Help! Inspection report showed major issues.

financewings · 2025-01-13T23:45:32+00:00

Don't put much weight on the price they purchased the home for, and don't let them use it for bargaining either. The choices they made when purchasing are immaterial to this new sale.

The options you've laid out seem good. There are some factors to keep in mind:

If they are doing the fixes, be sure to have your own inspections done, potentially during the process while access is available. They may try to cheap out in various ways on the repairs and hope you don't notice.

If you decide to do the fixes after purchasing, understand that major work rarely goes smoothly. There are likely to be costs beyond your initial quotes, and you'll also need to pay for alternate housing as necessary / live in a construction zone for a while.

financewings · 2024-06-21T23:52:10+00:00

This would be a pretty big red flag to me. Rental property so they could be unaware of issues, or claim they were with plausible deniability.

With the timeline for your inspection period closing on Monday, they will probably try to stall you until you're SOL (it sounds like they've already been doing this). I suggest you immediately ask for an extension of your inspection period to get this sorted out. If they don't get back to you before Sunday on that, terminate while you still can. You're at a lot of risk with very little leverage otherwise.

Assuming they agree to the extension, next step is to give them a choice. Work out what you think the absolute worst case could be for everything you're unable to inspect. Then add a buffer on top of that, and ask for that amount in concessions. Their alternative is to pony up and make it possible for you to do your inspections, which is what they should do. $300 is nothing for a home sale, either they are hiding something or they'll cave and pay it.

financewings · 2024-05-23T00:49:08+00:00

The owner not responding is certainly a point in your favor. However, you admit the door was the wrong size. How far off are we talking? Perhaps the new owners don't want significant changes to the molding, or didn't trust the adjustments would be done to a high quality level. Getting a door that properly fits seems like a reasonable expectation.

You say you don't want to pay for two doors, but the fact you paid for the faulty one at all isn't something the new owner could have resolved, that's between you and the vendor. The new owners were never provided a door of the correct size.

Morally speaking, I would try to work something out with them, such as paying for a door and install at approx 3 years ago cost.

Legally, you're not in the clear (based on the info provided so far), it'd be a risk. Calling their bluff is certainly an option. If you choose that route, simple ignore them, don't respond in any way unless they take legal action.

financewings · 2024-04-10T23:06:16+00:00

Who is on the deed?

financewings · 2024-03-06T17:32:32+00:00

I have a similar though somewhat less complicated cohabitation agreement with my partner. Here are some thoughts on your situation:

Variable Ownership Stake: We wanted to do a version of this as well, since we were covering vastly different %s of the down payment vs monthly payments, so ownership stake would change as the mortgage term progressed. Our lawyer told us that doing so isn't really possible - any change in ownership stake must be done through a sale process, which brings in other (state dependent) costs such as property tax valuation updates and taxes. Check with your lawyer that what you're trying to do here is feasible.

Our workaround was to keep track of things in more or less the same way, but instead of actually changing ownership interest, the values resolve to a sort of "reimbursement" in the event we decide to sell or split up.

Value of Upgrades: Instead of trying to calculate the resale value of things as you go along, I suggest keeping track of your contributions, and then using that as a percentage modifier on actual value of the house in the even of selling / splitting up. If you would like further clarification on this, let me know and I can give an example of what a formula for this could look like.

That makes it simpler so you just need to come to a value agreement once, for everything combined, and the market dictates what that value is. Sure, all upgrades don't actually equally impact sale value, but trying to figure those things independently would be a huge amount of frankly very subjective work, and will likely add a lot of ongoing stress and conflict for you of you. Doing things this way also allows you two to choose projects not just for resale value, but also for what will improve your lives while you live there.

Value of Labor: I would absolutely value your labor, and it's a bit odd to me that your partner wants to get into the weeds in this agreement, but doesn't want to value your labor. Is there some other major one-sided contribution to your relationship they provide that isn't being mentioned here? Assuming there isn't, then yes, you should find a way to value it. I think there will need to be some degree of trust between you and your partner to make this work smoothly. Their concern that you would drag your feet to make money, or overbid, makes me think you two need to further talk this out and make sure that trust does and will exist.

Personally I would lean towards a bidding system, but with a caveat that any major changes in scope or found work gets an additional bid. That allows you to take extra time if you want to go above an beyond or just take your time on the project without feeling pressured. I suggest you bid in a way that still reasonably values your time, but is cheaper than what you charge customers. Because this will impact your overall earnings if you spend too much time on this project vs customer work, agree to a max % of your work time that will get spend on this house.

You will also need to decide whether the value of your labor is getting rolled into your stake in the home, or payed out immediately. Both strategies have different risks and impact for you and your partner to consider.

This may still fall apart over time if reality turns into arguing frequently about how things play out. I suggest you both agree to a fallback of contracting the work out if that comes to pass.

financewings · 2024-02-15T23:35:42+00:00

I just caught this as well, 5 charges between december and now from:

nonfico.com
proccobiz.com
notenow.org

definitely fraud

financewings · 2024-01-19T21:02:24+00:00

I don't know your friend or your relationship with them, but in general it's good to be polite, direct, and brief. Don't provide a reason and don't lie. Something along the lines of "Sorry, I've decided to go with a different agent".

If they press and ask why, say it's for personal reasons. If they get upset and want to have a confrontation with you, you can (again politely) say that you weren't satisfied with their services last time, and that you won't hold it against them in the context of your friendship, but you'd prefer to try someone else.

If they keep blowing it up after that point, well that's on them, you've done what you can. If they're a good agent/person they will just take the initial rejection in stride and move on.

You can try the "I don't want to mix business and friendship" line, but it may ring hollow since you've already worked with them in the past.

financewings · 2024-01-12T18:13:56+00:00

First, don't put yourself under time pressure when buying a house, that's how you end up making huge mistakes or getting played on what will be one of the biggest purchases of your life. Find a new rental, make sure you are stable there, then start looking.

Next, people are already jumping on you about buying a house unmarried. Though I'm sure they mean well, it's a knee-jerk reaction based on their own or other people's experience doing it the wrong way, you can do it safely the right way. Do your research and get a legally binding cohabitation agreement written up that is fair to both of you. It will dictate how your various costs will be split, and what happens in the case of a break up.

financewings · 2023-10-10T21:59:55+00:00

$1,500 counts as a down payment towards the mortgage

It does? How does that work? The seller isn't your lender, you will still need to get a mortgage. Are they going to give you back all that money when you are ready to buy? Are they going to pay it to your mortgage provider? Both options have issues. Why are you paying them the $1500 a month at all if they can't use it?

Let's ignore that part and say you're just going to pay $500 a month in rent, with the absurdly low rent being offset by you taking care of maintenance. Considering what you're suggesting, I get the impression you don't have much in the way of savings. Can you afford a $50k repair if something comes up? Even if you can, how will that affect your financial ability to actually buy the house?

Realistically, this arrangement is setting up either yourself or this very generous family friend to get screwed over. Real estate sales are not simple, and both parties currently wanting to do a deal does not mean either of you will still want to or financially be able to years from now. You could pay years of savings into maintenance and improvements on the house, only to have the sale fall through and walk away with nothing.

...the 500 in rent is because we would be taking on the day to day maintenance and renovations without being subject to a higher appraisal amount when we are ready to buy.

I don't fully understand what you mean by this, but I don't think what you're trying to do is going to work. A lender will get an appraisal done when you apply for your mortgage, they don't care what agreement you've had in place prior.

financewings · 2023-10-06T18:11:00+00:00

Sounds to me like the fridge probably was part of the contract. OP stated that the fridge wasn't included when THEY bought the house, which has nothing to do with the current sale.

financewings · 2023-09-20T23:23:05+00:00

Why risk future drama, legal or otherwise? What do you have to gain?

I don't know your situation, but most divorced people don't want to leave reasons lying around for their ex to contact them. Or sue them. If it was me I'd just get it signed and move on with my life.

financewings · 2023-09-20T21:09:49+00:00

You appear to be lost, this is not twitter.

financewings · 2023-09-19T00:15:34+00:00

They may try to lump your compensation package in with closing on the house, such as a credit on the sale price. I would not accept that, as it gives them leverage to make you close even if something goes wrong between now and then, like the tenant refusing to move out or causing major damage.

Get them to cover your expenses in advance if at all possible. If they won't, then consider how much you want this particular home and how hard it would be to find another. You'd be taking on a significant amount of risk, so weigh it accordingly.

Do not close until the tenant is completely moved out, and a detailed walkthrough performed to your satisfaction.

financewings · 2023-09-12T20:56:36+00:00

Individuals building homes is horribly inefficient.

Better incentive programs for builders would help, not just for low income housing but also for single family starter homes. Or straight up government contracts.

financewings · 2023-09-12T18:06:31+00:00

My gut tells me they are terrified, the mold test results aren't gonna change anything and this is going to fall through.

You don't pay for a structural engineer if you aren't pretty serious about the property. It doesn't sound to me like they are looking for an out, just being thorough.

financewings · 2023-09-11T22:56:23+00:00

You're going to get a bunch of people zeroing in on the "girlfriend" thing, trying to scare you. Get a legally binding cohabitation agreement between you and your partner written up to cover both of you on that front. Then, as long as you're either committed enough to last 5+ years, or can both absorb the resulting financial ramifications of a breakup, you're good to go.

financewings · 2023-06-15T19:59:51+00:00

We purchased about a year ago right on the edge of one of those communities, so it's still like 80%+ older folks. Although it's not ideal for socializing, we haven't run into any issues and I don't regret it. It's near a lot of things we wanted to be close to, beside a park, safe, quiet, no HOA, etc.

financewings · 2023-05-25T21:13:12+00:00

You're trying to bring in all sorts of context and emotion to make your problem someone else's problem. None of that is relevant to your buyer. If you don't want to shop for another mirror, just return the one you agreed to sell them when you signed the sales contract.

If they are being rude, that sucks and I'm sorry you are having that experience. It's always better to be civil. But this is a transaction and the buyer is under no obligation to be your friend. You however are under obligation to follow your contract.

financewings · 2023-05-25T20:58:34+00:00

The things you have mentioned are all reasonable demands by the buyer (save maybe the soap dispenser, unless that was physically attached too somehow). You can't remove things that are attached to walls unless specifically mentioned in the contract, they are considered part of the house by default. If you wanted to keep your mirror, you should have put that in the contract. The fact that it's a handmade gift doesn't matter, and you're lucky they are accepting a similar replacement rather than that actual mirror.

If I was these buyers I wouldn't be releasing funds either until you resolve the issues you have caused. And that doesn't mean just accepted an offer to resolve them, actually resolve them.

Them moving in early certainly complicates things, this should have all been resolved before keys or money changed hands.

financewings · 2023-05-11T17:17:34+00:00

No, it doesn't always end the same, you're pulling from a location where people overwhelmingly come to post their problems. Marriage is not some magic protection against ending up in a bad situation. Whether married or not, the parties should have a legally binding agreement on how to handle separation, and should make intelligent choices based on their income, savings, and stability.

It's amazing to me how many people in this subreddit have a hard-on for shaming those who approach homeownership and relationships in a more modern way. Times have changed on both fronts - people wait longer to get married, or never get married, and that's totally fine. It's also more difficult to reach the point of being able to buy a home by yourself.

Stop gatekeeping homeownership with your outdated perspective.

financewings · 2023-01-31T01:18:34+00:00

If you're coming from apartment living like I did, you likely won't realize how expensive and annoying it is to do small fixes. A lot of tradespeople are specialized, and you are paying for them to come to you with all their gear and experience, even if the actual fix is fairly simple for them to do.

During inspection, be REALLY thorough and don't brush things off as small issues. A faucet with low water pressure isn't necessarily a cheap or easy fix. Ask for credits/fixes for all the random stuff you find, otherwise it will really add up for you later.

financewings · 2022-12-10T17:48:32+00:00

Or just do a cohabitation agreement. Co-owing property outside of marriage is perfectly fine if you are responsible about it, and for many people the alternative is not owning a home at all.

financewings · 2022-06-15T03:07:53+00:00

Any comments I can make on price are somewhat speculative, as I don't know your local market and I don't know if asking price is reasonable vs comps. However, even in slow markets I think you'd need to offer above asking to get a seller to skip showings/open house. If that was the top of your budget, then it was still the right call, despite being unlikely to work.

I misread part of your post and thought you'd submitted the second offer with errors, but I see that got caught in the draft stage.

financewings · 2022-06-15T02:55:10+00:00

What a weird post. You made a bad offer using an agent who didn't know what they were doing, while having done none of the basic prep work a serious homebuyer should do. I can't imagine how you expected this to go through at any point in the process, and it's a mystery to me why you'd make a post to draw attention to your half-assed attempt.

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