We were supposed to close escrow today. Actually, the original close date was last Tuesday, but we extended it a week. My agent has called the buyer's agent and has not gotten a response. She also called the buyer's mortgage broker and asked what was going on. She got the usual mortgage broker answer - "Oh, there were some problems that weren't the buyer's fault but they are all cleared up now," etc., etc. My agent then asked if we were going to close tomorrow. He said no, it would probably be next Monday. This is not acceptable. I do not want to hold this property over another weekend and I've already extended the closing date a week.
My agent is putting the property back on the market and is sending the buyer's agent a cure notice to give them three days to close or lose their earnest money.
I am so sick of lenders and/or mortgage brokers waiting until the last minute. They've had 5 weeks to get this loan ready and they haven't done anything.
House 3: Still No Buyer's Docs
We're supposed to close escrow tomorrow. As of 1:45 PM today, the escrow agent still does not have docs from the buyer's lender and no one there is returning his phone calls. This does not make me happy. I asked my agent to contact the buyer's agent and have them start pestering their lender for loan docs as well.
I did stop by the property this morning and it's still in good shape. The window AC unit has been installed. No more vandalism has been seen.
I did stop by the property this morning and it's still in good shape. The window AC unit has been installed. No more vandalism has been seen.
House 3: Sale Documents Signed
I went to the title company this afternoon to sign all the documents. There were several errors on the HUD - as expected. First, they had my agent's commission as 3% when it should be 1%. They also left out the $350 I am kicking back to the buyer for a stove to replace the one that was stolen. Then, they charged me $525 for a termite treatment. This was never mentioned to me and it is not in our contract. The escrow company charged me because the paperwork from the termite company said to bill the homeowner. They apparently meant the new home owner, since I did not authorize this and have never heard of the company. They also incorrectly charged me $325 for a home warranty. My counter-offer, which was accepted, says the buyer is to pay that. So altogether, there was $4,750 in errors in the HUD. It pays to go over these things closely.
The only other surprise was that the close of escrow date is the 13th. I thought it was the 8th. My concern there is that I have to hold on to the property over one more weekend. I may be a bit paranoid, but three break - ins over two months will do that to you. The new window AC unit is being installed today, so there is the potential for more theft. Hopefully, though, it will be ok.
Actually, I do have one more concern - the title agent said he had not yet received the loan docs for the buyer. They were supposed to arrive on Monday. I'm a bit uneasy about that.
Unfortunately, it looks like I will not be making much on this property. That's not great, but I do want to get rid of it and at least it looks like I won't be losing money. I'll post a detailed post mortem of the project after everything settles.
On an unrelated note, I saw Bruce Springsteen in concert twice last weekend - here in Phoenix on Saturday and in Los Angeles on Monday. Great shows!! And in L.A., we went to Mimi's Cafe for dinner before the show and on the way out, bumped into Steve Perry of Journey coming in. Meal in the sky keeps on turning...
The only other surprise was that the close of escrow date is the 13th. I thought it was the 8th. My concern there is that I have to hold on to the property over one more weekend. I may be a bit paranoid, but three break - ins over two months will do that to you. The new window AC unit is being installed today, so there is the potential for more theft. Hopefully, though, it will be ok.
Actually, I do have one more concern - the title agent said he had not yet received the loan docs for the buyer. They were supposed to arrive on Monday. I'm a bit uneasy about that.
Unfortunately, it looks like I will not be making much on this property. That's not great, but I do want to get rid of it and at least it looks like I won't be losing money. I'll post a detailed post mortem of the project after everything settles.
On an unrelated note, I saw Bruce Springsteen in concert twice last weekend - here in Phoenix on Saturday and in Los Angeles on Monday. Great shows!! And in L.A., we went to Mimi's Cafe for dinner before the show and on the way out, bumped into Steve Perry of Journey coming in. Meal in the sky keeps on turning...
House 3: Closing Delayed - But That's Good
When I spoke with my Realtor last night, I got some good news. The appraisal on the house came back at $195,000, not $193,000 as we were expecting. And the buyer's mortgage broker says the lender is okay with that, so I don't have to drop the price as much as I thought. My agent is getting the paperwork to me so I can sign off on the new sales price.
The title company says buyer's loan docs are supposed to be in on Monday, but to be safe, we are pushing the closing date back three days to Thursday. In light of this, I'm rescheduling the appointment I had today to next Wednesday.
I forgot to mention that when I drove by the property two days ago, I noticed that it looks like the house next door is being renovated. This is good news for me - I'm hoping any vandals will be attracted to that place instead of mine.
The title company says buyer's loan docs are supposed to be in on Monday, but to be safe, we are pushing the closing date back three days to Thursday. In light of this, I'm rescheduling the appointment I had today to next Wednesday.
I forgot to mention that when I drove by the property two days ago, I noticed that it looks like the house next door is being renovated. This is good news for me - I'm hoping any vandals will be attracted to that place instead of mine.
House 3: My Signing Scheduled
I hadn't heard back from the escrow company by mid-afternoon, so I decided to give them a call. Turns out, my escrow officer is out of the office the rest of the day because his grandfather's health is failing. His assistant has "put my file on top of his desk" and I've made an appointment to sign the papers at 11 AM tomorrow. We close on Monday, but I'll be out of town then and my Friday is rapidly filling up as well, so I'm running out of time to sign.
I still have not heard back from my agent, either by email or phone, as to the status of the buyer's loan and appraisal. I'm a bit nervous that things are going to fall through. If you recall, we will likely need to adjust the sales price of the property based on what the appraisal comes back at. This has still not been done, yet I am supposed to sign docs tomorrow morning.
Oh... It appears I never posted about that, although I referred to it yesterday. So no, you don't recall.
After we educated the buyer's help that their strange contract addendum was not required, they went ahead and started the appraisal process. The next day, we found out the buyer's mortgage broker spoke with several appraisers and all of them said they would not be able to justify the $205,000 price. The highest any of the appraisers could go would be $193,000, based on a quick examination of comps in the area. Since at this point, I am just looking to get rid of this place, I agreed that my absolute lowest sales price would be $193,000. I will still kick back 3% plus the $3,000 to cover the stuff in the home inspection, plus $350 for a new stove. The buyer agreed to this and the appraisal was ordered. We put the $3,000 and $350 in writing but were holding off on adjusting the sales price in writing until the final report came back from the appraiser. That was about a week ago and I have not heard anything since.
I still have not heard back from my agent, either by email or phone, as to the status of the buyer's loan and appraisal. I'm a bit nervous that things are going to fall through. If you recall, we will likely need to adjust the sales price of the property based on what the appraisal comes back at. This has still not been done, yet I am supposed to sign docs tomorrow morning.
Oh... It appears I never posted about that, although I referred to it yesterday. So no, you don't recall.
After we educated the buyer's help that their strange contract addendum was not required, they went ahead and started the appraisal process. The next day, we found out the buyer's mortgage broker spoke with several appraisers and all of them said they would not be able to justify the $205,000 price. The highest any of the appraisers could go would be $193,000, based on a quick examination of comps in the area. Since at this point, I am just looking to get rid of this place, I agreed that my absolute lowest sales price would be $193,000. I will still kick back 3% plus the $3,000 to cover the stuff in the home inspection, plus $350 for a new stove. The buyer agreed to this and the appraisal was ordered. We put the $3,000 and $350 in writing but were holding off on adjusting the sales price in writing until the final report came back from the appraiser. That was about a week ago and I have not heard anything since.
