All Forum Posts by: Ruth Lyons

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to share your expertise. I won’t mention his name but my agent is less than adequate. I have fired him but I should’ve done it sooner. He seemed knowledgeable at first but I could’ve negotiated better than him. He didn’t pass on anything I asked him to convey to the buyer.  Last buyer, I gave a huge seller subsidy to and asked my agent to tell them that I’m doing that because I’m not expecting a laundry list of inspectors **** to do. But what did I get a laundry list of inspectors **** to do?!  I ended up calling the buyers agent myself and asking him if my agent conveyed that message to his buyer and he said no. And He was constantly unreachable and quasi deceitful. 

Brian, I did get a list through my realtor and agreed in all cases to fix everything with the exception of the last issue (chimney). My contractor recommended I seal it with a special mortar paint which I did. I didn't have it done by a "licensed contractor" as I did it myself. That seemed to be the issue.

Thanks for the responses. This is my first experience -- either they are professional deal killers in general, or I ended up dealing with 3 in a row who happened to be deal killers. 

I called the first inspector and told him he killed the deal and he seemed surprised that the buyer backed out!  Really?!!!

Hi friends,

I rehabbed/renovated a single family home in Baltimore County. It was supposed to be my first fix and flip after getting 4 buy and holds finished. But I'm frustrated and just put it on the market for rent. I was unprepared for the havoc inspectors can cause. Here's what happened. 

I got a contract in March and the buyer hired an inspector who noted that "what looks like, could possibly be, not sure, but it might be asbestos insulation in the crawl space." I offered to have all the suspect insulation removed and proceeded to do so but the buyer backed out anyway, spooked by the word "asbestos" which isn't even a health threat unless it's disturbed and it was in the crawl space, not a livable area of the home.

Next contract, the inspector brought the code book and proceeded to list numerous nit-picky issues that were totally different (apparently missed?) from the first inspector's list. Said there might be mold in the crawl space. Again, I proceeded to move forward with mold remediation only to have that buyer back out because "mold is scary."

Finally, another offer and another nit-picky list of non consequential stuff to fix (including a small tear in a window screen and a front step that had settled and was now 1/4 inch lower and out of compliance)! This inspector noted that the chimney might be a problem down the road. Boom, buyer backed out even though their lender inspector found no issues.

So how do you all deal with inspectors????

Looking forward to insights. I plan on renting it for at least a year and then perhaps trying to sell. I can't afford to sit on it any longer not knowing what idiot inspector might walk through the door next and ding me for God knows what! Perhaps if it's not "newly rehabbed", the buyer won't be expecting me to build a new house! 

Sure, it’s the Md dept of licensing.   There’s a tab on the site named  complaints, and when you click on it, it gives you all the details to file complaint. 

Thanks. I figured but thought it was worth asking...

Hello Bigger Pockets community,

I have a question and perhaps others have the same question so I thought I'd post it and see what the wise folks here think.

I accepted an offer on one of my properties and am giving the buyer a subsidy ("help with closing costs" as part of the deal). You're probably familiar with this sort of deal that allows the buyer to finance a larger amount -- in essence, the house will approve for $180,000 but the cash that comes to me at closing is only $172,500. Two questions arise:

1. I've told my agent that I will pay commission but only on the REAL price I'm getting for the house -- the inflated sales price less the seller subsidy. In this situation, that's $450. He should have offered it since he negotiated the deal, but he didn't so I told him that's how it's going to work. I didn't sign a contract with him saying otherwise.

2. How does it work with transfer taxes? Can I pay transfer taxes on the REAL price rather than the inflated sales figure?

I'm in the Baltimore Maryland area -- the laws are probably different state by state.

Thanks for your thoughts,

Ruth

Congrats! Inspiring. 

I rehab in Maryland too. I agree to move on and not waste any more time or money on this guy. 

You do have a remedy to get your money back that you might not know about. There's a state licensing board where you can file a complaint. Document and send them 3 copies of your entire complaint, paper work, copies of text messages, etc. -- details on what to do are easy to find on their website. They will pester him to make things right with you. He will be fined for working without a license. I recently did this and got back the deposit I paid (similar circumstances) and the contractor faces a court date to explain himself and a fine. 

Welcome to BP! I personally moved my retirement funds to an SDIRA the end of 2015. I researched everything extensively before I made the move. I'm very happy with my decision. I have 3 rental properties that deliver checks to my IRA monthly. I wrote an article about how I did it on Investor Junkie (you can google it). Just another perspective...