real estate help needed

[vanbasten]

not sure if anyone can help or not.

it looks like i am buying a home. the house just went off the market with a listing agent because their contract had expired, and i caught them before the have listed with anyone else, saving them the commission $$ and getting the house at a better price.

with everything else that needs to be done to make this happen, (ie. attorney fees, title company, appraisal, home inspection, and other things i might be missing), what should i expect them (the seller) to pay for, and me (the buyer) to pay for?

thanks in advance.

 

[Heyward]

All of those things you list are typically costs paid by the Buyer. However, if you haven't signed a contract already, it's fairly common for Sellers to agree in the contract to pay some amount of your closing costs. Rather than pick specific items for them to pay for, they could agree that they will contribute a couple thousand dollars (or however much you agree on) toward your costs at the closing. If you're saving them a pile on realtor commissions, they would probably go along with it, rather than have to go hire another real estate agent.

 

[Franky Wright]

Broker for 20+, and Builder for 10+..........

Everything is negotiable!
Tell them to pay for it all and see what they say, or call the title company, and ask what is customary, then use that as your bare minimum.
Sounds like you already have a deal though, so Im wondering why your asking these questions now?
I could go on and on Van B, but Im leaving town, so I will check this one more time in the next 2 hours.
Franky

 

[lowell]

the commission should not make a difference at all. if the home is worth 100k it is not worth 106 because suzy realtor has it. i would find out why it didn't sell when listed and if they are trying to sell it for the same price as when it was listed. certainly if you are strapped for cash you can have seller pay up to 6 percent of price in seller concessions. one problem about not having representation is that you need to make sure seller has disclosed any problems with the home and the price is fair. few sellers are going to share any saved commisions with a buyer. feel free to get my email from jack and i will be glad to advise you. if you really want the home try and tie it up with a reasonable offer giving you a due dillengence period to have all inspections and appraissal done. try to write it so you have an out if you find out it is a lemon. our market here in raleigh nc is so good i am selling several homes for about 200-250, the buyers are spending 200k on adding second stories and then i resell for about 650k. they make almost 100k and i get paid for my work. call someone who knows homes in your area and if nothing else pay them a small consulting fee to find out why the home did not sell when listed.

 

[vanbasten]

we have no deal as of yet. i called them directly today when i found out the home was off the market. long and short of it, i know more than the owners know that i know. i have spoken to a neighbor, and have quite a bit of inside info.

this market (central PA) is not like buying in philly or DC. you get much more bang for your dollar. sellers are motivated because they just settled on their new build(after waiting 14 months for their home to be completed in a 55+ community). this house is big (3600 sq ft), sits on more than a half acre, was built in 1960. they are the original owners. i have been through it twice. original asking price was $379,000, then reduced to $345,000. reason it hasn't sold is a couple of things.

first, no central air - already got two quotes for it - (12K to 14K).

second, inside is decorated like your grandma's house. esthetics only, nothing we can't handle - tear up carpeting, all hardwood floors underneath. paint on walls, redo 2 baths. kitchen and one bath already redone. furnace 2 years old, roof 5 years old. have already figured about $50-70K to get it to where we would want it, and the house would then have the appeal and be worth at least $425,000+. already have someone to do all inside work.

third, for the price they had it listed, people can build new around here. don't get near the house or acreage that this place is, but i just know it's a matter of convenience for most. i can see past all that.

i will call a title company. already called my attny. i have all the info from the original listing agent. (which i got from a neighbor). i'll also ask for the due diligence if we get that far, which i expect we will. i also have a condo to sell, but they go quick, not worried about that, and can afford to carry another mortgage for a few months if necessary. already explained this to the seller, i need at least 60-90 days.

i have offered 300K. i expect to settle somewhere around 310-315. (if they were expecting 345, less 6% is takes them down to 320) so i'm hoping the 315 is my limit. home has already appraised for the original asking price of 379.

thanks for all your help guys. if this sparks something else, please reply. lowell, might take you up on emailing you if need be. thanks for that.

this place (madjacks) is great!

 

[lowell]

you might want to keep your offer at 300k. let them know you didn't want to buy a new home but want to restore this one and want them to come back and visit and see what you have done to it. they probably will appreciate that and may give you a great deal. don't act phony but if they know you love the house that will mean something to them.

 

[dawgball]

lowell and Franky have always had good advice on this board about RE.

vanbasten -- your situation is almost identical to mine when I moved to Nashville. I found a house two doors down from a good friend that had been on the market and the contract expired. He had a bad RE agent who encouraged him to ask full market value ($269,000) when the house was in no condition to seel at full market. Very similar to what you mentioned above: no decorating appeal because old paint and wallpaper, fixtures, landscaping, etc. I met him the day he put the FSBO sign out and walked through. Called him the next day asking if he would meet me at the house. I took a contract and check post-dated 4 days (pre-approved and discussed with my lender first) for a chunk of the $196,000 offer. We had also just sold our condo in Atlanta that worked out well for us.

Since the guy was under three houses at the same time (info I knew from my friend, his neighbor), he reluctantly agreed to the deal. My wife and I have put about $8K in it now (tiled the basement, paint, new fixtures, and some landscaping). We were offered $260,000 for it about 6 months ago (bought it about 18 months ago), so I'm pretty confident that we are in good shape now. The only contingency that I put on the house was a full inspection, so I was sure that the house was in sound shape.

lowell's advice is good because you can't work back down. Also, I think the biggest key is that you have to be ready to walk away from the deal if the terms are not what you want. Don't fall in love with the idea to the point where you don't capitalize on the opportunity that you have. I also think if these people really love their house, they will appreciate the idea of someone coming in and improving it. The previous owner of my house has stopped in a couple of times to see what we have done.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Phenom]

All the above is good advice, just MAKE SURE everything that you are expecting is IN WRITING... and make sure your attorney is aware of that... You don't want to be in the house for 3 months and think damn, we should have agreed to have this fixed or this paid for....and even if agreed to orally, if its not in writing it mine as well have never happened...This helps me put property law into real life situations, I will have to use your situation to remember certain rules... GL to you..

 

[taoist]

I will mention one thing before I have to run off back to Court.... This may be more of a problem for the sellers than for you, but some listing agreements also contain a "hold over" period, which essentially says that if the property sells within xxx number of days after the listing agreement expires, then the seller still has to pay the realtor his commission.... Like I said, probably more of a problem for the seller than you, but something that should be mentioned....



...got to go argue about custody for a few hours.... :talk:

Wish me luck, fellers.

 

[Mjolnir]

lowell and Franky have always had good advice on this board about RE.

i agree completely. i advise people to find a good escrow company. they will guide you through everything. in calif usually the seller pays for all transfer taxes,home warranty, termite inspection and repairs, and splits escrow fee's 50/50.
there are other things that you should get most important i think is a home inspection (you pay for).
it isnt manditory they pay for a termite inspection, but you sign waivers to get past them.
dont sign anything without someone advising you.
gl and keep us informed.

 

[dogface]

taoist-

shoot me an e-mail, get it from jack. (I went from Windows ME to XP media center and lost your addy!)

Thanks!


TSI

sorry to hijack the thread...