Move In Ready Assistance

[James Gilbert]

I've got a friend who is looking at a deal in a city close to me. They are using a program that gives them a down payment assistance grant that does not have to be paid back if they stay in the property for five years. One of the stipulations she mentioned is that the property must be move in ready and require no renovations. This property is move in ready, but it just needs two ranges/ovens.(it's a duplex) Our question is what would happen if she purchased two ovens and just put them in the house completely knowing that she forfeits these if the sale falls through? Has anybody ever encountered this? She obviously doesn't want to do anything illegal. I would NEVER let her do something illegal just to get a deal, but it does seem like a creative solution to a silly problem. Any thoughts? PS She's working with the seller and her realtor is also checking on these things I just know I'm likely to get a quicker response from you guys. 

[Jon Holdman]

@Jody Schnurrenberger I think you mean try to get the seller to put in the ranges.   I sold a house some years back to buyers that were using county down payment assistance and we did exactly this when they found drain line problems (common here.)  We agree to split the cost of replacement but had to do that by us paying for the repair and then increasing the price by half the cost.  Unfortunately, the appraisal came into play and the appraiser wouldn't budge on their value, so we were only about to add about 30% of the cost of the drain line to the price.  This would be the best option, if you can make it work.

She should check with the provider of the down payment assistance.  I don't think this would be an issue.  But these programs are intended for folks with very little cash and they might have an issue if they discover the buyers have $1000 to put into the deal.  You do not, however, want any dealings between the buyer and seller outside the official paperwork.  And putting $1000 in the form of two stoves into the house would be such a deal.