I'm Moving

[BornandBred]

I've worked in Houston for 3 years while my wife was in lawschool. She just finished and is taking the Bar starting Tuesday. It's a 3 day, 8 hour a day test so needless to say, she's been freaking out a little. So, while she has been studying like I've never seen anybody study before, we're trying to sell our home.

We've had an offer submitted, accepted, and are now in the option period. Here's the problem: The buyer is being a massive pain in the ***. First, he's not allowing a single day of leaseback, which is ridiculous in my opinion, but whatever. We were able to get some "inconvenience" funds for having to move twice. Now, the inspections are being done. I say inspections, because from my count, this makes 5. There was a full state lisenced inspection on Tuesday. On Wednesday there was another inpsection by the same inspector, only this time giving the buyers Dad time to point out anything he didn't like. Also on Wednesday there was a termite inspection. Yesterday, I was told that they would be doing an HVAC inspection. Well, as I'm showing their HVAC guy around, in walks ANOTHER inspector. He hands me a card and says he's going to be checking out the roof. He then proceeds to start looking under the sink and at the kitchen appliances. I'm like WTF? You said roof AND I was never told you were coming. Well, this guy appears to be a friend of the family that is doing an inspection to find anything small. He got up on the roof and pointed out a few minor things. Some I'll fix, others I won't because they are luxory improvements vs. standard installations. Anyways, he starts poking around looking for whatever he can find. My house is 13 years old, if you look for every little thing, you'll find a bunch of little stuff.

Anyways, I'm pissed about this entire situation and about ready to burn the entire thing to the ground. We should be getting our repair list today so I'll soon find out exactly how pissed I am.

Anyone else ever had any experience with home buyers like this? I mean, if something is wrong, I understand multiple inspections, but everything I've heard back from both inspectors and his realtor is everything checks out. Anyways, I'm done venting for now. If this repair list is too long, I'm going to waive my middle finger in the air and tell this guys to shove it.

[kbsooner21]

Then take a hammer and crush his cranium. Not really, but I understand your frustration. What a nightmare it sounds like!

[Mjcpr]

You can say no to the repairs or set a dollar limit that you will pay. If they want the house bad enough, they'll deal.

[mdklatt]

If they want the house bad enough, they'll deal.

Good thing it's a seller's market....

[1890MilesToNorman]

Those are over the top buyers, let them submit their list of repairs and then say "you fix'em". They either buy or they don't.

[BornandBred]

Good thing it's a seller's market....

Bingo. I'm under contract on a house we really love in Keller, so it would be extremely dissappointing if we lost that. But at this point, my wife and I are just about ready to walk away.

[1890MilesToNorman]

I wonder how much these folks have spent in inspection fees? Some folks are just crazy.

[Boomer.....]

The list might be long and filled with petty things. The buyer may not have you fix everything on the list though.

[BornandBred]

He's already optioned out on another house because of too extensive a list. But, apparently the previous house was a forclosure, which is a bad idea to start, IMO.

[OU4LIFE]

Good thing it's a seller's market....

except for the fact that humans aren't smart when it comes to home buying, they buy with their heart and it sounds like they have already 'bought' this house in their heads. Therefor he has some leverage.

For the most part i agree with Pat, I'd tell them that the house is being relisted if the deal isn't done soon, and exactly what you told us, it's 13 years old, there's going to be things wrong, it's part of being a homeowner.

If they don't like it, it's Houston...there will be another buyer.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

when we sold our house a couple of years ago, we went through something similar..several inspectors, including the buyers dad, picking through stuff and providing an extensive list...i picked out a couple of things off the list and told them that was all I would fix..

[BornandBred]

I expect to do something like that. If the requests are reasonable, I'll take care of it. If not, they can eat my dik.

[yermom]

why did they make an offer already if they were still inspecting the house?

i think the key here is to make them think they are more desperate than you are :D

[stoops the eternal pimp]

I told the people buying our house we hadnt found a place to move into, so it didnt matter how long we stayed there...

[Mjcpr]

why did they make an offer already if they were still inspecting the house?

i think the key here is to make them think they are more desperate than you are :D

The inspections can't be done until after offer/acceptance AFAIK.

[BornandBred]

Yeah, I totally screwed up and found a house I liked before we had ours sold. So, we had to come down in asking price. But, it washed out cause the house I wanted just came down more than I did. Emotions suck for negotiating.

Also, my realtor has been a liability but that is an entirely different thread.

[yermom]

The inspections can't be done until after offer/acceptance AFAIK.

that sounds like a waste of time... it's been a while since i bought my house, so i don't really remember


Yeah, I totally screwed up and found a house I liked before we had ours sold. So, we had to come down in asking price. But, it washed out cause the house I wanted just came down more than I did. Emotions suck for negotiating.

Also, my realtor has been a liability but that is an entirely different thread.

i wanted to choke my realtor, i do remember that much

[BornandBred]

I've decided to only deal with her assistant. At least she seems somewhat competent. Also, I've already informed her managing broker, so hopefully if I need to fire her, I can do it asap.

[Mjcpr]

that sounds like a waste of time... it's been a while since i bought my house, so i don't really remember

Nobody would want to pay for and nobody would want to allow inspectors unless there was a deal in place to buy the house. If the inspections turn up an issue you don't wany any part of (foundation problems, termites, HVAC, etc), you can pass and find something else. You wouldn't want to pay for inspections on every house you looked at and liked and the sellers wouldn't want the inconvenience. Plus, the seller will know the buyer is serious if they commit to paying for inspections on the home.

That's how it was done on each of my purchases anyway.

[yermom]

I've decided to only deal with her assistant. At least she seems somewhat competent. Also, I've already informed her managing broker, so hopefully if I need to fire her, I can do it asap.

next time i buy/sell a house i'm going to bypass that whole process if at all possible

basically all i got out of her was repeatedly getting pushed into more house than i wanted to buy, funny math and paying extra to pay her commission

[yermom]

Nobody would want to pay for and nobody would want to allow inspectors unless there was a deal in place to buy the house. If the inspections turn up an issue you don't wany any part of (foundation problems, termites, HVAC, etc), you can pass and find something else. You wouldn't want to pay for inspections on every house you looked at and liked and the sellers wouldn't want the inconvenience. Plus, the seller will know the buyer is serious if they commit to paying for inspections on the home.

That's how it was done on each of my purchases anyway.

i guess that makes sense, that was all kind of a blur at the time

[BornandBred]

My father is a realtor in norman, and has been for 20+ years. He has a great reputation and I would love to do business with him. I was under the impression that is how all realtors work. NOT THE CASE!!

[OKC-SLC]

Others are right: see what list of things the buyer wants fixed. You then decide what you will or won't do. Basically I'd limit it to "safety" type things if there's anything like that. I wouldn't do anything cosmetic because then it's hard to draw a line.

At the end of the day, if he wants this house, and he probably does since he's had everyone he knows look at it and nitpick it, this shouldn't be a dealbreaker.

Or like Pat said--just set a dollar limit and then he can suck it.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

my dollar limit was 500 dollars

[BornandBred]

I'm hoping the list is reasonable. I've gotten myself pretty worked up over this, so it's likely that it will be just fine. But, in my experience with these folks, it's gunna be a long list. And Texas contracts don't allow for a maximum repair allowance, so it's a bit open ended. I'll offer to fix a few things and offer a dollar value that hopefully makes him happy. Take it or leave it, I'd still like the throat punch the guy.