So if this doesn't fly, advice for next time--?

19 years ago

I don't do this stuff much, so I appreciate the benefit of other's experience.

I am in a reasonably brisk market (at the moment there are no other 4 brm houses under 200K in our school district) and priced 2K below comps when we listed Oct 1. 16 showings, four offers, under contract in one week. Buyer backed out after a month due to wanting to stay in their state of origin. (We got $1250 of the $2K earnest money back, sigh). So back on the market in Nov and found a buyer within a weekend, 2 offers this time.

Buyer (as known to those following my saga) got an inspection which turned up "$7900 worth of repairs." They asked for $5K. As I understand it, none of the repairs are necessary to the sale of the house, though updating the electrical would be desirable (less than $2K) Wednesday we agreed to give them $2500. We have not heard back and we have no idea whether this is going to resolve happily or not.

So here's the question-- if we go back up, are we going to suffer a stigma from having 2 contracts fall through? Any advice for avoiding this off and on stuff? I do think we'll take a hard look at the repair list and see what we can get done-- we've had a hard time finding help at this time of year, but if we go till after the holidays, I suppose it will be easier to find.

Sigh.

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Comments (7)

Pipersville_Carol
19 years ago
I don't think the previous contracts will create a stigma. I had three contracts fall through before finding a serious buyer, it didn't seem to affect anything (other than the number of grey hairs on my head).

It was during the super-heated market several years ago, and buyers were apparently going under contract to take homes off the market while they thought about their decision.

In all three cases my potential buyers pulled out during the three-day attorney review period without penalty. The reasons: "afraid of being in a flood zone", "buyer broke up with her boyfriend", and no reason at all (just a big "No" written rudely across the contract).

The people who eventually bought the house had wanted it from the very beginning but it was always under contract when they checked. And they only found out the contracts had fallen through because they drove by during the realtors' open house.

Hang in there, demeron. It's great that you've gotten so many offers, sounds like you're doing things right and will sell your house soon. Did you put a time limit on your counteroffer?
try_99
19 years ago
I believe you are priced quite compititively and seems to be in a good market based on what you wrote above. Even if for some reason this second contract fall through, you should not have problem getting other offers.

hope the negotiations works out with the current buyer...good luck!
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demeron
Original Author
19 years ago
Well, I got what I hope will be good news. The buyers want us to replace the panel box and upgrade the electric to 200 amp, replace a frayed service cable (?) and get the AC serviced.

Called and can't get the AC serviced until spring, so we will offer to credit them the $99 for that. The electric company is going to come out to check if the cable is theirs. (I never noticed it, not sure which service it is). I called for an estimate on upgrading the box/service and am hoping it will come out, all told, to no more than the $2500 we had agreed to spend. Even if this transaction doesn't work out, the upgraded electrical will be a good selling point.

Still six weeks out from settlement. Kind of nerve-wracking, isn't it? Thanks all!
kellyeng
19 years ago
FYI - We had our electric panel/box upgraded a few years ago and it cost $1200.

Good luck, Demeron!
lkplatow
19 years ago
Yeah - I'm guessing the electric will be a lot less than that. We spent about the same as KellyEng for an upgrade from 100 to 200 amps back in 2000 or so.

Your buyers should have taken the $2500, LOL!
quiltglo
19 years ago
And don't feel bad. We buy or sell something on the average of every two years. Been doing that for the last 20 years and we still learn something with each transaction.

Gloria
susana_2006
19 years ago
I sold my mom's house in LA last April. Prior to the successful sale, two escrows had fallen through.
The reasons given sounded doubtful, but the buyers seem to have the advantages here. Anyway, it didn't affect the third escrow (and I doubt that the 3rd buyers were even aware of the previous two). Good luck
Susan