Can I negotiate selling price at closing table of buying as-is?

Question

If I am under contract for a house to buy as-is, can I have my realtor negotiate after final walk through at closing table?

My main concession would be the cost to remediate mold issues.

I did waives on mold inspections but I have a quote and facts of mold present.

My though / goal would be to get the price dropped so I can pay less out pocket down payment. I will use the cash I say to remediate the mold. ￼

Russell Brazil · Answer

In addition to losing your deposit, you may possibly be sued to either perform or for damages. Lets say your contract price is $100k. The property sells to the next buyer for $50k. Now the owner of the property has damages in the amount of $50k plus additional carrying cost that they may sue you for.

Matt J. · Answer

I would honor the contract. The time for negotiation is between your due diligence and the purchase agreement being signed by all parties. Just take this as a learning experience for next time.

Lynnette E. · Answer

You know that if you change the sell price, the financing is not the same.  Sometimes this makes the financer sooo upset to make a change like the price at the last minute that you may not have an approved loan for a month or two, if at all.  Your HUD paperwork needs to be redone, and the 'wait' period after it is done starts over.

You signed a sales agreement with no contingencies for the mold.  When the seller accepted that agreement they did it with that as a consideration.  Had you wanted mold testing they very well may have had a higher contract price, so they had room to lower the price after you did testing.Use integrity.  Treat other people how you want to be treated.  You may get a desperate seller to agree to something, but you are setting your reputation with 2 realtors.  That reputation will be passed around whenever you make an offer in the future.  It this worth your reputation??

Win the battle and lose the war or lose the battle and win the war?  Look at the longer term relationships you are building because that is where you will win the war.

Luke Rorech · Answer

As a a realtor & investor I can tell you with certainty, I would never work with a client again if they tried to pull this last minute.

As-is means as-is. If you wanted to negotiate, during the inspection period is your time to do so, not day of closing. Doing it that way not only pisses your lender off by wasting their time but it also makes your realtor look bad last minute and likely sours his relationship with the seller and/or the listing agent as well.

My advice, use it as a learning experience for your next investment.

David M. · Answer

@John McAllister

Sorry if this is rude, but you really should honor your contract.  Honor the agreement that you made.  Basically, all it sounds like is you don't have the cash to deal with a situation that you waived your rights.  Now you are trying to stick it to the seller.

You do realize that changing the sales price, aside from screwing up the paperwork, really doesn't net you much.  For example, if you are purchasing at $100k and getting a $80k loan (80% ltv), making the sales price $95k does not ADD and extra $5k to your pocket.  I mention this because your posts sounds like many of my clients who believe the loan amount doesn't track with the property so if they buy something less than their pre-approval they are getting extra cash in their pocket --- like a "cash-out purchase."

It varies from State to State, but closing dates are always flexible.  In NJ its like 10-14 days (yeah, having a brain fart as I should know) and I HEAR that in NY its something like 30 days.  Of course, there can be other factors. e.g. ToE, but it doesn't sound like you have any of that.

It sounds like you want out of this deal.  I don't know what state you are in and what recourse you have, but you seem pretty far along.  sorry buddy.  Good luck.

Wayne Brooks · Answer

1) you can try

2) they will likely say no, since you are under contract with no contingencies.

3) them lowering the price doesn’t save you much cash on a financed property

Bill B. · Answer

It’s not only rude to not honor the contract. It’s extremely rude to wait until the last possible second to bring it up.

At least you’d be screwing over both realtors at the same time so you got that going for you. That should help build a team of dependable people on your side.

If I was the seller I’d keep the deposit and sell to anyone else at any price. If I can sue them for my loss, all the better. Especially if I can get attorney fees as well.

The closest example I can think of is you promise to pick someone up at the airport. You know 5 days in advance you’re not going to do it. But you wait for them to call from the airport and ask where you are. Be prepared to answer that one in court.

John McAllister · Answer

I wanted to ask the questions and see the responses and hear the the experience people had.

Thanks for feed back.

Theresa Harris · Answer

You bought it as is.  While you can try, the answer is likely to be no.

John McAllister · Answer

@Russell Brazil

I don’t think the seller is going to be moved out by closing date.

I have a contingency that the place is cleaned up. Plus I will need to be able to do a final walk through.

The morgage needs to do a final walk though which was obstructed by sellers belongings.

If morgage is not ready by closing date due to sellers delay this too will give me an out?

The closing date will need to be pushed due to reasons caused by seller. I could then walk then correct?

If so I will at that point agree to move date and buy if they can agree to lower cost of price so I can get seller assist bringing loan back up to original amount in order to use fund to remediate mold?

Can I negotiate selling price at closing table of buying as-is?

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