Pre-Owned Home Purchase

As someone else said, the contract should have been amended to clearly dictate the terms of the repairs (who pays what, exactly). If they don't abide by the terms then you can walk away.

However, think about these things as well:
1. Can you find another house of this same quality/value in a neighborhood you desire?
2. In the timeline you desire?
3. If you don't find another house in the time line you desire, would you be paying rent for several more months? That easily adds up quickly. If you are paying $700.00 a month in rent and it takes you three more months to find another house, you just paid $2100.00 more dollars when you could have already been in a house.

Good luck,
L.

First of all, if the terms changed, a new contract had to be written. All of this stuff is carefully put in writing. So, I don't understand how the owners can change mid-repair. I've only bought one house so I don't know all the ins and outs, I just don't see how they can change their mind after making an agreement and starting the repairs!

new dishwasher and new stove? Are they broken? We just sold our home and can see repairing things that are broken or unsafe but as the seller, I probably would not agree to pay for "upgrades". Good luck, buying and selling a home can be extremely stressful.

Is this your first home purchase? It sounds like it is. My husband and I have bought several homes over the years and this is typical. Dishwasher and stove are appliances so might not be considered "repairs". If that is something you want them to replace because they are old they don't have to. IMO the broken window is the sellers responsibility to repair.

When we bought our current home, the a/c units were old (we have 2). One was original to the house. We requested that the owners replace they declined and had it repaired. We replaced a year later (right after the warranty expired!!) Be sure to request the owners purchase a homeowners warranty. It will come in handy!

Do you want them to fix the items or take it off the price of the house? If you want them to take it off the price of the house, you need to put that in the counter.

If you want to get technical, they accepted your offer PRIOR to the inspection. They are responsible for the major issues not minor or "wish list" items.

If you want to walk away from the house, fine. But understand that you will run into this in every house. You need to calm down and decide if you want the house or not.

I would not give up a house that I love because it needs new appliances and because it has a broken window. Appliances don't even COME with every house, old OR new. And a window repair we could likely do ourselves.

A ROOF that needs to be replaced, structural damage, complete electric overhaul, maybe.

So if I were your seller, unless I were REALLY desperate to sell like NOW, I would shrug and let you walk.

:)

If it's not a safety or structural issue, they don't need to repair it. They need to repair "major issues", but new appliances that would replace ones that work are not required. A broken window that will stay closed is not required.

It doesn't really matter what you think here unless you are really willing to walk away from a house for $20 more a month. If that's the case, then either your finances are way too tight to be purchasing a house OR your expectations of sellers in this market are way too high. Personally, I would pay for the NECESSARY repairs out of pocket (like the window) and do the other cosmetic/updating/refreshing repairs slowly as you are able to do so with cash.

Roll it into your mortgage and enjoy your new home or walk away from it, forfeit your deposit and start looking again.

Yes you are being unreasonable. The agreed on a price for the home, you are trying to get it for less and they are saying no, they will not accept that offer. They are willing to walk so either accept their terms or not.

So far as your 20 or 30 over the term of the loan and adding interest either you don't understand paying principle or you are being dramatic. Pay the amount of the repairs as soon as you can. This reduces the principle and saves you the interest.

I think it's unreasonable. Think of it this way..you've already invested so much time, effort, and emotion. You are going to buy the house for a lot of money, and the owners are going to do the major repairs. Would you really walk away over a measly $4500 for some minor fixes?

To me that's the same as camping over night to buy hard-to-get concert tickets, then walking away when your 5 people away from the ticket window because it took too long. Doesn't make sense, right?

It can be emotionally taxing buying a house. But don't throw it all away over something like this. It's not worth it. No matter what house you buy, some things will have to be fixed, and that responsibility will be yours. Take the leap!

I was the seller in this situation. It got to the point where we didn't have time to deal with contractors since we were in the middle of moving ourselves. He want us to pay for $5000 worth of repairs after we had already fixed the major ones. We got so frustrated we told the realtor to tell him we would take an additional $1000 off the house or the sale would be void. It's so stressful for both parties. He ended up buying it anyway. Put yourself in their situation.

That being said I was the buyer too and there were things we had things fixed on the new house. We just had to be reasonable. It needed a roof so they fixed it. The well and septic needed servicing so they did it. But the paint was bad, it needed a new dishwasher, the fence was broke Ina few areas, and we did that. Just have to pick your battles.

I am a Realtor, and my advice would be to ask yourself whether it's worth walking away over. It really doesn't matter if you're being unreasonable or not, if the sellers won't agree to reducing the sales price more, then you guys have a decision to make. How much have they already spent on repairs? Did you get a good price on the home, in comparison to the comparables? There are alot of factors that would go into answering this question - you can't really make it a "principle" thing... Hope this helps some. Feel free to message me if you have any questions. Good luck!

I'm with you on wanting them to fix the broken window. What exactly are the other minor repairs? Is the program you're going through requiring these things to be fixed up front before you will be able to buy the home?

Unless the stove and dishwasher just aren't working, then the ones they have should be fine. Upgrading would be your expense. When I bought my house, I didn't require that the tub be re-caulked, the window that wouldn't say up be replaced, the hole in the drywall in the closet be patched, etc. All of that minor stuff I have either learned to live with or fixed up as I have time. If these minor things are things you can repair as you have time, then I'd continue. If you have to fix them now, I'd try to be objective and think what you would do if you were the seller. Just be prepared that walking away from this home will have expenses that you can't recoup. You might very well be out a few grand in inspection fees, appraisal fees, earnest money, etc.

You have gotten some good advice from the mommas. I have a home that I will sell one day and since it came with a dishwasher, garbage disposal and stove it will have one when I sell. I will make sure that they work but I will not be buying top of the line or anything like that.

Usually when you purchase a home old or new you have things that you want in it other than what is offered. That's why they suggest to sellers to paint the house neutral colors and be move-in ready.

The home inspection points out things that should be done by the seller prior to the sale. I had a sale hung up on one item that the seller was going to have done but didn't and called the title company to hold x amount of dollars out of the sale because the items was not completed. You wouldn't believe how fast the repair was done in order to close the sale. It is the seller's responsibility to make sure that the house is fit to live in.

How much is the licensed contractor going to cost you to do the repairs? If you don't want to "roll" the costs into your mortgage have that money up front in cash or check at closing. This the only way I see you not paying the extra for the home items. Go to Lowes or Home Depot for the stove/dishwasher and get the ones you like and pay in cash.

Is any of this in writing? If not it is he said she said.

You and your husband have to be on board as a united front in order for this to work. It is not just about you it is about us/we the family when it comes to purchasing a home. Get most of the things you want in your first home and as time goes by decide if another home is necessary with the added features that you didn't get the first time. We all have to start somewhere when buying a home.

It kind of sounds like the realtor and mortgage company need a sale by the way they are "pushing" you to do something you don't want to do. If you can find way to hash out the small details for the loan do so. Otherwise you may be without a home for some time to come. Do talk to your husband and try to undertand where he is coming from with the house and why he is in love with the house. Do the paperwork in front of him and explain your side so that he knows why you are against this and then make your final decision as you will be living in this house for the next 5 to 15 or 20 years.

Good luck and congrats on your new home.

The other S.

What did your offer state? Was there a counter-offer, or is all of this just "discussion"? Have you made a counter-offer?

I have bought and sold 3 houses and I don't think you are being unreasonable. Unless this is the only house you can find that you want to purchase, then stick to your guns or you will always have this queasy feeling of regret in your stomach and it could spoil the house for you. You could always compromise, especially on getting new appliances, so that you can pick them out yourself. I'm sure the sellers would pick out the cheapest ones. But they should fix a broken window and things like that I think. Follow your gut and don't let other people tell you you're being unreasonable for what you clearly feel very strongly about.

Perhaps a compromise would work here. Make a counteroffer of $2000 less than the contract price, basically splitting the costs. They may stick to their guns, but then you could either walk or purchase, knowing you made the effort. As others have said, the seller, having made the major repairs, may feel your accepted offer was their bottom line. If you are choosing to replace older appliances, that is your choice, not their responsibility. But I don't think I would want to lose a contract over $2000, and they may be more acceptable of sharing the expenses, instead of shouldering the entire cost. Good luck!

it's 4500 that's it....it could be much more. I'd be happy and buy it...we had a kink in our purchase, we wanted 3k back cash to buy appliances, but bank wouldn't let us do it unless we put at extra 2k down...we didn't have the 2k that's why we wanted the 3k cash back...anyhow we ended up having to finance an extra 3k, the sellers then paid closing costs which equaled aprox 3k (instead of giving us cash back)

So in the end we put less money down (cause we needed some to buy appliances) changed the terms a bit and now we are in a great house that we both love. Our payements went up by about $16 a month. But since we are paying extra every year I feel it was a win/win

Pay a little extra each year to make up for it...just a thought!

This is something that has to be decided between you and your husband. It sounds like the sellers repaired everything that was necessary for the house to quality for mortage financing, but not the little things - perhaps splitting the overall repair list? It is not unreasonable for you to ask for all the repairs, but it is also not unreasonable for the sellers to hold the position that you wrote your contract for the house "as-is".