Selling Agent and Seller are brothers, they did not disclose

[Sarah Bachman]

Hi All,  

Long time lurker here. I am looking to close on my second ever property, my first was a duplex near the FQ in New Orleans that I airbnb'd and sold last year for about 100k profit. I am moving to Oceanside and found a just flipped duplex about 4 blocks from the beach that I love. I am going to live in one side, rent the other and hopefully turn the garage into an in-law suite. I am paying the absolute top of my budget for this using a VA loan and putting nothing down. We offered 35k over ask due to the market demand here and also my agent was told that they had another offer over asking already. They accepted my offer (of 1.43) which they said was less by 20k than the other offer on the table but since the other offer was FHA they would prefer VA.

We just did inspections, the whole flip was cosmetic which was fine but it turns out the electrical is not even close to being up to code.  There was no heat source in the front unit so that has to be fixed to even get funding, and the mini split they installed in the back doesn't have enough power to turn on and test.  I had to fly in from out of state for the inspections, they also said they turned the back unit from a studio into a 2-1 and that both units were metered separately.  Turns out neither bedroom has a closet and was not permitted so there is no way I can get the appraisal as a 2-1, I also don't think I would be able to permit it myself.  On top of that the electrical shares the same breaker box for both units, and the utilities are all on the same meter.   I am beyond pissed, I was ready to fire my realtor and walk but he talked me into trying to negotiate with them.  He said he thought we can get all the electrical and heat \ any other big ticket items fixed in the disclosures but I think they should give me a huge credit since the back unit is not a true 2-1.  I dont think I would even be able to long term it since there is only one closet in the whole unit, it would have to be an airbnb.

I looked for months before this and this is the first thing that made sense and we also love it, but i don't want to get screwed either.  I don't feel that my realtor is looking out for my best interests or really even doing his job at all, and he stands to make a 43k commission.  

To top all this off I just did some research on the seller, turns out he and the selling agent are related and both have a RE business together and the seller is an agent too.  I told my Realtor and he just tried to act like it was kinda shady but not that big of a deal.  

I know it's probably just time to walk it just so ****** because this really would be a great property for us, it sucks that the laziness of my Realtor and shady antics of the sellers are going to sink this deal.