What Happens When The Seller Doesn't Want To Comply??
A couple of years ago, I sold a home in Loudoun County, in fact in Lovettsville, to a buyer couple that were a pleasure to work with.
Sadly, the seller was, how do I tactfully say, "not so much".
There was a huge collection of junk, old building materials, just plain trash in an interior crawl space. It was, of course, in the contract that the property be "broom clean and free of debris" at the pre-settlement. Again, it was "not so much".
These were buyers where the husband had spent about 15 years in the Navy. I can get very motivated for a military family.
THE ANGRY SELLER. The seller was very angry because of the price at which he was selling his home. He needed to sell. His wife had already relocated to CA and had made an offer on a property there. The sellers were not a young family with children. They were a working couple who knew what they were doing. He was simply very angry.
One thing is for sure, I know home value in Lovettsville. I also know AN OPPORTUNITY when I see one.
O.K. We made a very low offer. Everything else was in place, buyer's VA loan fully approved. Home inspection already scheduled. All we needed was the final walk-through. Sure, we got the property for a very good price. That said, the seller's signed. Time to move forward.
At the pre-settlement walk-through, the junk in the crawl space was still there. The seller simply refused to remove the junk. According to the listing agent, he was very angry and thought the buyers should be satisfied getting a home about $43,000 under list price.
Mmmm. We knew the home had appraised for about $30,000 above the contract price. Of course, we do NOT disclose that fact to the listing agent nor to the seller.
What to do??? Well, my advice to the buyers was, "Sit on it." Time was on our side.
SUCCESS!!! Two days later, we received the addendum with the seller accepting the low price.
Further, the LISTING BROKER agreed to give the buyers a $500 broker credit to compensate them for removing the trash in the crawlspace.
WHAT'S THE MESSAGE HERE??
1, Know the property values in your market area.
2, Understand the loan products for which your buyers are eligible.
3. Be thankful when you are working with a cooperative listing agent/broker.
4. Have patience.
5. Hope your buyers have confidence in you to manage their home purchase to their advantage.
I found some of the history.
The original list price was $525,000. It was on the market for almost 5 months.
The final sale price was $449,000.
Closing help from seller to buyer was about $13,000, VA loan.
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Inspired by a post by Jeff Dowler.
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