Is there a thread for people selling their house?

[mickeyfan1]

We sold a home a few years back. We had a termite contract and when the inspector came, he found some active damage. We called out termite company, they came and fixed it. That wasn't good enough for the buyers, they INSISTED that we get a whole new Termidor system. Or they would walk. DH decided to spend the 800 or so dollars. In hind site, I should have let them walk, we were right at the beginning of the boom and probably would have sold it in a few more weeks at a higher price.

I hope your buyers are not looking for an excuse to back out.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I think we are being "worked over" a bit and it doesnt feel good. I will be so happy when this is over.

Yea, it doesn't. I was there in March. But if you have a fish on the hook, have to have nice bait.

I hope that things turn out well for you in negotiations. It is really nerve racking.

Now as far as me....I am finally typing from my new house, in my computer room. And yes, I am unpacking still....I think it will be awhile before I am together.

Wishing you some luck...

 

[Chris2597]

We sold a home a few years back. We had a termite contract and when the inspector came, he found some active damage. We called out termite company, they came and fixed it. That wasn't good enough for the buyers, they INSISTED that we get a whole new Termidor system. Or they would walk. DH decided to spend the 800 or so dollars. In hind site, I should have let them walk, we were right at the beginning of the boom and probably would have sold it in a few more weeks at a higher price.
I hope your buyers are not looking for an excuse to back out.

I dont think they are trying to find an excuse to get out of the contract, because in Texas a homebuyer has 10 days to back out of a contract for any reason. During the 10 days they have to have their inspections to decide if their are any deal breakers. After the 10 days they loose their earnest $$.....so any demands need to be made prior to the 10 day time frame. I am wondering if it is more their Realtor trying to work us?? Our Realtor said that she is a tough negotiator for her clients. I think I need her on my side....I am considering asking for her card for future dealings....hahahaha!!

 

[Chris2597]

It looks like the deal is going sour. The buyers want a new roof even though the report from the insurance appraiser, independent roofer says that it is fine. I think it comes down to the buyers trying to get another 5k off. We told them we could do the roof but would have to pull our agreement to pay for 4600 of their closing costs.....we are prepared to loose the contract. I guess if it doesnt happen it wasnt meant to be. If it does turn sour we will take the house off the market, do a few more things to it and list with another Realtor.

 

[mickeyfan1]

Chris, I am sorry that you are going to lose the contract. But with things looking up, maybe it will be for the best. Make sure you keep a copy of your inspection reports for the next buyer. That way your agent can present it to the buyers agent and there should be no issues. You can also sell as is, but to me that usually means dropping the price a lot.

I know it's a buyers market, but that doesn't give the buyer carte blanche to take the seller for every penny.

 

[Chris2597]

We conceded on just about everything they wanted but we felt like that they were overstepping on this. They are a young couple and told their Realtor that they had a 5 yr plan to have the house paid off....yeah, they want us to do it for them. They have the appraisal fee and independent inspector fee into the house, as well as 100 to us to take the house off the market...so I figure they are out at least a few hundred $$.... which doesnt hurt my feelings at all. I told dh that they might even come back and try to resolve this as I know we were giving them a very sweet deal ( I know what the comps are)....DH is really ticked and says he will tell them FULL PRICE....that he is sick of being jerked around. We really are in a decent situation as we dont owe anything so our expenses are minimal. I agree that there may be more buyers in the coming weeks with $$ being available....

 

[mickeyfan1]

Yeah, that's the attitude. If they want the house badly enough, they can come back with a better offer. If they don't, get it back on the market, priced right you know it will sell.

5 year plan, eh? What are they, communists? J/K.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

i think one of the most imperitive issues with anyone selling today is to make sure your on-line listing is top notch. if those photos are too dark the place does'nt even get looked at, if there's not enough photos it makes you wonder what's being hidden (esp. those ones with only one or 2 and both are of the exterior ), if there's something that sets your home apart from all the identical competators-make sure it's noted in the listing.

This is the best advice out there! We are buying a bigger home in a neighborhood where the kids will be going to school. We are looking at buying within these next few months and yes there are LOADS of houses now in the neighborhood where just a year ago we couldn't get in no matter how much we wanted to! We start our searches on the net on monday and narrow down what we want to see by the weekend.

SOme of the photos are what keep us away from a house like those exterior only shots, or garbage piled up in the photos (yup actually saw this).

Good luck to everyone selling!

 

[Chris2597]

I agree....about having good pics on the internet. The pic the Realtor originally took were terrible because we were in the process of boxing things up and had not finished painting....I couldnt believe he put these on the web.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Oh wow, I would be a bit upset by that too

Another thing, keep your tid bit information on your flyer truthful. We saw one last week that said Neutral decor throughout and we were quite excited since we really liked the exterior.

We set up an appointment and we go inside and the flooring is black and white 50s style diner!! The carpeting in the bedrooms was RED the walls in about 40% of the rooms were BRIGHT Mcdonalds Arches yellow and it only went clolor nightmare from there. Yes, mainly cosmetic. BUT if they are saying that in the ad just to get people inside, then who knows wht else they could not be telling the truth on (even if they aren't hiding anything I still think they might be).

I like this thread since it's also telling me to be sure to the let the realtors know what exactly we didn't like about the house and not just give generic statements like (not our style). I always feel too critical or mean giving things we didn't like about it.

 

[Chris2597]

Here we go again....a second ride on the Real Estate Roller Coaster Express!! We got a call from our Realtor this morning saying the people were still "waffling". He called a few hours later and said that they would take the house AS IS if we came down an additional 2300. We would not be required to put new carpet in the bedrooms, but they still wanted the 400 house warranty policy. They would take it AS IS, which boils down to us coming down another 1150. DH told the Realtor that we would accept the deal but that he would like the 2 Realtors to split the cost of the warranty policy for the buyer, which would equal a good will gesture to us. He said he was in and would run it by the other Realtor. So we shall see. I will post the outcome.

 

[NikiM20]

Wow Chris, I hope we dont go through all that trouble. Well our house officially goes on the market Friday. I am busy busy trying to get things finished. 2 more days We also sent in our paperwork to be preapproved, that should make things much easier when we go to buy.

 

[Chris2597]

It appears we have a deal. We have closing set for next Tues. I signed the papers tonight....and you wont believe where!! DD and I went to the movies and he called saying that the papers had to be signed tonight....so he met me at the theater and we signed the papers on the trunk of his car. I am not thrilled that we had to come down so much on our price (about 30k from original asking price)but I know the market is tough.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mickeyfan1]

Yay!!!!! We hated dropping out price 25K, but had we not, we would still be paying that mortgage and the rent here, which probably would have stressed us to the point of crying 24/7.

Congrats to you Chris and the rest of you, don't give up.

 

[Chris2597]

I wanted to drop in and give an update. It is a done deal. We closed on Tues. I feel sorry for my mom's old neighbors....This family appears to be the not so nice sort. They look like a family of sour apples.
We didnt get the price we wanted and had to make a lot of concessions but I am glad it is over. It appears things are not improving on the housing front so we probably did the right thing.
Good luck to those that have homes on th market. I will check in periodically to see how things are going.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Congrats to you....

 

[Cindyluwho]

Tomorrow will be two weeks on the market for us. Things have been going along fine, we've even had some good showings but no offer yet. Yesterday we had our broker's open and 22 agents came through so at least lots of agents are still out there working! There was one couple whose house burned down during the last year and they really loved the house. Their attorney advised them that they will get more $$ from the insurance company if they wait for the settlement before they buy
These folks happen to be friends of ours and she cried and boy was he mad!
I will say I'm so tired of keeping the house "just so", it's makin' me crazy!!

 

[Mellie2162]

I will say I'm so tired of keeping the house "just so", it's makin' me crazy!!

I gave up on keeping it clean. Its nearly impossible here. If I go through one day and clean it up, by the next its dirty again. We never have any showings, have only had 1 since its been on the market. Im sure the price is too high, but DH says he's not budging anymore and we will ride it out. There are 2 other houses on our street for sale comparable to ours but with 1 bedroom and bathroom less and they have dropped their prices several times, so low that we couldnt compete anyway. Its crazy but im just going with the flow.

 

[Mellie2162]

Any updates from anyone selling lately?

Our realtor called on Monday and said she wants to come sit down with us next week and talk about what the market is doing now and figure out what else we can do to get our house moving and get some activity on it. not sure how well this will go because im sure she wants us to lower price and dh absolutely refuses to lower more.