Real Estate Question - Over Possession of House

[MadJack]

good point i missed that....you should get the keys sometime during the day of closing....

the keys? he should get a FINAL "walk-thru" prior to paying them (the closing). suppose they leave the house in a total mess? suppose anything. they take all the toilets, the water heater, the tile off the floor. is all that covered in the contract? just suppose the worst. what would you do then, AFTER they have your money?

i've been screwed before so just sayin'.

 

[AR182]

the keys? he should get a FINAL "walk-thru" prior to paying them (the closing). suppose they leave the house in a total mess? suppose anything. they take all the toilets, the water heater, the tile off the floor. is all that covered in the contract? just suppose the worst. what would you do then, AFTER they have your money?

i've been screwed before so just sayin'.

you are absolutely right jack...there should be a final walk through right before signing the papers...

 

[bsucards]

i still don't understand why you don't have possession of your house until 14 days after closing. i think that's a bigger deal than the inconvenience of "day they will move". wtf?

It is very common to get keys at closing, but also some people need to allow time to move, in this case, the guy does interior woodwork for home builders so he has a lot of material/crap to move. Unlike me, they didn't rent a storage unit to put some of my stuff in. This is in the agreement that they (seller) maintain possession for 14 days

If they do trash the house, then I will go back to the realtor, and perhaps I can do a walk through before the 14 days is up. They are nice people and I doubt they would destroy the house, but I guess you never know

 

[freelancc]

you are absolutely right jack...there should be a final walk through right before signing the papers...

what about your 'home inspection' by an independent certified inspector :shrug:

do not sign anything until that is done

 

[MadJack]

what about your 'home inspection' by an independent certified inspector :shrug:

do not sign anything until that is done

the old CYA :shrug:

 

[freelancc]

the old CYA :shrug:

exactly :SIB

 

[onetrickpony]

I didn't see this specifically mentioned above but the Realtor is the seller's agent. As a result, they are working for the seller. A few mentioned unethical, malpractice, etc...which is not the case. I would almost guarantee you signed a document upfront acknowledging this fact which basically states that the Realtor was hired by the seller and as such they are his/her client. The Realtor is legally obligated to tell the seller every detail of every conversation that he/she has with you. Don't kid yourself that this Realtor is on your "side". Their legal obligation is to the seller.

I would suggest you call the office or broker as someone mentioned and get this worked out. If not, you will likely be put in a situation of accommodating the seller and working to their schedule. They agreed to a contract plain and simple, hold them to it.

No way in hell I would let this go through without a complete inspection either.

 

[SixFive]

I didn't see this specifically mentioned above but the Realtor is the seller's agent. As a result, they are working for the seller. A few mentioned unethical, malpractice, etc...which is not the case. I would almost guarantee you signed a document upfront acknowledging this fact which basically states that the Realtor was hired by the seller and as such they are his/her client. The Realtor is legally obligated to tell the seller every detail of every conversation that he/she has with you. Don't kid yourself that this Realtor is on your "side". Their legal obligation is to the seller.

I don't think this is all the way correct. The sellers are the agent's client, yes, BUT bsucards is ALSO the agent's client because he called her and she showed him the house. It's a 2 way street, and the agent is obligated to both. Getting both commissions is sweet, but an agent has to be careful how they handle things. They can get into some very big trouble.

I could be wrong since I'm not a real estate agent, but I have 2 close friends that are, and this conversation has come up several times, and it came up when my buddy was selling my house 8 years ago. He told me up front what he could and couldn't do if a potential buyer was also a client of his.

 

[bsucards]

what about your 'home inspection' by an independent certified inspector :shrug:

do not sign anything until that is done

home inspection was completed in September, the agreement says that sellers must maintain maintenance on the house. So everything should be ok

 

[bsucards]

I didn't see this specifically mentioned above but the Realtor is the seller's agent. As a result, they are working for the seller. A few mentioned unethical, malpractice, etc...which is not the case. I would almost guarantee you signed a document upfront acknowledging this fact which basically states that the Realtor was hired by the seller and as such they are his/her client. The Realtor is legally obligated to tell the seller every detail of every conversation that he/she has with you. Don't kid yourself that this Realtor is on your "side". Their legal obligation is to the seller.

I would suggest you call the office or broker as someone mentioned and get this worked out. If not, you will likely be put in a situation of accommodating the seller and working to their schedule. They agreed to a contract plain and simple, hold them to it.

No way in hell I would let this go through without a complete inspection either.

Yes, I signed a document making me aware that she is representing both the buyer and the seller. It is a tricky one, but like I said we choose her as our agent to sell our house. Before even listing our house we were looking at houses in the area I was moving to.

I am sure it is tricky for the realtor, but she has been great all this time. I would imagine that they sellers just no how laid back I am, and didn't think I would mind. Tough shit, I signed on this house in the early part of September, just been waiting on my buyer to get her shit together. Otherwise this would all be done.

I have had all the things done already, inspection, appraisal. I have asked for a final walk through before I close next week. If I do have problems I will contact the broker from the office, but for now I am going to wait to see how the realtor handles it. She is going to have to push back on the sellers. If this makes them unhappy they have to move tough. From what I already know they are moving into an empty house anyhow.

 

[kellyindallas]

BSU --

I was going to ask whether you signed a joint representation agreement, which it appears you did. In the future, do not ever do this. Two parties interests can NEVER be equally represented by one person.

Secondly, in reading the portion of the contract you entered, you are entitled to $100 per day liquidated damages until possession is delivered to you. That's it. Legally, that's what you are entitled to. Yes, you can sue and you have all your legal rights. The problem is that they know the hassle of you doing anything beyond bitching at them is highly unlikely. The penalties in the contract are insufficient enough to motivate them to get out before they feel like it. Just make sure you get the liquidated damages. Other than that, from what you've indicated, that's pretty much all you have. In the future have a lawyer look it over for a couple hundred bucks to ensure that you understand all your legal rights. Good luck to you.