All Forum Posts by: Michael Franklin

Welcome to BP, @Zak Gilyard!

Dig in and ask questions. There are many very helpful folks around and a ton of great resources to check out.

Best of luck,

Mike

@Becky Parker

Welcome to BiggerPockets! I will be moving back to the St. Louis area soon and looking to invest in the market there also. 

Check out the podcasts and ask questions. There are a lot of great people around here.

-Mike

Welcome to BP, @Terry Nelson.

I am also looking to invest in the St. Louis area. 

Make sure to check out the rest of the podcasts as there is so much great information in each episode. And ask questions on the forums; the community here is great.

This is a prime example of why I was adamant to get estoppels for the deal I was working on a few weeks ago. It's becoming clear that when there is resistance to obtaining these documents, including the financial verification, it's probably better to walk away.

Thanks again to @Roy N. , among others, for the support on that issue. 

-Mike

An update for anyone still interested:

After much persistence, and me mentioning fiduciary responsibility, they eventually agreed to produce the documents we requested. However, we're now more than 2 weeks in and I've yet to receive anything.

My agent did call and insist that I get my inspections scheduled because "we have deadlines to meet too." I told her I'd gladly schedule all inspections if I had the verified estoppels and financial information in my hands. Per the contract, I still have a few weeks before I'm required to have the inspection report submitted and I have lined up an inspector so we could easily initiate the process. Her response was "they're working on it but you need to get your due diligence going and take this more seriously. You need to schedule the inspections." I reiterated the fact that verifying the financials and estoppels WAS part of my due diligence and reminded her that I would not be paying for an inspection until I had satisfactorily reviewed the financials/estoppels. 

It's important to note that while we've had this whole debacle about the estoppels, in the meantime I've discovered a number of inconsistencies with the financial numbers I COULD get from them early on. This is another reason, aside from it just being the right thing to do, that I wanted to see their verified P&L for the last 2-3 years.

It's has become clear that this "deal" is not worth pursuing any further so I walked away from it today. Many of you had come to that conclusion already.

Huge thank you to everyone who offered insight on this post. I plan go keep learning and will use this experience to be more prepared when another opportunity presents itself.

Really nice work, @Alex Applebee. 

Welcome to BiggerPockets!

As a fellow newbie from the midwest, I wish you the best. 

This site is absolute gold in terms of resources and support.

Welcome to BP!

This community offers extraordinary support and information for new and seasoned investors, alike.

Best of luck.

I told my agent that I didn't feel it was appropriate to edit my existing estoppel since it was presented to them before they signed the contract and they did, in fact, sign the contract stating they would provide the information. I told her I didn't want to concede just because we got pushback from the other agent. This is a binding contract, is it not?

I told her I wanted them to produce the documents or we'd need to walk away and start over. I said we are professionals, and professionals shouldn't sign a contract unless they plan to uphold it.

I reiterated that one of the main objectives of the estoppel is to verify who lives there and what the terms of their leases are. I explained that legally I have to uphold the existing leases if the tenants don't agree to sign a new one, and that I can't be comfortable committing to do so without reviewing the specific estoppel and lease agreements(which they don't want to produce either).

My agent continued to insist that we edit the estoppel and said I need to work together to solve any issues that arise. I told her working through issues is one thing, but breech of contract is another. She stated that this isn't a breech of contract, but simply working things out. 

Then she told me I should probably find a new agent because she thinks that each issue that arises, I will make it tough to work things out.

Based on most of the feedback here, it's not unreasonable to insist on receiving all the documents they agreed to in the contract. At this point, it looks like I'm pulling out of the deal and will be looking for my next opportunity.

@Steve Babiak

We did just that. But my agent called me back and wants me to remove the tenant name(s) requirement from my estoppel as well as this line: "Any problems related to my tenancy or any repairs that are needed are: (Write "none" if applicable) "

On principle alone, I don't want to simply because they had the estoppel to review before signing the contract and I don't feel it's frivolous information anyhow. 

I offered to sign the NDA but I don't think she processed what I was saying; I think she was focused on appeasing the seller's agent by changing the document criteria.

Am I being unreasonable, though.

And thanks again to everyone who has offered advice so far. I very much appreciate this community.