All Forum Posts by: Lydia S.

@Christin Nguyen

You said your inspection contingency described that you wouldn’t ask for repairs, but you’re not asking for repairs, you are asking for a financial resolution to your findings.
Have your Realtor write up the objection form for your state that outlines your request and submit it. The worst that can happen is that the seller says no. 

@Dennis Rogov

Check your MLS or Realtor Association sites for market statistics and specifically absorption rate, which reflects the number of months of inventory available.

For example, an absorption rate of 1 means that if no new listings came on the market, everything would be gone in one month.  A balanced market has an absorption rate of around 4-5.  
A sellers market is a low number and a buyers market is a high number.

In the Albuquerque area, we were less than one for quite some time in the last couple of years. We are now at 1.1 for SFH and 0.5 for attached homes. About 5+ years ago we were more balanced at around 3.5-4.5.

Hopefully your Association has this and more information available to you.

You have knowledge of these points and as a buyer need to continue with your due diligence regardless of what the seller is saying.  
You can object to the seller disclosure and ask for more information based upon your findings, then decide whether you want to move forward buying the property.  

Always take what the seller is saying with a grain of salt, in every transaction.  It’s up to you to investigate and inspect anything and everything that concerns you.

@Miranda Mirocha

Be sure to research 1031 exchanges if you haven’t already.

@Timothy Albright

You said unconventional ways, but considering the potential loss in sales value that Nathan described, you may be better off with a heloc or cash out refinance.

It’s common in our market, and when you consider that each tenant needs 24 hours notice for showings (and they may not even be aware the property is for sale), one can appreciate how challenging it can be to have showings on multi family properties.

Just make the offer contingent on the walkthrough and negotiate once you know the condition of each unit.

One other option we sometimes see is a window of time for mass showings, sort of like an open house for interested parties before a deadline for submitting offers.  That way, tenants are only inconvenienced once, until inspections and appraisal.

@Tommy Feraco Jr

From a few experiences, I will toss in a couple tidbits.  
First, is it being ‘listed' by a Realtor on the MLS or is it a sales rep who works for the builder? That may determine whether the offer will be written by you on State forms or if it will be written by the rep on a different contract.
a builder’s contract may have terms about the appraisal where a low appraisal requires the buyer to bring any amount differential to the table at closing, especially if there are a lot of upgrades over base materials.

Builders rarely negotiate on price but you may be able to negotiate some upgrades for your buyers, like quality of appliances, garage door openers, fixtures.

If the project isn’t completed, your buyer ‘may’ be allowed to make some choices in materials, upgrades and cosmetic options.

I would arrange a few walkthroughs to observe the progress before completion, with the buyers.

Delays in construction and State required inspections, certificate of occupancy and cost of materials can complicate closing, such as a builder changing the price or the buyer’s rate lock running out of time and what it costs the buyers to extend it.

Still recommend inspections to your buyers as new construction doesn’t guarantee things are in perfect condition, although builders typically have a window of time whereby they will correct what’s found by the new owners after closing, as well as some guarantees over time.

Some builders have preferred lenders and Title companies - although the buyers don’t have to use them, they typically make for a smoother transaction and may provide discounts.

If your buyers are loyal, and they happen to speak with a builder or builder rep without you, hopefully they won’t take the bait if the rep says they’ll get a deal if they leave you out. Remind your buyers that you are there to protect them through the transaction.

Ideally, as mentioned in another response, always attend an initial tour or visit with a new build or builder with your clients, and let your clients know if they visit a builders website or speak to someone that they need to indicate that you are their Realtor.

Good luck!

It’s not unusual to be prohibited from seeing the interior of a rental property until you’re under contract.  Tenants don’t want images of their belongings on the listing nor people walking through their space, and sometimes don’t even know the property is up for sale.

I agree that next time, if you receive a video, you can terminate based upon what you see in the video or go ahead and schedule a walkthrough in person or via FaceTime or zoom with your Realtor before going ahead with the inspection if you’re still not sure.

@Cathy Malmrose

All else aside, your son is essentially a landlord for this time and he could put together a lease agreement immediately (ideally with the help of an attorney), which outlines a security deposit in case of damages, requires the prior owner to obtain renters insurance, who pays utilities and any daily rent- especially a daily amount that’s high if they stay beyond a certain date.

This would at least cover the primary points in a leaseback.

I’m curious about when and how the sellers made the request to stay past closing that your son agreed to - was it just between the two parties or was the Realtor part of that conversation?