Home advice needed...

[Mara]

i bet they got what they asked because the last 3 end units have sold for asking, which were all 10k over. and the one that just sold for the going rate (not the 10k less one), got what they asked for as well. so i would imagine that someone who was asking 10k less for an end unit while another one was 10k more would have gotten their asking if it sold flat out in a week. and it wasn''t a sale pending sign either, but a SOLD. what is the difference? maybe they paid cash?!

there is one more unit left which is asking 15k more than the one cheap one, so 5k over the last highest one. that one is taking a bit longer to sell. and that''s when i am like really is 5k worth having it on the market for another 3 weeks? i guess if you have the time sure, but in the end it seems like the time and waiting could balance out just selling 5k cheaper etc. it''s such a game!

 

[butterfly 17]

Okay, now I am nervous. My RE agent has not called me back at all regarding my counteroffer of $470K and it has been over 24 hours.

Maybe I should not have countered? But I think they would have expected me to, no?

She did say the highest they wanted to pay was $465k and they did have another property that they wanted to see, but I am positive any other property they want to see will be much higher than that.


I just hope we get this over with by tomorrow. The waiting is killing me!

 

[Dee*Jay]

If you don''t hear anything by 11:00 (in whatever time zone you''re in) your agent needs to call the other agent, even if it''s just for feedback on how they reacted to the counter offer. You always have the option to saying, well, we''ve thought it over and we''ll take $465K, but I hate to see you leave five grand in their pocket instead of your if you can help it. (That''s a lot of bling, LOL!)

 

[butterfly 17]

Date: 11/15/2006 9:46:29 AM
Author: Dee*Jay
If you don''t hear anything by 11:00 (in whatever time zone you''re in) your agent needs to call the other agent, even if it''s just for feedback on how they reacted to the counter offer. You always have the option to saying, well, we''ve thought it over and we''ll take $465K, but I hate to see you leave five grand in their pocket instead of your if you can help it. (That''s a lot of bling, LOL!)

Well, I called my agent today to find out what is going on. He said he would call their agent and see what they said. He did mention that they were still looking at other homes so maybe they were just making offers to see if anyone would take it, but I also still looked at other homes even after we agreed on a price of the one I am getting.


Also, if they were just making random offers why would they have bothered making a counteroffer?

Anyway, I do hope that we get the $470K, but even if they could go halfway, say $467K, that would be perfect too.

Yes, that extra $5K would be a nice eternity band or 4 new Balenciagas!! Ha, ha, but alas, I can''t spend the money, we want to fix up the backyard with possibly a big deck, put some landscaping and eventually pavers and a pool, so no new bling for me!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Butterfly, let us know as soon as they responsed. Fingers and toes crossed... !

 

[mrssalvo]

please keep us posted butterfly..i hope they take your counter offer....

 

[butterfly 17]

Yikes, I have bad news.
There appears to be a division between the fiance and the fiancee. I thought they were married, but I am told they are not.

Anyway, the man likes the house and wants to buy it, is ready to give me the price I want, but the fiancee is having second thoughts, even though she loves it as well.

Why? Because she thinks it''s too close to his ex and their kids, and he loves it because it is close to the kids.


So, they are deciding what they want to do.

The weird thing is that she saw it first by herself and wanted to show it to her "husband". I mean, if she knew it was so close, why would she even bother to have him look at it and why did she bother looking at it herself.

I guess I will know soon if they want to go through with it or not.

If they really want to get away from his kids, they really should not be looking in this neighborhood or borough at all, me thinks.

 

[poptart]

Oh dear! I have been following the thread, and I hope they come back and give you that offer. Too bad there is not extra incentive to offer her, eesh.

*M*

 

[Dee*Jay]

Ooh Butterfuly, that''s an ugly one. I see stuff like this all the time; it ends up not being about the house at all, but rather all the other factors that play into the universe at large that can''t be controlled no matter how good the intentions or how much you try.

That being said, I would think it would be a GOOD thing for the fiance/ex-husband to be close to his kids (even if the ex-wife lives there too) so hopefully he''ll be able to convince his fiance of that too.

Hang in there, and keep us posted.

 

[butterfly 17]

I got another offer!!! I got the offer last night at around 7:30 pm. The seller''s RE agent wanted to present me with the offer personally, which I thought was a bit strange.

I don''t want this one to get messed up as they are extremely serious and have a written binder, etc.
They came to the house last week and then came again yesterday and asked a lot of questions. They are not from around here and are currently renting in Brooklyn, so I don''t have to worry about them selling anything to buy my house.

So here are the details. They offered $465k, want to put 5% down, a total of 20% at closing, have two preapproval letters, etc. told me what they do for a living, he''s project manager for a bank and she''s a lawyer. They even gave me their credit scores- he has 820

, she has 720. They want to sign contracts on 11/28 and close by 12/30.
The only thing they ask is that I replace the DR fixture that I am not leaving and remove the swing set in the backyard.

I understand that they really want the house and loved it when they first saw it last week.

So, what should I counteroffer? My asking is $485K. Their offer is not that bad considering the first couple with the $450K, so I want to get at least the $470K, but maybe I can even get the $475K.

 

[fire&ice]

Clean contract. No issues. A bird in the hand. I''d take it and wouldn''t look back.

You have a binding contract. A counter offer voids it. Do you really want to risk it for like 1% of the total cost?

 

[Dee*Jay]

Boy oh boy Butterfly, the negotiator in me wants to say offer to meet in the middle at $475K but F&I is right. If this were MY HOUSE I would take the $465 and call it a day. I know it''s hard to leave potentially X dollars on the table, but it''s harder to find a third bidder in the holiday season.

I don''t fully understand the part about the buyer''s agent presenting the contract directly to you. Was your agent at least present? That part is very unusual. And what does your agent say about the potential of countering?

Keep us posted--I check this thread several times a day to see what''s new with your deal!

 

[movie zombie]

fire and ice is giving good advice. get out while you''ve got a good offer. i wouldn''t even consider a counter offer.....but i''d be going through my agent with the acceptance. and making those moving plans for my new place!

movie zombie

 

[butterfly 17]

Well, I told my RE agent that I really wanted $470k and he went ahead and countered with $475k and they countered with $470K, so I got what I wanted!!!

He told me that he was going to wait until tomorrow to accept b/c I had one other couple do a reshow tonight and he wants to see if they would make an offer as well. I told him I still wanted to show the house b/c I wanted to get a backup offer just in case this doesn''t go through.

The first couple never came back with another offer, so I guess even if they came back now and accepted my $470, it would really be up to me who to sell it to and I think in that case I would just go with the ones that offered yesterday b/c they seem more reliable in terms of financing and overall just seem more serious with their offer.

If I went with that first couple I would be afraid that they would change their mind again and then I would get stuck finding a buyer again.

I am not sure why the buyers RE agent wanted to present me with their offer. My RE agent was on the other line by the way, so it was really a three way call, but I thought it was strange. I think he was trying to impress me with his professionalism as he is the owner of the RE agency I was about to list my home with, but at the last minute I changed it to the agency who I was buying the other house from instead.

Also, he (the buyers agent) is also going to be my new neighbor, he told me he bought a house a few doors down!

So now what comes next? Once we have the terms settled out, do I go ahead and have them send that to my lawyer or do they have to do the inspection first before she draws up the papers or can she do that already and that way, once the inspection is done, we can just send the contract right away.

Also, I am afraid of the inspection. We had a leak on our bedroom floor at one point which we had fixed, but the floor got a little wet and after it dried there is evidence of it. It is a really small area and if I had carpet, you wouldn''t even notice, but it''s there. I got an estimate to fix the wood and it was really cheap- $125 to replace the planks, but the guy said you would notice that that area is new compared to the rest of the floor.
I asked my agent and she said to just leave it because you really have to point it out to notice it (it is about a one foot square and only noticeable in between the planks which just got a little darker grey in color).
So, should I go ahead and have it fixed or just leave it? I don''t want a little thing like that to be a big problem.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Butterfly - I don't EVER say congratulations before a deal actually leaves the closing table, so I don't dare say it now (

), but this all sounds wonderful!

As for the order of things, in my neck of the woods you get the contract to the attorney as soon as it's countersigned. The seller's attorney will most likely initiate attorney review correspondence (unless it is near the end of the review period specifed in the contract, in which case your attorney may send a perfunctory letter to keep the window open) and any review items will be incorporated in the correspondence.

As for the leak. You have an honest story: There was a leak in the past, you had the leak fixed but you never had the floorboards replaced. The buyer's inspector may not even notice the damage if it is slight, but if he/she does the buyers should indicate whether they want it fixed. If so, you may also be able to negotiate with them that rather than fixing it you will give them $X dollars and they can worry about it themselves. I am surprised though about the comment that the new floorboards will be obvious. I seen quite a bit of repair work done and a skilled floor person can blend in the new with the old and really leave no trace of the repair.

Keep up posted and all fingers and toes are firmly crossed for you!

 

[butterfly 17]

Dee*Jay,
I am excited too. My RE agent told me that these are the best buyers he has come across the whole year, so I am excited that they chose my house and not the other 4 available on my block.

I did feel a little bad today when I got home though b/c the RE agent who has been doing our open houses called me to find out if she could show my house at 4:30 pm and I told her I didn''t know if I could make it. She said don''t worry about it b/c the people who wanted to see it had seen it already but expressed interest in it and wanted to know if it was still available.

I told her I would try to get home by 5:30pm, so she said she would just reschedule for another day.

So, we ended up getting home a bit earlier than expected and got home at 4:00pm and guess who I see walking out of my neighbor''s house with the buyers ( the house that I am attached to BTW) and then going across the street to look at another neighbor''s house as well.

OF course after that they stopped by my house, but I felt kind of bad that she was showing everyone''s house on the block. She did tell me what the other houses looked like in comparision to my home and she said that mine was better maintained, but still.

Also, the neighbor I am attached to who has been selling since May signed up with a new agency after 6 months with no offers. It is really a tough market. I told her to plant St. Joseph in the lawn, that''s what I did and she said she did from the beginning.

 

[MINE!!]

BUTTERFLY, I have been lurking in your thread for a long time and I just want you to know that I am hapy for you and I hope that everything turns out just as great as it is sounding like it will!!!

 

[butterfly 17]

Thank you guys for all your support. So far everything is okay. I am trying to get my lawyer to coordinate the closing dates to be one day apart and I asked the buyer to let me stay in the house for a few days after we close so we can move over to the other house.

Ideally, it would have been great to close on the house I want and then close on my house so that I could deliver an empty house to the buyers and not feel too rushed, but this works out great anyway.

The inspection is scheduled on Saturday and then as soon as everything is okay with that (please wish me good vibes that the inspector doesn''t find anything wrong with my house!) my lawyer will draw up the contract.

I am excited, but I don''t want to get too hyped about this because you never know what will happen.

So, Send over the PS vibes for a clean and clear inspection!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Butterfly - I''m on a very painful dial-up connection at the resort we''re at this week so please forgive the lack of messages, but I wanted to say that I''m thinking of you and wish you a successful inspection on Saturday! I''ll be home this weekend so let us know how it all goes.

 

[Sundial]

Hi Butterfly just checking back in on your thread to say that I hope all goes well with your inspection and that the closing goes off without a hitch! I can say from personal experience that the deal is never done until the check clears the bank, but it sounds like you are well on your way.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Butterfly - Did you have the inspection yesterday? How did it go?

 

[butterfly 17]

Okay, update again.

The inspection went very well, as the inspector didn''t tell them we needed to fix anything in the house, so it was good. He didn''t even notice the leak in my bedroom, so that was a relief!

After he left, the RE agent asked the buyers if they wanted anything fixed and they said no, so on Monday I called my lawyer and they said they received the binder already and they were going to draw up the contracts.

I called today and they told me the contracts were sent, so now I just have to wait for them to sign the contracts and then we can sign them.

So, now we are just waiting.

As far as the new house, the owners signed the contract last week and I am just waiting to get it in the mail.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Woo Hoo! Great news!

 

[butterfly 17]

Just an update again.

The buyers of my house signed the contract today so now I am just waiting for it to get to my lawyers so I can sign it.

The only change they made on the contract was that I had asked for 7 days to hand over the keys and they changed it to 5, which is fine. I really don''t want to stay in this house that long, but I figured just in case the owners of the other house have not moved yet, it gives me time.

So now my question is should I close on both homes in the same day or should I close on my home first and then close on the other home the next day. Also, since I need the money from my house to buy the other house, how exactly does that work?

Do I run to the bank after closing on my house to deposit the check and won''t it take some time for funds to clear? I would imagine if I deposited a large amount into the bank, the bank would not let me turn around and take it out a few minutes later.

So, how exactly is it done?

 

[Dee*Jay]

Butterfly, I would close on your old home on one day and the new home on the next day. That way if anything gets delayed you have a small time cushion to work with.

As for the order of closing and how the money works: It is of course easier if you close your old house first because then you have the $ for the second closing. As you mention, you *can* deposit the check into your bank account, but it won't be cleared funds for a certain period of time, which doesn't do you any good in you have your other closing that day or the next day. I don't know where you live, but in my market the proceeds check from one title company can be endorsed over for the purchase of another property at the same or a different title company.

If you close on your new house first you will need what's called a "bridge loan" to give you the extra $ you will need for the down payment of your new home prior to the closing of your old home. The rate on a bridge loan is higher than the rate of the mortgage loan, and some institutions require that you hold the $ for a minimum of one month. That's all up to your lender. In any event it wouldn't be very much $, but why pay it if you don't have to? Try to arrange it so that you don't need a bridge.

The best thing to do is to ask your agent or your attorney for advice at this point. You could also ask the title company, but try your agent or attorney first because they will be familiar with your particular situation.

 

[butterfly 17]

Date: 11/30/2006 9:58:37 PM
Author: Dee*Jay
I don''t know where you live, but in my market the proceeds check from one title company can be endorsed over for the purchase of another property at the same or a different title company.


The best thing to do is to ask your agent or your attorney for advice at this point. You could also ask the title company, but try your agent or attorney first because they will be familiar with your particular situation.

I guess I will have to ask my lawyer how exactly that works b/c it seems a little complicated. My lawyer is running the title search on the house I want to get, so I don''t even know what title company she is using, but I will ask her tomorrow how we will go about this.
Thanks!!

 

[mrssalvo]

butterfly, it sounds like everything is coming together for you. I hope the rest goes smoothly and hope you''ll post some pics of your gorgeous new home...