I got a counter back! He trained the elderly Seller how to use the electronic signature and the offer didn’t need to get faxed or sent via FedEx.
Seller countered back on price. All other terms I have agreed to.
I already have my counter signed and back to the listing agent. We will see.
I asked some tough questions and agent said there is one other offer from a homeowner at full price but it’s contingent on selling their house, inspections and getting a loan. I’m not sure a bank appraiser is going to appraise a house where half the rooms are masked off with plastic with yellow tape across doorway (mold). I had to unzip a bunch of plastic doors to get through the house when I inspected. There’s no way the Sellers are going to accept that offer.
I cannot get a straight answer about “presenting all offers”. I’m told that the agent may agree with Sellers that they are not going to entertain offers lower than X from asking price or something like that.
There is a section on the purchase agreement (offer docs) where the agent is supposed to sign and date/time stamp when offer presented and all offers are supposed to be returned with Seller checking off ‘rejected’ box. Of about 50 offers written over last 9 years, only received back properly executed rejections about twice.
The most irksome thing is that I clearly specify I want date/time signature when offer presented to Seller AND I circle the area on contract. Totally ignored
Sellers can instruct their agent that they don’t want offers below a certain amount, or that they only want written offers.
But absent that (and it’s supposed to be in writing) in my state (and I believe most states) agents are legally required to present all offers, written or verbal.
But as you know, there’s a lot of agents who are incompetent, stupid, lazy, or outright corrupt. No one ever files a complaint against the agent, so they get away with it. An agent could lose their license for doing something like pocketing an offer so they can push another offer where they have both buyer and seller, for example. But most people can’t be bothered to spend the energy.
I have been in several situations where agent was downright unethical (as you all have heard over the years). I get so close to filing a complaint somewhere but I back off because I cannot afford a reputation of being a ‘whiner’.
The listing agent spoke with the Seller this morning and they asked for an extension to reply by Monday. The agent explained that they really should try to make a decision by Friday end of day. The issue is that the Seller lives with 1 son and is expecting the Son to help make the decision. That son is hesitant to make a decision without discussing with the other 2 siblings who live on the East Coast.
They have two offers in hand. My all cash offer with no contingencies and all disclosures signed and released. Other offer is at full list price (my offer is 2% off) BUT is contingent on sale of Buyer’s home, inspection contingency and loan contingency. The listing agent believes that the bank appraiser will come into the house all taped off, but that the bank will require that mold remediation has to occur before funding the loan. That means either the buyer will have to pay for it in escrow, or the Sellers will have to pay for it. They are sitting on a $8k bid for mold remediation which has been shared with all potential buyers.
I guess the Son is hesitant to sign my All Cash offer without discussing with the siblings because they might be leaving some money on the table and he needs everybody on board with the decision.
Meanwhile, there is an Open House today for agents and I’m crossing my fingers that multiple offers don’t come flying in
I think 8K for mold remediation is not an unreasonable amount, if the mold source is from a leaky water. It might be a bit low if the mold is from ground water and a french drain is required, especially if a sump pump is needed. Since OP is going to remodel, it is easy to remove the drywall and clean up the mold.
Most of these types of companies (same with termite companies doing termite repair) is that they will remove all the drywall, do all the remediation work and then leave the house with open drywall, etc. So, you have to add in the cost to replace drywall, tape, mud, sand and repaint the whole room (because you are never going to be able to match a patch of paint). Replace baseboard, trim, etc also. Ohhh, and if you removed all the carpet that has to be replaced also. These are the hidden costs involved that are above any cost estimate you get from these types of companies.
Hopefully the son will just as soon do a clean quick easy sale even if it means a few thousand dollars and can convince his siblings. wonder why after 20 years they decided to sell - need the cash? But the Open House is certainly a worry, although one would think Realtors are more interested in immediately livable and flippers have already been aware.
Having an inspection contingency on a house with that many known (and unknown!) issues screams $$$ to me.
They are selling it because elderly father passed away and he had managed the rental. Then all kinds of massive issues started and tenants had to move out because of mold. The City of La Mesa issued a citation and you can imagine how an elderly absentee landlord just gave up. Most likely the kids convinced her to just sell now.
Listing agent said they had 9 parties (I assume that means agent and clients) come through. That’s not a whole lot of people but it just means there could potentially be 9 more offers come in
As we’ve been told, usually the first offer is the best offer. And that’s your offer, cb. The fact that it’s all cash, with no contingencies, has got to count for a lot with this property. Especially since the owners are in no position to even temporarily manage the property from a distance.
I hope this all works out for @coralbrook but the market there is bizarre…and she has been in situations with elderly owners before who wouldn’t drop their price a nickel.
Funny story about that house out in La Mesa where the elderly owners refused to budget off their $760k pricing. The listing agreement with the nice agent was set to expire. She sat down with them and counseled that it made no sense to keep it on the market at $760k. She advised that they bring out a new listing at $699k to try to get some action. They refused, so her agreement expired.
Less than a week later it comes back out under a different agent at $699k!!! What a hoot. Maybe the other agent offered a lower commission pricing so they validated it that way somehow. Still no action on the property at $699k.
