WWYD Home buying issue

[ilovefh]

I need some outside opinions.

We put an offer in on a home that we think was priced fairly, especially considering how overpriced things are in our area lately. (I've posted about it, house worth 250k was priced at 400k and has sat for 6 months and is now at 300K)

The house was priced at 265. We offered 255 cash, closing when they want. The wife was all for it, the husband, who is a commercial real estate agent, wanted the full 265. The wife and the agent convinced him to accept the offer.

Fast forward to inspection. We're not out to nickel and dime them, that is not what the inspection was about. The big window in the living room, probably 5 feet long by 10 feet tall which has 9 panes of glass and 3 small windows the open out, is rotted. We will probably have to replace it. We have a contractor coming to look at it at 1, but we think it will be in the 6-7k range.

The hard part for us is we know the owners well. In fact after they accepted they called and had us bring my parents down to see the house.

Knowing that and that he was reluctant to sell for 255, would you ask them to part for part of the repair? Even with 6-7k figured in we still fee it is a good price, but they knew it was rotten so we feel like they should maybe pay some.

 

[Praying Colonel]

I need some outside opinions.

We put an offer in on a home that we think was priced fairly, especially considering how overpriced things are in our area lately. (I've posted about it, house worth 250k was priced at 400k and has sat for 6 months and is now at 300K)

The house was priced at 265. We offered 255 cash, closing when they want. The wife was all for it, the husband, who is a commercial real estate agent, wanted the full 265. The wife and the agent convinced him to accept the offer.

Fast forward to inspection. We're not out to nickel and dime them, that is not what the inspection was about. The big window in the living room, probably 5 feet long by 10 feet tall which has 9 panes of glass and 3 small windows the open out, is rotted. We will probably have to replace it. We have a contractor coming to look at it at 1, but we think it will be in the 6-7k range.

The hard part for us is we know the owners well. In fact after they accepted they called and had us bring my parents down to see the house.

Knowing that and that he was reluctant to sell for 255, would you ask them to part for part of the repair? Even with 6-7k figured in we still fee it is a good price, but they knew it was rotten so we feel like they should maybe pay some.

The bolded part wouldn't enter into it for me. This is business.

What would I do? I wouldn't buy a house knowing I'm going to have to go into my pocket 6-7K right when I'm moving in. YMMV, but I've lived in fixer-uppers and they're not my thing, especially with such a big cost right off the bat.

 

[Luvchefmic]

I need some outside opinions.

We put an offer in on a home that we think was priced fairly, especially considering how overpriced things are in our area lately. (I've posted about it, house worth 250k was priced at 400k and has sat for 6 months and is now at 300K)

The house was priced at 265. We offered 255 cash, closing when they want. The wife was all for it, the husband, who is a commercial real estate agent, wanted the full 265. The wife and the agent convinced him to accept the offer.

Fast forward to inspection. We're not out to nickel and dime them, that is not what the inspection was about. The big window in the living room, probably 5 feet long by 10 feet tall which has 9 panes of glass and 3 small windows the open out, is rotted. We will probably have to replace it. We have a contractor coming to look at it at 1, but we think it will be in the 6-7k range.

The hard part for us is we know the owners well. In fact after they accepted they called and had us bring my parents down to see the house.

Knowing that and that he was reluctant to sell for 255, would you ask them to part for part of the repair? Even with 6-7k figured in we still fee it is a good price, but they knew it was rotten so we feel like they should maybe pay some.

The problem as I see it is you know these people well. I wouldn't have been buying a home from them in the first place. That being said if nothing else comes back in the inspection that needs replacing, I would eat the cost myself since you got them down the 10,000. for the price of 255,000. I feel this way especially because the husband needed convincing to accept that offer. In his mind you are getting a bargain.

Good luck to you

 

[kuhltiffany]

We're in the middle of the house buying process right now too. If you really like/want the house I'd offer to split the difference and ask them to pay half

 

[ChanFO]

They knew about the damage, and it's still their house. They'll have to fix it no matter who buys it, so the responsibility falls on them. If you feel like being generous, offer to split the cost down the middle, but if they say no walk away and find another property. It's risky getting into a financial transaction of this magnitude with someone you know in the first place.

 

[Christine]

What is the home actually worth?

Some sellers price their home at top dollar knowing that it is the proverbial "cream puff." Everything has been meticulously taken care of and, at the high end of the selling price, you should not expect to have to fork out money for repairs.

Some houses are priced on the lower end are are sold more of an "as is" condition. This can mean that, if the house were in perfect condition, it might actually sell for $275,000.

Was the $265,000 a premium price. Was it an average price and now they are down yet another $10,000. That would all factor in on my decision to counter offer with the window issue.

 

[snooty3]

The seller is a real estate agent. He knows his house inside and out and is most likely comfortable with the selling price of his home. This is business and lots of money. Was this rotting wood information disclosed in the listing, did the wood rot because of age or did you have a termite inspection done. I would bring this to their attention to see if they will offer up help with the repair. If they don't then let it go, let it go, let it go. What's more important to you the friendship or the house??

 

[sam_gordon]

How was the contract offer written? Specifically, what does it say about issues the inspection turns up?

Presumably you can walk away from this based on the inspection report. So I see it as you having three options...

1) Insist the sellers do the fix or reduce the sale price to cover the fix.
2) Split the repair cost.
3) You pay the repair cost.

I would go for #1 personally but be willing to settle for #2.

However, if the relationship/sale is more important, you might elect #3. Do you have the money to pay for the repair? Can you get more money from your lender to cover the repair? Are the real estate agents willing to reduce their commission to help cover the costs and get a sale?

 

[Ceila]

Unless they were friends that I wanted to maintain a relationship with, I would ask for half, given that you already got them to come down 10k. If they were friends, I'd probably eat the cost. I'm guessing that asking for it will not sit well with the seller.

 

[Ponygirl]

JMHO but since the home inspection revealed a problem with the window, even if the sale doesn't go through for you, I believe that they have to disclose it to anyone else who wants to buy the home. They can't state that they didn't know about it.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Well, if an offer has been made, and it has gotten this far, IMHO, you need to just factor the cost of the needed repair... (assuming the home inspection did not find other very costly repairs) And, decide if you really want the house.

I am not sure it is worth going back and beginning to make demands and then full re-negotiation.

OMG... Home selling and buying issues...
We are selling my husband's parents property. OY VEY!!!!!!

Haven't even put a sign up, or listed the property, and TWO people, (whom I now regard as un-trustworthy) have descended, wanting to literally move into the house, buying at absolute min. value... under a Land Contract... with nothing.. absolutely ZERO down... and very cheap payments...

And, this is a home that needs way more than the cost of that one window in repairs and updates... Unless one is looking at a new, or very new, home... There ARE going to be possible repair and/or updating to be done. But, this is a lakefront property that would be very valuable if fixed up and marketed well.

 

[Buckalew11]

Forget that house, I'll sell you mine. It even has 3 Hidden Mickey's placed into the stacked stone on it.

 

[RitaZ.]

I need some outside opinions.

We put an offer in on a home that we think was priced fairly, especially considering how overpriced things are in our area lately. (I've posted about it, house worth 250k was priced at 400k and has sat for 6 months and is now at 300K)

The house was priced at 265. We offered 255 cash, closing when they want. The wife was all for it, the husband, who is a commercial real estate agent, wanted the full 265. The wife and the agent convinced him to accept the offer.

Fast forward to inspection. We're not out to nickel and dime them, that is not what the inspection was about. The big window in the living room, probably 5 feet long by 10 feet tall which has 9 panes of glass and 3 small windows the open out, is rotted. We will probably have to replace it. We have a contractor coming to look at it at 1, but we think it will be in the 6-7k range.

The hard part for us is we know the owners well. In fact after they accepted they called and had us bring my parents down to see the house.

Knowing that and that he was reluctant to sell for 255, would you ask them to part for part of the repair? Even with 6-7k figured in we still fee it is a good price, but they knew it was rotten so we feel like they should maybe pay some.

Is that the only problem that the inspection revealed? Inspections don't always reveal everything that's wrong with an older home. In any event, that's a costly repair and I'm sure it won't be the only upgrade you will have to make to the house before and after you move in. There are always unexpected expenses when buying a home. Something to think about.

Like another poster said, the window will have to be replaced regardless of who buys the house. The house would have to be phenomenal for me to consider paying for a repair that the sellers should have taken care of prior to listing it. I would consider paying for half of the repair costs, but the rest of the house would have to be in pretty good shape.

 

[Bluestars]

I thought that when a purchase offer is written, there is a dollar amount included that the sellers will need to pay if problems are found in the inspection. I think when we sold our previous house, we agreed to pay up to $1,000 for any needed repairs. Of course, the buyer can back out if the repairs are costly.

 

[tvguy]

It's a business deal. They can refuse, then you can cancel the sale.
Or they may agree to it, since they almost certainly are going to be on the hook for the repair no matter who they sell it too.

I ran into this with the escrow sale of MIL's house.

Sold it to the neighbor at a good price. Then they wanted the sheetrock in a garage that was converted into a room replaced because it was too thin to meet fire code. As it was an escrow sale, there was no disclosure requirement. And it was DW's memory......as a child.....that the NEIGHBOR had been hired to put in the sheet rock. So we declined the repair with the note that they might want to track down whoever put in the sheetrock to discuss why it wasn't up to code. Amazingly, that was acceptable to them.

 

[TheIncredibles!]

Ask for the full repair and see what happens. They may say yes, they may say no. If they say no then you can then offer to split the difference. I wouldn't ask for anything else though unless it was big.

 

[Disneychix]

How old is the house? Hw old is the window? Sometimes windows have a decent warranty so I would speak with the home-owners.

If the window doesn't HAVE to be replaced (your OP said probably will need to be replaced) for a year or 2 I would just go forward and not expect anything from the homeowners.

 

[Darcy03231]

We're going through this right now too. Our home inspection has revealed that one of the home's chimney's needs almost $3,500 of work and the other needs $10,000! We're still waiting on the water (dug well) and radon tests. If the house needs a new well, based on other homes on the street it will cost approximately $13,000. We're waiting until all the test results are in, but we're definitely going to ask the seller to fix some of the issues.

 

[NewRVLady]

The cost of the window in a house in the low 200K seems WAY too high, to me
Is it some top of the line window that IS pricey? Like Pella?

What is bad-is it just the outside mouldings??

 

[Wishing on a star]

I thought that sounded high for a window, too.
Even a nice one, as described.
Hopefully the OP has a quote at this time.

If these people have owned the home, and a real estate person is involved... then they know what they are doing!!!
You really need to read the contract, and see what specifics are in there regarding the home inspection and any repairs.

OP, again, just remember, if you bring this up, you may be open to new negotiations on the house. So, like I said, you may want to just factor in the new window, and decide, price-wise, how much do you want the house.

And, if the owners agree to replace the window, that would probably mean that they could put in a cheaper replacement window of their choice.

If you do it, you can make sure you get the exact window, and quality, and features, and design of your choice.