All Forum Posts by: Maria A A.

i  need a good property management firm in columbus OH as soon as possible but all  the ones I saw were subpar. Can anyone recommend a tried and tested good one? Thank you

Got response fromSellers Agent (SA) who said the crux of the problem was the offensive way my agent acted - bullying, bluffing, not understanding the contract at all....and his client feels keeping $500 of the $1000 earnest money deposit (EMD) is fair. SA said termination was delivered in a timely manner, but there was no accompanying report. I apologized for my agent's behavior, told SA there other avenues to pursue this, but this was not the right venue & should not impact the return of my EMD; & Purchase Contract does not list this as a reason for not returning the EMD. RE: the lack of a full report, I explained Inspector decided not to do a full inspection of the home because it was pointless; even if the home were in perfect condition i would not buy it since it does not meet my criteria for investment homes - simple, no frills, w/ NO swimming pool, NO sauna,etc...w nothing that would require additional maintenance. Impossible to know this beforehand since it was not disclosed in MLS listing. Inspector provided photos of the exterior damages w/ comments to show unsatisfactory conditions of the house, which were given to Seller. So a report was provided, but not the expected full report, we provided to Sellers of homes w/c met our criteria for investment homes, since we did not know this home did not meet those criteria,through no fault of ours. I discovered belatedly that EMD clause in the contract did not specify amount of EMD (which invalidates the EMD clause) ;Contract states EMD should be sent to Buyer's Broker (not Seller's Broker) but was wrongly sent to Seller's Broker and should be rightfully returned to Buyer's Broker (but in my case to theExchange company handling my 1031 exchange). I mentioned that I was posting his problem online to get good feedback on the best way to quickly resolve this EMD dispute. I cringe at our carelessness w/ the contract.

thank you everyone for all the opinions and tips...priceless!!!

it was terminated WITH CAUSE for 2 reasons: 1 .Seller did NOT disclose on MLS that there was a swimming pool on the property which makes it inappropriate for my rental home requirement. Had I known this i would NOT have sent the inspector there since this home does not meet my criteria for investment houses. 2.There were too many external damages to fix (not even counting interior damages) which would not be doable w/in my 1031 exch deadline...so, in addition to #1, this was a reason to terminate.

The inspector, seeing it had a swimming pool which was not disclosed on MLS & which goes against my investment criteria, intelligently decide not to do an inspection but did an ocular inspection, taking pictures of evident damages which were sent to the Seller & Agent. Why inspect a home that was misrepresented and does not meet your criteria?Total waste.

Not Inspecting a home that totally does not fit your investment criteria due to nondisclosure on MLS by Sellers Agent should not be counted against the Buyer who acted in good faith. The inspector wasted his time and I wasted my money.

awesome idea! thanks...better and less time intensive than other options.

This property where Seller refuses to return Earnest Money Deposit had been on the market for a while. I took it off the market for just 9 days. I signed contract on 5/30, sent inspector out immediately, and terminated 9 days later appx 6/9 after getting feedback from inspector including info that the home had a swimming pool which was not disclosed in the MLS and which violates my criteria for a basic no-frills investment home.Photos were provided to Seller and Sellers Agent showing valid reason for terminating the contract -multiple exterior damages that would not be fixable w/in my 1031 exchange deadline.

i mistakenly assumed my buyers agent would, due to fiduciary responsibility, protect me and make sure all bases were covered since i was too busy trying to meet the 1031 exchange deadline...i unquestioningly trusted his instructions ...big mistake!..  

Question:after reading the BP posts , i belatedly reviewed the OH purchase contract and saw that it specified Earnest Money Deposit was to be kept with Buyers Broker,not with the Sellers Broker....so why are funds wired to the Sellers Broker?What is the justification for that..or is it just a common practice, despite the wording of the contract?It is clearly detrimental to the Buyers. The Sellers Broker has no right to the EMD per OH Purchase contract, and I pointed that out to the Sellers Broker by email....but I guess since I carelessly approved the wiring of funds to him as directed by my Buyers Agent...that overrides the wording of the contract?I pointed out to the Sellers Broker that per contract, a Buyer has the option to terminate within a specified time if they are not happy with the condition of the property and give proof of this ...we did through photos of exterior damage and comments by the inspector who wisely decided against proceeding with the inspection knowing the undisclosed (in the MLS) swimming pool was non negotiable with me. I told the broker that had the swimming pool been disclosed I would not even have sent the inspector there since it does not meet my criteria of a basic no-frills invstment home.

 I mentioned to the Sellers Broker that nowhere in the contract does it state that the Buyer is required to allow Seller to fix the damages regardless of Buyer's deadlines and 1031 Exch situation. Seller refused to return earnest money deposit claiming she was not given a chance to correct the multiple errors on the home. Per the OH contract, Buyer is given an option to terminate, following the rules, which I did.  Seller signed the contract agreeing to that.

The EMD portion in the OH contract stated an EMD amount should be specified or the EMD provision does not apply (it was not and therefore the EMD clause is invalid); also it states this clause should be initialed by the Buyer (it was not), further invalidating the EMD provision. I shudder at my carelessness in fully trusting my Buyers Agent and not being more careful in reading the contract, which was made more difficult since it was electronic and not as easy to read as a hard copy contract and we were very short on time. (But no excuses for that ).

Hopefully the Sellers Broker will cooperate. If not, what are my best options?Thanks.

Thank you all for your comments. I did not breach the contract. We gave notice to cancel in the allotted time, photos of exterior damage which was not fixable in the limited period we had, and we had another reason to not pursue. I wanted a basic rental, not something w a swimming pool, which the home had, but was not disclosed in the MLS, and therefore was a reason to NOT consider the home. I would not even have let the inspector go there had I known since the home does not fit my criteria of a rental home.I was not informed of this refusal to pay situation by my Buyers agent until too late.My buyers agent is encouraging me to pay the $500 demanded by the seller in order to release the $1000 earnest money deposit, but I refuse to be bullied. He later offered to pay 1/2 of it, then all of it himself, but I said no. Never knew the EMD can be kept by the Buyers Broker...which would have simplified this case. I left a VM for Sellers agent this afternoon.He texted me and told me to send him an email about the situation, though my Buyers agent said he repeatedly contacted this agent verbally and in writing w/ no results.The Sellers agent is the principal for iHome Realty in Columbus Ohio.Do any of you know him or have clout with him?He did not even indicate his name in the Purchase Contract, and just put the name of his company, iHome, so title company could not provide his name to me when my Buyers agent would not disclose it to me until today. I found iHome by doing a google search. I was rushing since I had very limited time to select replacement property and relied on Buyers agent for due diligence on the contracts he sent me. Big mistake - a good example of Haste Makes Waste. Would welcome any other advice, comments, etc.

Seller in Columbus OH refuses to return $1000 earnest deposit to Buyer despite cancelled contract and demands $500 before returning the deposit. Seller wont sign mutual release claiming they were not given time to remedy damages. Inspector went to home, saw multiple visible exterior damages which were not correctible in my limited time frame for my 1031 exchange, and decided not to continue inspection.He also discovered a swimming pool there (not disclosed in MLS) which was a definite reason for him to NOT inspect, since he knew my criteria.What is my recourse for this noncooperation?I want to complete identification of my 1031 replacement properties on or before 6/27....and this is getting in the way.Thank you.

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