All Forum Posts by: Bill S.

Landlord paying water and sewer on multifamily property is the norm here. I assume it is the norm in your area as well but maybe someone local can chime in. 

$50 a month is very lean. Are you figuring in vacancies as well? It's tough to tell you exactly what the nature of repairs are required by what you have listed. I assume by insect damage you mean termites? If so, you really need to research this further before proceeding and contact a local termite expert. Getting rid of the termites is straightforward. Assessing the actual damage created by the termites is an entirely different deal.

I wouldn't expect any credit because the appliances are at the end of their life, if they work then they work. If I was the seller I'd expect that the buyer would have seen that the appliances were older while viewing the property and have it factored it into their offer price. At least that is the way I see it.

@Mark S.

They are a huge lender and like any big company an office in one area might be great while the offer isn't so in another state. So your local feedback is the most valuable for the customer service stuff. Generally speaking they have an excellent reputation in my area and I got my primary mortgage through them. They broker and lend direct. Rates were competitive.

@Jason Rostar

You bought the home for 285,000 because that likely was roughly what the market value of it was at the time. Sure low appraisals happen all the time but an appraisal coming through 20% under the contracted price is definitely not common. So it is most likely that your initial offer of 350,000 was more than the home was worth.

The seller was stuck with the 280,000 appraisal for 6 months for any FHA/VA buyers because that is what the rules are for those loans. It is one of the risks that you are taking when selling to an FHA/VA buyer and why conventional loans are more attractive to sellers. Having an appraiser come before you put the property on the market is a waste of money. An experienced real estate broker is capable of determining market value.

One way to minimize the risk of getting a low appraisal is to have your broker meet the appraiser at the property when you have a contract. The broker should build a rapport with the appraiser and cover the evidence of why the property is worth the contracted price. There is NO way to 100% eliminate the risk of a low appraisal it is a one of the risks of selling real estate.

Best of luck.

@Jason A.

Slimy move by the HML, undeniably unethical. This type of stuff is what brought TRID and RESPA to retail home lending markets in October 2015. You can check with you attorney to see if the HML is subject to these guidelines because it would go from being unethical to illegal. You could play hard ball if TRID and RESPA apply but still would probably a bad business move with those numbers.

Bright side is you bagged an awesome deal and still stand to do very well. You can move forward and still make a good amount of money from the situation which is a much better scenario than others have faced in this situation. Still not fair....but hopefully some consolation for you while you are blowing off steam.

@Tom V.

I am a Smartmove customer as well and have not seen this. The credit score is arguably the most important piece of information when screening so not having it is concerning. Does their age range justify them not having any credit history? For example, it may be reasonable to not have a credit history if they just graduated high school but it would be a huge red flag if they were 30 years old. Did you get a copy of their state issued ID to verify they are who they say they are? If available online check the county clerk of court website of their last listed address on the application with their names and see if anything pops up.

If everything still looks alright after the above see if they can provide a cosigner since they haven't yet established credit. It is a reasonable request given their unproven credit history.

@Mike CumbieThanks for the reassurance.

I considered asking for only the additional earnest money deposit to be non-refundable but decided I wasn't willing to make anymore concessions after this long. I was told they thought it was too much risk because even the slightest glitch could cause them to miss their commitment/closing deadlines and lose their earnest money. If they lost their earnest money they wouldn't be able to purchase another home. i told them that by not putting up the money just proves to me that they don't believe they can meet their obligations. They responded that if there is a small glitch it won't affect me much but will impact them in a big way. This may be true but I don't see how its fair for me to accept additional delays because it impacts me less.

@Andy RobisonNo it is not USAA. It was a Mortgage Brokerage firm handling the loan. The loan they were using was a local government product we have in Illinois that provides additional benefits to qualified buyers. I assume by your question that you are experiencing something similar to my story, if so I feel your pain and I am happy to provide any information about my experience that may help you. Hopefully my assumption is wrong. Best of luck.

@David ShortI wanted to relist the home as "Active" on the MLS and have the buyer sign a kick-out clause stating I have the right to cancel the contract to pursue another offer if they can't get commitment within 48 hours of the written notice I provide. The problem was that my local MLS doesn't allow you to change the status to "Active" if the property has a contract the status must be "A/I". In my area when properties show in the MLS as "A/I" it is very rare for anyone to pursue the property. Is there another way of doing this?

@Account ClosedThanks for taking the time to read the story and respond. Its tough to walk away after all that time and effort but you have reassured me of my decision

@Brent CoombsThanks for your input. I couldn't agree with you more when you say the person who has the least to lose has the upper hand. The buyer's broker was telling me all these reasons why it would be costly for me to not extend. To keep the upper hand in the negotiation I replied with information that the comps have improved and I believe I could possibly sell it for more money if I wanted too. In return during the final conversation the buyer's broker told me the only reason I won't extend is because I want to go and sell it to someone else for more money.....but I really just want it sold.