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View Full Version : Wish us luck!



John Miliunas
05-14-2003, 11:47 PM
After better than two months on the market and, only two previous showings, we were getting discouraged in our home selling venture. Well, late this morning, the third couple came through and, according to the realtor who showed it, they "loved the place"! They actually came back this afternoon on their own to check out the plot survey and get a better feel for the lot lines. (They have three horses and were interested in the land.) At any rate, our own realtor called and said their realtor is faxing over an offer to buy, which will be at her office in the morning. We already know the offer is too low, but are going to give them a single counter-offer. We were already pricing it quite reasonably, but gave up a few more grand. It'd be worth it, because we already have an accepted offer on another property. A bit further from my job, but a little smaller and a little less land, but in a very pretty area. Oh, and for those who may not have read previous posts concerning this in the past, the place we plan on buying also happens to have a nice little woodworking shop already there! Yup...all 1300+ sq/ft of shop, to be exact! Wired, insulated, sheet-rocked and ready to roll, complete with wood-burning stove!

Like I said, wish us luck!

Jim Becker
05-15-2003, 9:23 AM
"Luck!" ;)

Real Estate transactions can be quite stressful. I recommend time in the shop to compensate... :D

Dave Anderson NH
05-15-2003, 9:33 AM
you get a decent offer and your counter offer is accepted. As for the bit about the "micro" shop, I'll give you the traditional reply used by Neanderthals and on the Old Tools list-- You Suck!

Note for those not aware of the neander protocols, the reply is one of awe and unabashed envy not an attack on anyone.

Ron McNeil
05-15-2003, 11:43 AM
John,

I do wish you luck on your real estate transaction. I hope your counter offer is accepted and all goes well. Your new shop sounds like it will be fantastic and I'm sure lots of sawdust will be made.:)

John Miliunas
05-15-2003, 5:59 PM
Jim, "....can be quite stressful. I recommend time in the shop to compensate... " Got that right! I *will* be heading out there shortly! Need to start whipping out a LARGE frame for a piece of artwork my daughter made for a buddy of mine as a housewarming present.

Dave, "...the "micro" shop, I'll give you the traditional reply used by Neanderthals and on the Old Tools list-- You Suck!" Man, if this deal goes through, "sucking" will be a great part of it! LOML has given me the 110% go-ahead for more tools, including a cyclone!

And Ron, "....will be fantastic and I'm sure lots of sawdust will be made." No bout adout it! You should see the kitchen in this "new" place. Trust me...Lots and lots of sawdust to be made to get it looking decent!

Just have to wait and see what their response will be to our counter-offer now. We need to get past an extension to our offer on the new place first, 'cuz the whole deal would extend beyond the original closing date on that offer.
It was kinda' funny when we went over their offer, though. I mean one expects certain contingencies and the such. We're including all the appliances with this place and they want the above-ground pool, too. The funny part comes in that we're "supposed to include" the 40x80 machine shed out back! Like, what? We're going to pick THAT up and move it? Sheeesh! :D :D :cool:

Jim Becker
05-15-2003, 6:48 PM
Originally posted by John Miliunas
Just have to wait and see what their response will be to our counter-offer now. We need to get past an extension to our offer on the new place first, 'cuz the whole deal would extend beyond the original closing date on that offer.

See about a bridge loan in the event you need to settle on the new property before you settle on your present one. That's often quite avialable, depending on your circumstances. Your real estate professional and/or mortgage banker can help you investigate that arrangement.

Don Henthorn Smithville, TX
05-15-2003, 8:18 PM
Here's joing you in the hope both deals go through to your desires.

Ed Falis
05-19-2003, 2:35 PM
Hey John,

Best of luck working the logistics of the transaction. I just bought a house on the 8th and moved last Thursday. No shop time for a while from what I can see with getting unpacked and organized. But when I do, I got 1800 sq ft (walk-in no less) to set up and work with ;-)

- Ed

William Parks
05-19-2003, 8:06 PM
Good luck John. I know how you feel. The wife and I are getting ready to make an offer on some acreage in Idaho. If it's accepted, then the 11 acres here will be going on the market. Stress on both ends of the deal. Keep us posted and we'll keep the fingers crossed for you.

Bill

William Parks
05-19-2003, 8:12 PM
Good luck John. I know how you feel. The wife and I are getting ready to make an offer on some acreage in Idaho. If it's accepted, then the 11 acres here will be going on the market. Stress on both ends of the deal. Keep us posted and we'll keep the fingers crossed for you.

Bill

Ted Shrader
05-19-2003, 9:52 PM
Originally posted by John Miliunas
Just have to wait and see what their response will be to our counter-offer now.

John -

Any word back yet? Hope they don't get too anal about it. :) :)

Ted

John Miliunas
05-19-2003, 10:28 PM
Originally posted by Ted Shrader
John -

Any word back yet? Hope they don't get too anal about it. :) :)

Ted

Grrrrrrrr!:mad: All did not go well. Their offer was low (expected), so we got set with a counter (*VERY* reasonable, I might add.) That's not where the problem(s) started, though. We had our accepted offer on the other "new" property, but it was only good until the end of May. The folks looking at our place couldn't close until the end of June, so we applied for an extension on our offer. Sadly, the realtor for that property IS anal and not exactly above board. The owner has long since moved to his new locale in/near Boston and can't be right on top of things. His realtor, who has historically been a real pain throughout the whole thing, never even sent him the extension request! We ended up contacting the owner ourselves and he was kinda' PO'd at his realtor and asked us to immediately fax him the paperwork, which we did and he immediately signed and faxed back. Back at the ranch, though, the people looking at our place, had several "extra" days to mull it over. Seems that even though the husband still wanted to go with it, LOHL decided the place was too big and they'd keep looking! Grrrrrrrrrr!:mad:

I'm not completely discounting the whole thing, but it's not looking good for the home team. There's the possibility that the people who looked at our place may come back, after all, because they *have* to be out of their place at the end of June, as the new owners will want it then! They also have 3 horses, which they could, of course, have boarded, but our place already has the pole barn and land. In the meantime, my new shop....errrrrrr... I mean, the house we put the offer in on, may have been picked off by someone else.

Not the end of the world, but an extremely frustrating weekend. The bigger shop would've been real nice and the lower house payments/mortgage could have kept us further away from the poor house. LOML said I could still use my mad money to get a couple pieces of equipment I'm after, but this kinda' rules out the 16" jointer! :D (Just kidding!) Oh, and thanks much for asking! Hope everyone else's realty dealings turn out better than ours! I sincerely mean that!!!:cool:

Tom Sweeney
05-20-2003, 10:08 AM
Sorry about the turn of events - hopefully it will all work out for the best.

Being in various aspects of the Real Estate Biz, including a Realtor, for about the last 15 years - I can tell you that I've pretty much seen it all. One thing to keep in mind is don't count your eggs before they're hatched. Also - & I know this is very hard - try to keep emotions out of it. IMHO this is a business transaction. If a deal is not out of line with the current market then don't let emotions stand in the way of what you want to do.
I speak from personal experience here as I've bought & sold several properties. I always looked at more like a business transaction than a personal one. a few times I paid more than I wanted & sold for less than I wanted because the deal was good enough.

As to the listing agent on the other side - contact the Association of REALTORS that he belongs to (if he does) there is a professional standards department that you can bring him up on ethics charges. He has to submit all agreement of sale issues in a timely manner to his client. This will mean some time and agravation on your part - but it might be worth it.

The bridge loan that Jim mentioned is definately worth looking into if you need to settle on the new property before your existing one.

Good Luck!

John Miliunas
05-20-2003, 10:31 AM
Tom, thanks much for your words of wisdom. Try as I might, to keep a "business" outlook on the whole thing, personal emotions manage to creep in. Especially when the better well-being of my family is involved! We have come to the realization that, if this is meant to be, it will. If not, so be it.

You mention the ethics of the other realtor and, I guess, that's where I'm having the biggest problem. I'm pretty anal about honesty, work ethic, customer service and such, which really torques me about the way this bozo treated us. Yes, I understand that his *main* concern is the owner who's property he listed, but I see him as having to perform a service for *us*, too, as probable buyers of said property. It seems that he's making the decisions for the owner. :confused:

Heck, I don't know. The people looking at our home may have decided against it, anyway, so all may be a mute point. Still, we can't help but have that nagging feeling about the timing involved with the transaction(s) and if that wouldn't have had a realtime effect on what transpired. Oh well. So it goes. Just have to suck it up a bit more and maybe we'll try again further down the road. We're still relatively healthy, have a roof over our heads, food in the fridge and maybe even a couple bucks for a stick or two of lumber!:D Lots of folks out there with much less. :cool:

Ed Falis
05-20-2003, 11:51 AM
John,

Sorry to hear about the hassles. As Tom is likely to confirm, the realtor's job is to be the seller's agent. But there is an alternative: contract with a local realtor as your buyer's agent. The way this usually works is that you sign a contract with the agent saying that you will work through them for some period of time, and a contingency clause saying that you will pay their part of the commission _if_ the seller doesn't. Around here in Massachusetts, buyer agents are routinely compensated by the seller, and the MLS listings include what the commissions are for listing agent, subagent and buyer agent. So, you have the option of just not looking at listings that won't compensate the buyer agent, or of putting a contingency into your offer that the seller will pay your agent.

If there are people who do that in your area, it really is to your benefit, as they can tell you more about the property than the listing or sub- agents can, and they can do a lot of footwork for you, as well as represent your interests in the transaction. Something like what happened in this situation (listing agent not passing info to the seller) would never happen if you had a buyer agent following up on things.

- Ed

Jim Becker
05-20-2003, 12:51 PM
Originally posted by Ed Falis
But there is an alternative: contract with a local realtor as your buyer's agent.

I highly recommend the engagement of a buyer broker. My wife and I used one when we were looking for and buying this property and it was a profound pleasure. (She's still a good friend, too, and we refer her business on a regular basis) The real important point about this is that (state regulations allowing) the buyer broker works for you and is responsible to you. (In some states this may not be totally true) A BB will save you a lot of leg work and give you a good, real estate savvy advisor during the property aquisition process.

John Miliunas
05-20-2003, 1:11 PM
Yes, I have heard of such entities. At this point, our own realtor is pretty much acting as the broker, though probably not to the extent which you gents explain. Seeing as to how we have the specific offer in place for x-amount of time, we'll probably just let this run its course. However, I'm thinking that if/when we want to take another shot at something, we will go the BB route. This whole experience has truly been an emotional roller coaster and I would just as soon avoid it in the future. Judging by your experiences, it sounds like the BB would be the ideal solution. :cool:

Tom Sweeney
05-20-2003, 9:57 PM
I hope I did not come off to brash in my first post. My nightime surfing has been seriously curtailed so I don't have a lot of time to think about my posts. I consider you one of my "forum friends" so I don't want to jeopordize that - of course this is an emotional & stressful thing.

Your reply:
>>Try as I might, to keep a "business" outlook on the whole thing, personal emotions manage to creep in. Especially when the better well-being of my family is involved! We have come to the realization that, if this is meant to be, it will. If not, so be it.<<

Is pretty much what I meant. If it is to be it will be.

Also the buyer broker is the way to go. Agency is such a crazy deal - different laws from state to state. A few states even just banned agency, crazy as that seems. If it is offered in your state definately go for it next time. Make sure it is someone that will really represent you. There are bad buyers agents as much as bad sellers agents. Be aware that the sellers agent is obligated by law to be a fiduciary of the seller . They can not tell you anything or do anything that would jeapordize the sellers position & are required to get the best "deal" for the seller. However they are required to disclose any known material defects & to treat you honestly & to get all contracts in writing presented to the seller in a timely mannner.

There are now exclusive buyers agencies that do not even list property. They only work with buyers with an agency contract. Not sure if you need to go the exclusive buyers agent route - but consider a buyers agent. Also read the fine print - some of the contracts state if the seller does not pay enough commission you are responsible for it & some of them make you completely responsible for it. Usually worked out by a seller credit in the commission amount to you - which you then pay your broker.

You are correct however - if you don't have a buyers agent for your existing deal it is too late & just let it run it's course. I would definately keep your communication line to the seller open - as much as realtors hate that ;-) & consider contacting the local Association of realtors for an ethics hearing.

Sorry I rambled - if you have any questions feel free to email me I'll try to help.

Hope it works out for the new shop er I mean home.

John Miliunas
05-20-2003, 10:30 PM
Not at all, Tom! And even if you were, I have a pretty thick hide. Heck, I've been married for dern-near 23 years and work in the IT department of a major university. I'm talking REALLY thick hide, here! :D

No, as a matter of fact, I took your statements and latest explanation very much to heart. Our current situation is such that our own realtor also happens to be a long-standing friend. She is doing all that she can to make this dream of ours come true. She too mentioned the thing about the ethics hearing. I'm still seriously considering that, though I don't have a clue how it may help or improve our situation.

As of right now, I think we both agree on the reality of it all. If it's meant to be......You know the rest. Thanks very, very much for your input and information. Hopefully, my next realty-related post will be more upbeat! :cool: