Just put a bid on a house?!

[ckret01]

My DF and I were looking to buy a house. We found one that was close to where I live now and doesn't change my commute much which is great b/c I drive an hour to work already one way. The seller came down about $4000 off the original asking price....we wanted more of course but he wasn't budging. He gve his final offer and said that if we didn't accpet it he was going to have an open house. We didn't know what to do as we barely had time to decide (we found out last night at 9pm and we have to let their agent know by 2m today) so we put in a bid of what they said was their lowest. So now we are just waiting to find out if they accpeted our bid.

I am nervous and excited at the same time. It is very scary and I keep thinking " am I going to be able to afford this, what am I doing?"...we did our number crunching and stuff but you can't help to keep re-thinking. This house doesn't have a basement so that was one of my hang ups.

Send us loads of pixie dust...I will sure need it

 

[kpm76]

Congrats!! I know how you're feeling We went though the whole house hunting process last year and it was really stressful. The house we made an initial offer on was contingent upon the sellers finding suitable housing and they didn't so the deal fell though. But, we found a better house for us, it just took patience. Good luck to you!! I hope this works out but if not, there's something better out there for you

 

[ckret01]

I forgot to add that in there as well (it's so hard dis'ing when you're at work-lol) but the closing has to coordinate with the seller find a home also...I thought about that if they don't find one....AGH what a pain.

 

[kpm76]

Well, my advice on contingency clauses is be really careful. Some people have transactions go really well, but we did not have that same experience. My advice is if you really love the house, make sure when the purchase and sales agreement is drawn up, you have a good attorney working for you, one that specializes in real estate....that was our saving grace. Ask them to put language in there that if the sellers don't find something by a certain date the deal is null and void and your deposit is to be returned. The sellers might not agree to this and if not, then it's your decision as to whether or not to move forward, but I would advise not to. Otherwise, you're stuck and at their mercy. We could not back out because we would have lost our deposit. The sellers ended up backing out one week before we closed on our condo and we were temporarily scheduled to close on the house. It was a nightmare. All our stuff went into storage and we popped around to different family member's houses. Not ideal but we were lucky they were willing to take us in...LOL...good luck!!

 

[dcgrumpy]

Our lawyer advised us not to sign a contract with that in it. Instead we made the closing date 5 mos later so that gave them enough time to find something.

 

[gris gris]

good luck! I hope your bid is accepted and everything works out. I felt the same way when we bought our house re: how are we going to afford it (especially since I was losing my job!) but it all works out. You find a way!

 

[kpm76]

Our lawyer advised us not to sign a contract with that in it. Instead we made the closing date 5 mos later so that gave them enough time to find something.

Yeah, our lawyrer advised us not to sign with the contingency clause either but we thought we knew it all We learned our lesson and the value in having a good attorney. It would not have worked for us to make the closing date that far out because we were selling property and had no place to go. Then again, it didn't work out for us in the end so I don't think the closing date mattered much. Also, real estate laws are designed to protect the seller not the buyer. Even if the closing date is set 5 or 6 months out, the sellers can also back out if there is a contingency clause.....defining "suitable housing" is very subjective. In our case, I think the sellers just decided they didn't want to more that quickly so they backed out.

 

[ckret01]

Well here is the lastest. We put in our bid today and that they came back with (we accepted their final bid) by 2pm today b/c that is what they gave us or they were going to have an open house this sunday. Well.......

Our agent calls us and says the seller is saying that we didn't give them a pre-approval letter and that we didn't give any money yet ,They want a check now for the downpayment. Our agent called them back letting them know that they aren’t receiving any money until they accept offer and inspection of the house. (we did get pre-approval for a mortgage etc)

So 1/2 hour later.....Apparently the other real estate agent never brought over the initial paper work from our Agent. It got mixed up in someone’s elses faxes. Their agent is now driving over to the guy and having him look at it and sign it. If he signs it – he can not accept any other offers. They are still going ahead with the open house but for a business reason. Apparently this agent is new and it will give her some new business. As long as they sign the bid – he can not accept another.


This to me is soooo SHADY...Truly unbelievable!!!!! Think we need to think about this and forget it AGHHHH

 

[gris gris]

Boy I'd be ticked if I went to an open house on Sunday and found out the house was under contract already!!

 

[kpm76]

Yeah, this sounds odd to me. When we made an offer, we gave a deposit check (not downpayment, but the money would be applied to the downpayment in the end). The inspection came after the offer was accepted and a purchase and sales agreement was signed. If anything was discovered during the inspection that was not on the disclosure forms, we'd then have to work with the sellers to fix it, or if it was major, we could back out. I have heard of people in other states not signing an agreement until the inspection....different laws in different states I guess. I would be very very leary of this situation. Seems like a lot of red flags. Good luck and best wishes in this process