All Forum Posts by: Patricia Sander

Quote from @Bill B.:

If you haven't given the seller an EMD are you sure you're even "in contract"? As a seller I certainly wouldn't think you had the property locked down. But that may be a market difference as we also don't use lawyers and a $50k emd would be insane for anything under a few million.

As mentioned. You made an offer assuming an old roof. If the property had a new roof you would offered more, so asking the seller to pay 100% is out of line, especially if not actively leaking. You obviously would t be replacing the roof if you owned it. 

If you don't like the deal and you don't have any EMD deposited I don't see how they stop you from walking and if that's your plan don't drag it out last some deadline. Just walk now and leave a "this is what I'd pay letter" with the seller's realtor. Meanwhile maybe you find yourself a better realtor, it sure sounds like you're doing their job for them.

I made an offer assuming a 10 year old roof not a 153 year old roof that’s completely done for. I expected some life on the roof not to have to do immediate replacements or repairs. I then told my attorney “if they don’t want to replace the roof then I walk” and the seller is saying I can’t walk. I’m literally terminating my contract prior to a contingency expiration within my right and for some reason seller and even my own attorney are trying to force me to close and accept whatever the seller wants to offer. I’m not sure how this got misinterpreted, I don’t want to hold the house up any further but I’m sure as hell not going to give them 50k of EMD when I made it very clear I’m not willing to negotiate and the seller has made it clear he’s not willing to give me what I want but expects me to negotiate anyways. This is just crazy, you can’t force a buyer to accept your own repairs after inspection rather than credit asked for. 

Quote from @Russell Brazil:

If the contract calls for you to deposit an EMD, and you do not, you will be in default of the contract.

 I already asked my attorney to terminate based on my inspection prior to contingency expiration.

Quote from @Paul Pratt:

@Patricia Sander I think you're overcomplicating things.

1. Almost all real estate transactions are AS IS.

2. Within your inspection period you do your due diligence, if you don't like it you can back out and take your EMD with you.

3. You can ask for a credit but seller doesn't have to give it to you. Someone else will probably buy it if it's a solid property.

4. Any attorney who is urging you to complete a deal you're not comfortable with is not a good sign.

 You’re right, I told her I was terminating and she said I can’t do that, I asked what she meant as the contingency still stood and I was unhappy with seller response to “resolve” and she said I should at least hear the seller out first even if I wasn’t legally obligated to. I’m going to CC seller attorney and both realtors about my choice to terminate and never use this lawyer again as this is way more stressful than it would’ve been if I had adequate legal representation. Thank you for your input! 

Quote from @Theresa Harris:

Are you within the time period for the inspection clause?  If so, you can say it didn't pass inspection and walk.  

As for the 'as is', you can ask the seller for anything, but that doesn't mean the seller has to agree.  They can stay firm on their price.

If you haven't put a deposit down on the house with your offer, then your offer isn't valid.

Where is your realtor in this? They should know how this works.

Yes my inspection contingency still stands, my realtor and attorney are offended that I don’t want to negotiate a repair on the roof so that’s where we’re at right now. I told my attorney and realtor that a repair is out of the question and if the seller doesn’t wish to lower price to account for roof replacement I am not interested in moving forward. Just because the roof isn’t actively leaking (honestly the condition is so bad I would be surprised that it isn’t but I can’t prove it as my inspection was done on a dry day and the attic is “finished”) I have already compromised on a lot of the issues that inspection revealed and refuse to compromise on this.

My lawyer telling me I need to hear the seller out and wait for their repair quote to come through is making me uneasy as the deposit they’re asking for while I wait is 50k. I don’t want to pay a bunch of legal fees to get 50k back out of this if seller and I can’t come to an agreement. I told attorney it’s replacing or nothing and she said repairs are just as good? I’m just not sure wtf is happening so I just flat out refused to send deposit and asked attorney to terminate based on inspection. I’m out inspection and some legal fees but I’m not about to be strong armed into this.

My offer is cash, above listing and what I asked for in terms of repairs still puts me cash above listing. The sellers had a bunch of low ball offers and a 5% down conventional about 10k higher than my offer…. The sellers own realtor said appraisal is not going to happen because they aimed high when listing. A similar home, 30 years newer with a new roof and more updated interior just sold for 5k more than what I’m offering AFTER inspection issues. I’m worried the seller is going to try and force this sale on me or drag this out when it comes to EMD. Can I really not request a full replacement and refuse anything else the seller offers? That doesn’t sound right to me just because seller is stating “as is” doesn’t negate my inspection contingency. Regardless I’m not putting up 50k with all this going on, if they agree to my credit I’ll have to suck it up and close I guess but I’m not negotiating anything and will stick to terminating contract due to inspection even if my attorney and realtor say that’s not negotiating in good faith. 

Some rookie mistakes made here but I wanted a second opinion. I'm under contract and inspection showed up some issues with plumbing and the roof. I spoke with attorney and said basically I would just ask for a credit for roof replacement and got quotes sent it out. Seller comes back saying home is sold as is and a bunch of other nonsense how they disagree with my inspection because the roof "looks beautiful from the street" or whatever. Anyways I go to check everything realtor handed me (no seller disclosure was ever sent) and sure enough as is was not anywhere to be found on listing or otherwise. So I ask my attorney if I waived inspection contingency and she said no I didn't but yea the house is as is according to seller. I don't remember anyone mentioning this to me and I guess I should've read everything I signed but I assumed the attorney and realtor would have told me something like this, no? Well I tell my attorney I'm not satisfied with a repair on the roof as it's only kicking the can down to next year where I'll either have to make another repair on a 150 year old slate roof (2-5k) or cover the whole cost to replace myself. Other parts of the roof (lower) are newer shingles and in good condition, another rookie mistake was I didn't ask how old the roof was and just assumed about 10 or so years. Wasn't until my inspector was up with the drone that I noticed the other part of the roof is very old slate that's got cracks and other issues on it. While not leaking, it's at the end of its life and the owner was a real DIY landlord who thought 3 tab shingles would compliment a dilapidated slate roof perfectly. My EMD is due tomorrow (high EMD cash offer little over listing as I assumed home was in very good condition) and my attorney said we are negotiating but I don't wish to negotiate any repairs, I would rather walk and told my attorney I wish to terminate citing my inspection contingency and the issues that are in it. So I'm wondering if I have to legally send EMD and continue to negotiate with seller or if I can just terminate and not get into this whole headache with the seller trying to strong arm me into closing or try and grab the EMD by offering repairs in order to "satisfy" my inspection requests by repairing a few completely broken slates. My attorney said we can't just ask for a replacement and should work with seller if they want to offer repairs and I can't walk now that I made a demand to the seller… while I'm not an expert I've never heard of anything like this before? If I don't like the inspection and seller wishes to negotiate beyond what I want as resolution I'm within my right to terminate without negotiation so it feels like my attorney just wants to close the deal anyways despite my protests. What do you guys think?