When to walk away from a property.

[Brandon Boyer]

Need some advice.

I'm in the process of buying my first house with the intention of living there, rehabbing it, then putting tenants in there about 2-3 years from now once i've built enough equity to no longer pay PMI through a refi.

The market in my area is pretty dry. I know i'm not getting a great deal on this house, but the location is solid and will give me a pretty steady stream of tenants after I vacate.

My issue is that I am buying it through an FHA loan and they are asking for repairs to be made to the house prior to sale. The house had been on the market for close to three months when I submitted my offer. Initially the seller didn't want to deal with an FHA loan, but I made them an offer of their asking price based on the condition that they make any repairs that the FHA requires.

The appraisal came back and the lender wanted three major things repaired outside the house. The garage roof needs replaced. The back patio is heaving and needs repaired, and there is exterior paint that is badly peeling. They will not go forward with the sale unless these items are repaired.

My realtor discussed it with the listing agent and the seller agreed to the repairs. This was on the original closing date of the 12th of last month. I did not get an addendum from them until the 6th of this month, with an updated closing date of the 20th of this month. My concern is that every time I drive by the house (it's on the way home from my full-time job) is that there has been 0 work done to the exterior of the house.

I've been trying to stay patient about this deal as the sellers are elderly and they live out of state, so they are essentially having their realtor manage the rehab,but I'm starting to get frustrated at this point as the seller has had ample opportunities to bail on the deal but has continued to say they will get the repairs done. I know that the repairs will not be completed by the amended contract date and i'm debating if it's worth the hassle of putting my life on hold another month or if I should just walk away and look at other avenues.