I wrote a contract for a house that my sister Linda wanted to purchase on August 24, 2013, and we closed August 7, 2014. I've never had a pending sale last almost 12 months. This was such an ordeal for my sister the buyer, sellers and both the listing and selling agents. I wanted to help my sister purchase this home, but never new it would take this long.
At times I wanted to scream at the lender. Who was the lender...U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development. My sister is legally blind and I thought this would be the way for her to go as she would not have to bring any money to the table. Her money is very limited so we went USDA. The USDA office is located across the road from my real estate office. We were told it may take three-six months. NOT!!
I will say I can't blame everything on the lender. The owner of the house died within a month of the contract. The four siblings had to remove all the furniture, they had yard sales and got the house completely clean, and we went back and forth on the sale price, appraisal, and home repairs. Then had to wait for sellers to get a survey, and the septic had to be inspected. But, as you know since the owner had not lived in the house for over 30 days (she was in a nursing home) we asked for $5,000 to be kept in escrow until the new owner has lived in the house for 30 days to ensure septic lines are working properly. Even after both buyers/sellers did their part, the lender (a one man shop) had to do all the paper work. At the time the lender got the contract, he said she is #12 in the stack. So, between all the holidays and his vacations.......almost a year later ................ We finally got to the settlement table and CLOSED!
300 Vista Road, Bluefield, WV
Anyway, my sister is delighted. My other sister, Avis, had a deck added to the back of the house and will be helping to renovate this cute 3BR, 1Ba house with 1,018 sq ft of living space, full unfinished basement, nice fenced yard, and large kitchen. The list price on this house was $59,900. Sale price, $53,000.
More renovations has begun. The wall between the kitchen and living room will be removed to have an open floor plan, new laminated floors throughout, paneling covered and walls painted. The laundry room floor was made level, and the door to the outside was closed off and a new door opening added that goes out to the deck. Basement door to the stairwell was removed and replaced with a solid wall as my sister would not be going down the stairs. There is an outside door to the basement under the deck.
Another sister, Alice, lives less than a quarter of mile from Linda's new home. So they are both very happy to have this closure and move on with the renovations. My brother gave Linda new kitchen appliances, and patio furniture. We will definitely have a big celebration when she finally moves into her new home!
To say the least, this was the most frustrating transaction, but my sisters and I kept a cool head! We Finally Closed - It took almost a year!
If you are buying or selling a home, call me... Rebecca Gaujot at 304-520-2133. I will be glad to help you find that dream house or provide a comparative market analysis for a home you are wanting to sell.
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