All Forum Posts by: Erin Church

@Jeff Kehl I'm hopeful that we can avoid it, but if it comes to it, I'll definitely go that route :) 

@James Wise Thank you for the clarification of what happens to the money if we don't agree. I'll likely go the court route if my preferred path (magically getting this deal to close) falls through. 

@Russell Brazil

Thank you for that suggestion! I was trying to figure out how to get a lien on the house for this exact reason - either the house never sells or I would eventually recover the money. 

I'm still hopeful that this works out in as much of a "win win" as is possible, but I like to be prepared for the worst.

@Wayne Brooks

1 - There was a survey done in 1983 by the previous owner.  In 2005/2006, the current owner signed off on the Warranty Deed with the legal description and reference to the survey done in 1983. The survey clearly states 0.29 acres.

2 - I don't know when she was made aware of the size of the land. 

I'm not sure what matches between the survey and the reality. We requested that the owner do a survey, but so far, it's been ignored/denied.

@Mike Cumbie - Thank you for the suggestion of the E&O - we'll be digging into this. My agent saved a PDF of the listing just in case.

@Jay Hinrichs

@Jay Hinrichs - It's actually $2k EM. I know that's small beans to many, but it's significant to me.

@Tom Gimer - I did call the county tax commissioner (and then assessor) and found out that under no circumstance will they release the money to me - even with the seller signing over their rights to a refund - the county will only issue payment to the name of the person that paid the taxes. I was hoping I could just have the rights signed over and collect after closing, but...  

I'm not sure if it was negligence or fraud either, but the deeper we get in, the more I'm thinking it might be the latter.

@Jay Hinrichs

It was advertised at 1acre in the MLS, on the tax records it states 1 acre(they've been overpaying taxes for 30 years), on the appraisal the bank had done it also listed as 1 acre. My RE agent is definitely going to bat for me, but there's a bit of unreasonableness happening from the other side.

@Tom Gimer We've tried countering on price, but they wouldn't hear of it. They will not extend the DD period (they don't even want to extend closing to allow time for them to do a survey). My broker thinks we're in a gray area since we're past the DD period.

@John Thedford - I likely will be. I was hoping to gain some insight here first though. Surely I'm not the only person this has happened to in GA. :)

@John Thedford

The contract lists the legal description (no reference to acreage) and the inspection period has ended.

Hey @Pierre Alvarez! 

Congrats on your upcoming closing! I would highly recommend @Mike O'Connor  

He is an investor, real estate agent and works with investors (and probably other folks too, but he's awesome for investors). He has amazing insight and I like his "to the point" perspective on real estate.  He was recommended to me by another BP member and he is by far one of the best recommendations I have ever gotten! 

I have found myself in an interesting situation. I am under contract with a property in Cherokee County, Ga. The tax records, listing, appraisal and owner herself indicated that the land was 1 acre. Just after the end of the DD period, the listing agent sent over an addendum of the property description for me to sign and it shows a survey where the property is only 0.29 acres.  (I didn't sign it.) The owner has been paying taxes on 1 acre for over 30 years, but signed documentation acknowledging that the property was only 0.29 when she purchased the property.

I felt that adjusting the sales price would be the way to go since we were now getting "less for our money". The FMV of the 0.71 acres would be about $17k looking at recent sales in the area. The tax value would be about $15k for the 0.71 acres.

The sellers do not want to budge on price. I don't want to "give away" my options.

Who gets the earnest money? They misrepresented the property and I would have had a different take on it (lower offer) to begin with had I known the true size of the lot. However, we're outside of the DD period. Any input or pointing to resources (or a good local attorney) would be very appreciated. :) 

@Gail K.

My husband and I are about to start dipping our toes in buy and hold and my plan is to put LVT in all of the rentals when any floor needs to be replaced - looks nice and from what I've read, holds up great. :)  I just looked up the Allure vinyl planks that you mentioned and they're a very nice price!  

It looks like Allure has a type where edges stick to each other (water resistant and 25 yr residential warranty) and another type that clicks together (and is water proof with lifetime residential warranty).  Which type have you had the best success with? 

I've read some mixed reviews about Allure flooring in rentals based on color. Do you have a go to color that you think holds up well?