It’s a bit more than 90 days to closing and it being in a beach community, delayed closing means losing out the entire season.
@blossom It’s still risky. Not sure how much I can catch in a walk-through. The advantage is the seller will keep a sharp eye on the renters, presumably.
And renters (tourists) may not take good care of the property
Very true.
You’ll catch the usual stuff that a summer tenant will be careless about… bathtub won’t drain because it’s stuffed with sand and crud. A/C won’t go on. Screen doors off their hinges. Top lid of the toilet cracked.
No, you won’t catch the big system stuff…
You need a good thorough inspection before completing the sale to minimize expensive oversights. It’s one thing to buy knowing that you need to do some minor repairs and wholly another to find major items (foundation, wiring, plumbing, etc) that need work.
It sounds like the issue is the renting season? It’s hard to know what to do with a place that’s already been rented.
I guess it depends on how much you want this particular property
My kids rented a house for a big family celebration a year or so ago and subsequently got word the rental was cancelled as the property was sold.
Actually, I don’t know what’s going on with the seller. As I understand it, and as jym626 said, they can cancel renting but won’t. No idea why. I am guessing asking for 2% discount from the sale price is not unreasonable for delayed closing, loss of use on my part. I may ask for another inspection right before closing if I decide to buy.
I don’t have personal experience, but the folks I know who bought or sold beach vacation homes do so with the understanding that upcoming rentals are to be honored. Often local laws require it.
As someone described upthread somewhere, perhaps after the sale or as part of the sale you could require them to put a large chunk in escrow to be held for any repairs necessary due to the summer rentals. You could use an outside inspection company if need be to do a final walk-through and address any repairs that need to be done prior to the closing.
The other problem with this is that if there are significant problems that they don’t want to fix are you in a position to then negate the sale? That, if even possible, I would set you many months behind in your house hunt. You sure are being incredibly flexible with these people.
We had agreed on the sale before the seller rented it out. Technically, I have no obligation to honor it.
@jym626 I could put that all in the contract as contingencies if I want the house badly enough. I am not so sure if the house is that special. As you said, it sets me back many months.
I would be quite irked and not want to deal with this seller or house any more.
Whoa. If you had agreed on the sale and THEN they decided to try to make some extra $ by renting it out and trying to delay the closing I wouldn’t be anywhere as understanding as you are being. I’d walk away, unless you REALLY REALLY love this house. I hope you are still house hunting and find something better.
What a long strange trip this has been!
I’ve actually been quite interested, there have been lots of twists and turns
You haven’t said if you will have a mortgage on this property. Some lenders won’t lock in a rate 120+ days out, especially for a non-owner occupied home (2nd home or rental).
It just seems there are a lot of strings hanging for this deal to come together - interest rates, insurance rates, interest earned on escrow money, possible damage, walk thru 120 days from contract, and possible damage. I’m not a person who would take this much risk.
Now if you are paying cash and don’t have to put a lot (or anything) into escrow, or if it is refundable if the walk thru shows too much damage, then that’s different.
When my dad passed away, the market was soft so I considered keeping it as a rental briefly (if OK with my sibling, though it would have been a courtesy query, I was the executor of the estate). I was warned that sometimes someone signs a lease (this was not a vacation area) then stops all payments and it takes 2 years to evict them due to the landlord/tenant laws. NO WAY! Not sure if there is a chance that could happen with a summer rental but why risk it??
Also…. didn’t they say they only planned to use it on weekends so wanted a 40% reduction in the rent, and now you discover they have renters?? Please, walk away!! This whole thing doesn’t pass the smell test!!
Yup, they did and I walked away. Now they are back with the new proposal. The new proposal is slightly better than the old one. I like the house but I don’t know if I really really love it.
@twoinanddone 10% in the escrow.
I know it’s hard if you like the house enough to make an offer, but these sellers are.. sorry to say… deceptive (liars!) and it is at very high risk of a bad outcome.
They might still try to come back to you, but it just smells. I am sure you will find the house of your dreams. I think you’re dodging a bullet with this one.
I wouldn’t work with these folks—sounds like they’re unreliable liars and those are awful folks to deal with. Much better to find a house with sellers who honor their word.
When we were trying to buy our 1st house. H fell in love with a place but I made him come with me to look at it at night and he saw the streetlight from the park next door shining into the living room window. We fell in love with another home but while we were looking at it over a period of weeks, more and more no parking signs were erected along the street and then the house behind it built a monster home which would kill all the lovely vegetation and make the house we loved always in shade. We were glad they declined our offer and never made a 2nd offer. The 3rd house we fell in love with and wanted to buy it turns out the financing didn’t work out (due to lazy realtor not listing our properties) and later we realized the home directly across the street seemed to perpetually be doing auto body work.
We finally fell in love with and bought this house and love it and our neighbors and the financing all worked out.
Things happen for a reason. I’d walk away from this disaster of a seller.