We just had to reject a counteroffer.... The house is a bit overpriced and my buyer needs closing costs.... I will tell a tale about two ex'es who could have made a difference.......First we will talk about today's offer....
We offered a little low...A fair price but not a great price....The agent informed me that at the price and conditions of the offer the seller would have to come to closing with $8000. She wouldn't be willing to do that... I don't mind for my buyer but the house is at least $5000 to high for the market. I worry about the appraisal... She counters where she would have to come to closing with $3000 and paying no closing costs...
All of this is normal but let me tell you a little about the ex. The ex has been bought out in a better time by the lady... The home has a VA mortgage... He wants her to sell the home so he can use the VA option again.... By getting the VA mortgage he comes in with nothing down and he saves at least $100/month on mortgage insurance.... hmmm that is a lot of money he saves... He was asked to help his ex...He refused (once last week and once this week). Perhaps if he would kick in a couple of grand this home might get sold... Then they both could go on with their lives...She isn't ready to short sale yet...Maybe the market is rising and she will get a good offer. The foreclosure that just went pending in her development was priced $44K less then hers. Now the foreclosure needed paint and carpet but $6K would take care of that....Her house is also at the beginning of the development. That means all the traffic in the development goes by the home.... Seems to me if he wants to use his VA eligibility he might just have to pay a little for the privilege.
The next story happened a couple of years ago....
A recently divorced male friend contacted me for help. His ex wife was in foreclosure and his credit was being hurt....She wasn't trying to sell.... She was just living in the home. The city was a couple hours from Boise so I first did a CMA based on what I was told... The numbers looked OK if the house was OK. I talked to my friend's ex. Turns out the mortgage was $1400/ month and she was earning $1600/ month plus a little child support (I am angry with my friend about the amount). I asked if she would consider either a loan modification or a sale. She preferred to get out so I contacted an agent in Twin Falls and referred the listing out. The report I got back was sad. There was a lot of deferred maintenance and the house just couldn't be sold for the mortgage value...He didn't think a short sale was an option either.... He advised me to run....I called my friend and suggested he either help with labor or money to fix the house up.... He told me was too busy and couldn't help for at least 4 months...I reminded him that his credit was being ruined, his daughter lived in the home and it was the right thing to do... None of these arguments appealed to him...
I was really angry at my friend... I really hate it when a man screws his ex-wife...Especially when his children are involved. This was not an acrimonious divorce.. I was in the wife's camp... I thought about it and decided that a loan modification would be the most practical option for her... She told me that she had tried to contact the banks and got a run around and made no progress...I got the information...Called the banks (via three way calls to save the time of their losing my permission to speak forms)...The second mortgage immediately reduced her payment down to $86/ month...It took longer but she got the loan modification for the first mortgage too. Mother and daughter still live in the home for around $850/month....The bank didn't have to foreclose and she didn't have to move. My friend gets no credit for being a mench (yiddish word meaning gentleman or good person).
A little bit of help from the ex husbands could have greased the wheel enough to sell both these homes. The truth is that these men loved these women enough to marry them and have children with them... It wouldn't have taken much to help these ladies sell their homes.... I assume sometimes it is the woman who needs to come to the plate but I haven't had to deal with that situation yet.
Comments (3)Subscribe to CommentsComment