ladyamalthea

real estate law? My husband and I are purchasing our first home and the closing date is supposed to be July 13th . There is a condition in the agreement that states that the seller has to turn utilities on so we can conduct an inspection and that we have the right to negotiate repairs that come about from said inspection.

Sounds great, right? Here's the catch:

The seller lives on the other side of the country (I'm in GA, he's in Oregon) and for some reason the utilities still haven't been turned on yet (we signed the agreement a week ago tomorrow). I will not close if we haven't been able to inspect the house.

Here's my question: Is there anything I can do to light a fire in him to get the utilities cut on so this isn't an issue? I've tried going to my agent about it, and nothing has happened. He just says he'll let me know once he talks to the seller's agent and then I hear nothing.

Any advice/ thoughts would be greatly appreciated, as I only have a two week window or so to close, since we've already given our apartment notice that we were leaving.

itiswhatitis...

lady,

if all of the utilities are cut off i would assume the house has been on the market for a while and he couldn't afford to pay the bills - that would scare me a little - or at least make me offer a little less - i don't think you can make him - but you would think if he really wanted to sell the house he would - i hope things work out ok - and as for the apartment, i'll bet they'd let you stay month to month if you had too...

good luck,
s

ladyamalthea

Yeah, the house was on the market for a while because he was being too stubborn on the price. He bought it as an investment property. Don't worry, we talked him down to our price range, and according to the appraiser, the house is worth 20 grand more than what we're paying.

I know something would work out if this doesn't; I know I'm resourceful enough, and so is my husband, to where we would be okay, but now our dreams are in this house and I think we would both be upset if it didn't go through because of the utilities...

grrr!

Jwife22

Hi Lady- I am a real estate paralegal in South Carolina so what I say may be worth a grain of salt in Georgia since all state laws are different BUT...

in our contracts there is a time limit that both buyer and seller have to close, unless it is extended. All contingencies in the contract must be met prior to that or both parties must agree to close without meeting the contingencies. Whatever is in the contract must be done. If those items aren't taken care of and someone recieves damages, clients can get their money back and they can file suit for damages.

If I were you, I'd check with an attorney . It won't be free but most attorneys offer a reduced consultation fee.

cinderellawkids

In Florida theres a time limit too, course all properties Ive bought or my grandfather ( a real estate investor) bought we just had the utilities turned on for inspection and then off, but I think that was our practice for timing purposes

Elana

I am a real Estate appraiser. FWIW in this volotile market a lot of different numbers acan be shown and supported by market evidence. Property condition is a big one. find out (if you can) the location of the comparable properties used. Also, find out if he did an INTERIOR inspection of those comparable sales. If not, a $20k spread is not too uncommon. Hopefully your RE appraiser is not affiliated with the agency trying to sell you the house.

Closings slip. Dates Slip. Unless the contract states "Time is of the Essence" and the closing date, they usually slip. In purchasing my last 4 properties, only this very last one closed on the date stated in the contract. Of the 7 properties I have bought and sold, all others slipped on the date.

Have your lawyer contact the sellers lawyer and see about the utilities. Try to get a deadline for this or tell them you are backing out. Put the responsibility ball in the seller's court. Let you RE agent also know that if you do not have an inspection date by XX/XX/XXXX you are going to expect your deposit and down payment back and will consider the seller to be in breech.

Also, and this is very important, be prepared to walk away if the seller refuses to perform. Be sure that your lawyer will get any downpayments back from Escrow. There are standards in a contract that require one thing to be exchanged for another and penalites for failure of the parties in contract to peerform. If you do not have a contract (you are under binder) you have nothing.. seller or buyer can back out.

I had a deal fall through that was in contract and I had another deal almost fall through at the closing. I have had many binders broken.

ladyamalthea

Thanks everyone. I just got off the phone with my agent and he said that he will give the seller's agent one more chance to return his call before he goes over her head to her broker. Maybe that will work? If not I will definitely be looking for an attorney.

Much appreciation,
-Courtney

Hangin' In

Lady,

My husband is a real estate attorney in GA and I work with him doing closings. We, on the average, do 30 closings a week and we are a one man practice. That is a lot of closings for one attorney. I say that to explain we have experience, lots of it.

I was going to say to light a fire under your real estate agent. I'm sure your agent wants this thing to close since he/she will get a commission. And just remember, YOU ARE PAYING this real estate agent to negotiate this deal for you. It is his/her job to make sure the stipulations set out in the contract are taken care of before getting to the closing table. You hire an attorney to close the loan, but it really is the job of the realtor to make sure the contract, and everything in it, is honored BEFORE you get to the closing table. The attorney is not the negotiator, although people call us all the time, wanting us to "MAKE" the seller do this or make them do that. But the realtor is the one who is to follow up on all this, not the attorney (although our office does go above and beyond the call of duty because we want to help our clients close their loan. After all, that does pay our bills, too. )

Bottom line: The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Squeak to your real estate agent again if you have, too. When you start messing with his/her commission, saying you won't close if you haven't been able to check out everything, I bet he/she will pay a bit more attention. Messing with someone's $$$ always seems to get their attention, I've found.

Hugs,
Hangin' In
P.S. And you, the buyer, is the one who gets to pick which attorney you want to use for the closing since you, most likely, will be the one paying him. "Closing costs" are always negotiable, but normally they are the responsibility of the buyer. Just know if you are paying the closing costs, you get to pick which attorney you want to use.

Elana

All of what Hangin said is true.

In NY the buyer has one attorney, the seller ahs their attorney and the bank has their own attorney representing the loan and filing the loan. In NY the buyer pays closing costs and they run $10k (and don't let anyone tell you otherwise because it includes title insurance, first year taxes, survey etc.).

In NY the real Estate agent is assumed to not be a contract lawyer.. and when you agree to buy you get a contract from the seller's attorney. You attorneny looks this over and if it is good, sends it to you to sign.. and then YOU read it cuz it is YOUR MONEY... Usually there are clauses in there as to home inspection requirements and deadlines etc. BTW if you don't do the inspection here in NY by the date specified on the contract, there is no backing out if the home turns out to be falling down!

Hanging knows her stuff better than I. I have bought and sold my own properties, but I never acted as my own attorney!