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We finally have an offer on the house we built for sale almost 4 years ago!!! They accepted our counter so now we wait!! It looks good though! I will be so thankful when this is done.

Congratulations. At last!!!!!!! Hope all goes well.

Yeah...best wishes to you!!!!!!!

Sending positive vibes your way too!

Sending good thoughts and prayers your way!
Congratulations!!!

Sending only the best and fairy dust too for good luck.

Way to go! Keep us posted!

It's a no go. We found out they sold their last house by short sell so they can't get a loan for a new one.

Honest to Pete! Gotta wonder if people like that have any brains in their heads at all. Clue to them: if ya walk away from a debt, you're not gonna be able to get anyone else to loan you money for a good long while afterwards. Duh!

So sorry, Kayhill.

quote:

Originally posted by kayhil:
It's a no go. We found out they sold their last house by short sell so they can't get a loan for a new one.

I'm so sorry, kayhill! What a disappointment. I feel for you. How did this happen? Did your agent not ask the "tough" questions or just slide along hoping to get a "live one?" Not even blaming the agent here as agents can't be too picky about who they show houses to now days.

BUT, it really hurts to be on the other end after getting hopes up. Well, back to the grind - here's some cookies and coffee to help you along with a liberal dose of sympathy!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Idaho Resident,

I always wonder why these things can't be prevented???? Aren't folks supposed to be pre-approved first?????

I understand your anguish...hang in there

I was so sorry for you when I read the latest. Keep plugging along, it will happen!

That totally stinks! I would be so upset in your shoes. Hopefully you will get another offer soon from honest buyers who are pre-qualified.

Oh - that is so disappointing!! Hang in there, that was just the wrong buyer (although, I know - any buyer is a good buyer.....)

sorry Kayhil - I see that some neighbors who were short selling..went out and bought new houses. How they did it is beyond me.

They lied to the agent who showed them the house. He asked them all the right questions and they gave him the answers he wanted to hear. When our listing agent talked to them she said she didn't get a good vibe so she told them she needed another credit check and they wouldn't call her back again after that. Annoyed but I'm sure somebody will come along soon!!!

Sorry to hear about what happened, kayhil.

Can't help but ask - you mentioned that your counter was accepted. Surprised to hear you say that your agent spoke to them and requested a credit check. (That's an unusual request, IMHO.) Did your counter require them to submit a loan preapproval letter - or a prequalification letter within a certain (very short, typically) period of time followed by a preapproval letter by another date (say 5 days or so) certain?

If they agreed to those terms and then failed to comply, at least you'd be entitled to either all or a specified portion of the deposit. That would compensate you for the time lost while your property was probably removed from the active list and missed showings.

We routinely require these items for all deals whenever someone makes an offer without preapproval. (Prequalification is only an interim step.) We also have minimums on the deposits - another way to protect our sellers.

Not trying to second-guess your deal, kayhil. I'm sure you were appropriately represented by your realtor. In buyers' markets, many sellers accept offers that lack the basics. IME, whenever a seller comes across a buyer unwilling to submit basic documentation, it's best to move on and continue marketing the property. I have a feeling you'd agree with me.

Your situation will probably help another seller out there in cyberspace. Small consolation, for sure - here's hoping another offer is right around the corner.

As usual, JMHO.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RErocker,

We never took our house off the market when they made an offer and we accepted it. The problem arose or our agent was concerned when they came back and asked if they didn't get their house they had just taken a contract on closed in 6 months would be extend the lease to a year. So our agent started asking more questions and requested another credit report, they had one from before their house was supposedly sold, and they were supposed to be working with the bank that we have the house loan at because the bank wasn't going to charge closing cost to help us out. They kept putting off meeting with the bank to sit and talk about the loan they wanted from them for the house. When they gave us the runaround for two weeks our agent finally got them to tell her their house sale was by short sale so they pulled their offer knowing they couldn't get a loan. We had not taken a deposit because they wouldn't sit down in person to talk to the agent again so no money was lost by anyone. We continued to show the house during that time also.

Again, sorry to hear what happened, kayhil. Still confused, unfortunately.

If you don't mind my asking - what happened to their agent? Why did your agent have to deal with them directly?

Written offer, lacking a deposit? I'm glad you continued showing the home but IMHO, you did lose something. You and your agent spent time on this deal. You also suffered stress and angst. Don't know if you spent time packing or preparing to move -

One of the main purposes of the deposit is to demonstrate the buyer's commitment to the deal. Any particular reason your agent recommended that you negotiate with them in the first place?

Here's hoping you receive the terrific offer you deserve, very soon!

Agent was young just started to work so agent he worked for was helping him. We were not going to take a $20,000.00 deposit if the people were not going to be able to close on the house in 30 days. It was a lease for 30 days until their house closed and then they were to get a loan for the rest of the price of the house. They wanted to buy it but had to wait until their home closed that they had sold and then they would close on their loan for our house. When they asked the agent if their loan didn't close within 30 days could we extend the lease to buy for a year and we told them not without more down payment money. We asked for a credit check at that time and when we got it it showed they house they sold was a short sale. At that time we knew they weren't looking for a loan because they couldn't get one. Called them back to discuss and they would never return calls after that.

No worries, kayhil. Can't say that 20K would be the customary deposit amount for your area. They vary from as little as 1 - 2% to as much as 5 or 10%. If they wanted to extend from a 30-day close to a 1-yr close, it's typical to require an additional deposit b/c that increases your risk.

I understand that it's difficult to make deals in many areas and often creative financing is required. However, I would recommend to any of my clients or investors that they ignore any offer that lacked both a deposit and proof of financial qualification. That's a nonstarter in my book. There's a reason people omit information - it's negative.

Hoping you'll require both of those things on your next deal. IMHO, more than 99 times out of 100 - say 99.9, those deals won't close and you waste your valuable time.

Here's to another, better offer for you!

As usual, JMHO.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RErocker,

Because it was going to be a lease to buy we required that much down payment. Just to buy it wouldn't have required that much down payment.

The buyers basically don't have anything to lose by agreeing to increase a downpayment. When we make deals, we refer to this as "lacking skin in the game". Without skin in the game, i.e. the deposit that they can lose, they don't respect you, the seller. The deposit is how they prove their commitment to you - and their intention to ultimately close the deal.

JMHO.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RErocker,

This is the way we choose to handle this deal and it was the best way for us and the buyers. If we were selling the house outright with a fixed closing date we would have gotten a deposit like we always do. In the end it worked out the way it was supposed to. This wasn't the house for us and they weren't the buyers we needed. Someone will come along soon I'm sure.

No worries, kayhil. I just explained MHO on the matter and why I wouldn't pursue this or suggest it to a client. As I previously mentioned, a difficult sales environment normally gives rise to more and more creative financing techniques. We all make our own decisions on how we want to handle our own RE deals. That was your choice.

Had a thought after writing to you the other day that perhaps what you were actually setting up was a lease with an option to buy. You've been calling the add'l funds requested a downpayment. Was this actually an option payment? An option payment is normally nonrefundable, if the tenants fail to exercise their option, i.e. complete the sale.

These deals always require additional time to negotiate/work out and increase a seller's risk, significantly. That's why it's considered reasonable and expected to require a deposit. Nobody on the other side of the table, IMHO, would consider you unreasonable to require a deposit. Said deposit would normally be increased, if/when the buyer requests additional time to complete the sale.

If you need to set-up this type of deal again to sell the property in the future, I hope you require an adequate deposit to protect you from the increased risk. As mentioned above, you obviously don't have to. If you do, I believe the buyer will treat both you and the deal with the respect you deserve.

Best of luck with your sale -

All of the above, IMHO.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RErocker,

It was going to be a lease for 6 months option to buy. They needed the 6 months to close on the house they sold.

If it was a typical option contract, the option payment would be nonrefundable. In that situation, the price is normally fixed so the risk to you, the seller, is that market value of the home goes down over the option period. Thus, if the buyer fails to fulfill the contract, the option payment compensates the seller for that market value risk over the option period plus the time value of **$ lost b/c the seller pulled the property off the market and didn't receive the sales proceeds.

In addition, the seller usually receives a slightly higher than market value rent each month and a small portion might be applied to the purchase price, if the buyer fulfills the contract. Again, that compensates the seller for the additional risk involved in the deal. The option payment, however, is not usually applied to the purchase price.

Don't know but possibly that info might help you, if you need to negotiate another one of these contracts in order to sell the property. (I realize, you probably already understood this, having gone through the process, but it might help someone out there in cyberspace.)

Best of luck -

JMHO, as usual.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RErocker,

Finally rented the house out to someone for a year on a rent to buy contract. She may be able to close sooner than that though. We're thankful that at least part of the payment is being made.

That is great news! It must be such a relief to finally have something in the works.

Wishing you the very best; you are more than due for a break ...hugs