed on Friday, but the following Monday. Did they give you a new close date? Is it just a few days? Ours wasn't a bank sell and it was our mortgage company putting it off. They just needed more time to get the paperwork done. It happens.

 

[CyndiLooWho]

Unfortunately, that's the way things go when you are dealing with a bank-owned property.

You do not have to come back to close. You can issue a limited power of attorney to a trusted friend or attorney to close for you instead. We contracted our house in KY and then flew back to the Netherlands. Dad closed the house 2 wks later.

Your realtor can help you set up POA and can conference you in on all the details so you don't have to fly back to FL.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) You attorney probably asked you to put in a penalty clause.
2) We buy lots of houses, and would not purchase on without it.
3) The penalties cover Seller (whether bank, person, estate, etc) delays
. . . for not closing on time
. . . for not moving out on time
. . . for extra cleaning that stops us from moving in on time
4) Without such penalties, you are out of luck.

5) If you haven't guessed, NEVER BUY A HOUSE WITHOUT A LAWYER.

 

[Colleen27]

Help! Frustrated! I've no idea where else to turn. We were supposed to close on a house in Florida today, seller (Bank owned) cannot close on time.

We thought 6 weeks was plenty, especially after THEY put in May 13th as a close date, WE pushed it to end of May. This is my problem:

We booked flights, took holidays, and now pretty much have to go. So now we are wasting a week of holiday time, have to pay for a hotel, and now will probably have to come back (another trip) to finish cleaning the house and furnishing it.

If we were at fault to close, we had to pay a penalty. Now that THEY are at fault, there seems to be no consequence.

WHAT THE HEY?????? Does anyone know? Is there nothing I can do??? This is going to cost a LOT more money than is would have. I'm ready to flip right out! It makes no sense that they can do this. How on earth are people supposed to schedule power hook up? Phone? Furniture deliveries? What if I was selling my old house? Do people go homeless for weeks while the seller just drags their......

Unfortunately, it just is what it is. I will NEVER buy another bank owned home again, because getting into our new place has been such a nightmare. Our offer was accepted and the contract signed on March 20. Our original closing date was in mid April, which was then postponed to mid May. We got about 3/4 of the way to the closing office - 2 hours from home! - and they call less than an hour before our appointment to postpone it another week. Then we get up and on the road again a week later, but only got about 15min from home when the phone rings. You guessed it, another delay. This time they want another month, so we're not closing until June 18 now. And because of this mess, we had to cancel my birthday trip to WDW because our last two closing dates were during the time we were supposed to be gone.

We're supposed to be renting out our old house, and we've lost two strong prospective tenants because of these delays.

If we'd needed more time than the 30 days the sales contract allowed to arrange the closing, we'd have been on the hook for a $10 per day extension fee, but since it is the bank needing more and more and more time, there's no consequence at all. Well, we could back out of the purchase without losing our earnest money, but since we still want the house, we just have to live with the hassles.

 

[Kriii]

Hey, I feel your pain! I was supposed to close today also and no surprise, another delay in closing. It's our third delay. Banks seem to be in chaos. Hope your situation works out soon!

 

[Microcell]

Here is hoping you can close Monday!

 

[maggiew]

I am sorry you are going through this. It doesn't seem fair.

We bought a new house in November. We looked at one that I kind of liked but the realtor strongly discouraged us from buying it because it was a bank owned home. Now that I read your story, I'm glad she did.

We waited to schedule electricity, cable etc. until closing day for just the reason you mentioned. However that meant that we went nearly 1-1/2 months without TV and internet because there was a backlog by the time I called!!

Maggie

 

[PA Princess]

I am so sorry you are in this situation. We have two settlements scheduled soon...June 12 on our new home and June 15 on our old home, so I am feeling especially sympathetic to your plight! I hope you are able to settle soon with no more hassles or delays!

 

[BellyBaby]

Wow, I had no idea this was common. It's very different here.

However, is this common? We just got an email asking for more down payment - like $20k more. that's now 35% down instead of the original 25%Whaaaaaat? How are we supposed to furnish the house?

We feel like we just can't win, been doing everything they ask, on time, and then they decide after 6 weeks (more, actually) that our debt to income ratio isn't "within guidelines". Why didn't they say so in the first place??

Ahhhhhhhh! Honestly, we're ready to walk away. Do people do that often, too? b/c at this rate, I'm surprised people don't just give up.

anyway, thanks for letting me rant. We may just chalk it up to divine intervention, $20k is alot of money.

 

[BellyBaby]

Guess I should change my ticker.

 

[Colleen27]

1) You attorney probably asked you to put in a penalty clause.
2) We buy lots of houses, and would not purchase on without it.
3) The penalties cover Seller (whether bank, person, estate, etc) delays
. . . for not closing on time
. . . for not moving out on time
. . . for extra cleaning that stops us from moving in on time
4) Without such penalties, you are out of luck.

5) If you haven't guessed, NEVER BUY A HOUSE WITHOUT A LAWYER.

Have you found that most banks are willing to accept those terms? Most of the foreclosures we've looked at have specified that they won't accept a sales contract that includes a penalty clause, presumably because of how common these types of delays are. =

 

[seashoreCM]

Generally, if the other party needs to or wants to change the closing date, then you have some say on exactly what new day is proposed next.

So if you were supposed to close on June 1 and the seller wants to change that to June 15 and you expect to be at Disney then, you come right out and say "can't do that day, let's make it June 20," for example.

 

[tink2dw]

In 1994 when buying our house, We had to move to an Aptment for 2 month before our House Closed, cost us a bloody fortune.

 

[neatokimmo]

OP, I'm sorry to hear they aren't working with you. I tried to buy a foreclosure but no one from the bank had been to the house and they wouldn't admit to the 30K in repairs it needed. They wanted to sell it for fair market value. I wanted it to be at fair market value AFTER the repairs. After 2 months of being strung along I said forget it.

Weeks later they call to accept my offer. Weeks! I had already bought a different house and closed on it 3 days ago. Funny how they seem to ignore all the "windows" in the offer, like hearing back from them in 72 hours.

No way would I change my downpayment. Are you using them to finance the house? I would talk to a local bank to make sure your debt to income ratio is ok before even calling them back about the extra 20K. You can go online to check your ratios also.

 

[bicker]

Have you found that most banks are willing to accept those terms? Most of the foreclosures we've looked at have specified that they won't accept a sales contract that includes a penalty clause, presumably because of how common these types of delays are.

This is a very cost-sensitive business, and you're right that they generally won't accept conditions that represent any significant additional cost on their part; they are sufficiently confident that they can get someone else to buy the property without imposing such risk on the bank.