I always tell my buyers and sellers that there is usually a flurry of activity right when the contract is written, and then again in the days before the closing. What I don't expect to have to contend with is not knowing all the facts about a property until hours before a closing.
We were all moving forward on a purchase of a multi-family property in Montpelier. At 4:30 on the day before the closing, we find out (and I'm with the buyer on this one) that one of the tenants hasn't paid rent in six months. That's a pretty big deal for a couple of reasons:
1. The underwriting was based on all of the occupied units producing rental income.
2. The offer was based on not having delinquent tenants/possible evictions. There's a difference between a multi-family property in Montpelier with reliable tenants, and one facing possible evictions.
It is possible-and I'm an optimist--that the listing agent didn't know about this until the day before. But he should have known. And the seller should have disclosed that.
Pulling fast ones isn't the way to go in this market. I'm going to hope that it was just poor due diligence on the part of the listing agent, and anything purposefully deceitful.
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