All Forum Posts by: Steve A

Four answers...
1. No immediate loss. But if I sell in 10 years and disclose that these are engineered floors that have already been refinished once, the resale value of the house would definitely take a hit. How much, I don't know.

3. Intentional? The realtor found out that the floors were not solid when she solicited a quote for having them refinished. She did not tell me until after closing. So, she knew before closing, but probably not when she listed the house.

2. and 4. What will it take to make me whole, and is it worth pursuing? A new hardwood floor, installed is going to cost $5000-$8000 (I'm guessing). Let’s say a solid floor has an 80 year life and a engineered floor will last about 40 years. If the floor was solid, it would be about 1/8 used up. At $7500, that equates to $938 depreciation and book value of $6,562. The engineered floor is about 1/4 though it's life: depreciation o $1875 and is now worth $5625.
So, the value of the hurt is $937. Hardly worth perusing.

This deal is done. I've learned a little, and am ready to move on.

Now to the arguement on how I calculated damages... I did this in 3 mins so I'm sure its debatable.

"I could have ripped out the flooring and replaced it with real wood for the amount of allowance you got, if I did my own labor and used pre-finished flooring."

OK, lets do the math... $2,200 credit / 800 square feet = $2.75 per sf.
good luck installing a floor at $2.75/sf.

The resurface job came out nice. we are not planning on selling anytime soon. will we disclose? I say 'yes' now, but in ten years...

Just purchased a 12 year old, 2,100 square foot home. As part of the deal, we got a $2,200 credit to resurface the hardwood floors (approximately 800 square feet).

After closing, we had a contractor refinish the floor. But soon found that what we thought was “hardwood†flooring is actually “engineered hardwood†flooring.

The listing for the property clearly stated “hardwood floors thru out lower levelâ€. And at no time did our agent (who is also the listing agent) ever mention anything about engineered hardwood, even when we noticed that the floor would need to be sanded and re-varnished.

I’ve since done a bit of research on solid vs. engineered flooring and understand there are plusses and minuses to each. But it is clear that engineered flooring has a much shorter lifespan than sold hardwood flooring. As a result, a twelve year old engineered floor is worth far less than a solid wood floor.

Is it common practice to shorten "engineered hardwood" to "hardwood" in listings?

I feel cheated or at least misled.

What recourse options do I have?

Thanks,

Thanks Charles

Good advice. My inspection is tomorrow.

So would I be better off posing this question in a different forum?

Finally got an offer accepted on a SFR in San Pedro CA. Since I'm using the listing agent, I'm not sure I want to go with her recomended home inspector.

Any LA-based home inspectors you can recommend?

Any tips on finding an inspector?

Thanks

What should I look out for when using the listing (split loyalty) agent?

Please explain the deal that’s happening around me…

I want to buy a house to live in. In June, I saw a short sale listed at 550K. After falling out of escrow a couple of times, it hits the MLS again last month. I put in an offer and wait. And wait some more. Then on Monday, I get a letter from the listing agent (via my agent) with a counter offer. Really just a request for a best and final offer. We up the offer a little and wait. I ask my agent to snoop around.

This is what she tells me, an investor is now involved and is calling the shots. If my offer gets accepted, the deal will be a duel close, with me buying from the investor, not the bank (or the original owner).

Can someone explain how this is happening?

What value does the investor have in the deal?

My agent says that the investor has not yet agreed on a price with the bank, and will do that once he evaluates our offers. Why kind of agreement would the investor have that gets him in this position?

This is the second deal in a row that an investor has gotten between me (potential buyer) and the bank.

Not trying to bash the investors at all. Just trying to understand the game so I can be a little more competitive.

Thanks.

Thanks Scott.

So, the higher offer has the psychological advantage; Increases the comp if you plan to flip; but makes the appraisal a little harder to meet and may increase mortgage insurance.

And you're right about the typo.

Related question: if you plan to finance closing costs, does including the closing costs in the sales price affect minimum down payment?

For example, say for a particular loan, you’re required to put 20% down. Will the lender require a down of 20% of the sales price, or 20% of the sales price plus closing costs?

$500k price plus $15k closing: will the down be $100k or $103K?

Good discussion.

Thanks.

So the take away seems to be:

Information is king. The listing agent is a great source of dope. While E code says not to, it's common practice to share info 'among friends'. Enlisting the listing agent is a good way to make friends. But don't forget which side the agent's bread is buttered.