3R Home and Barn Project

[dave1949]

Boy, you've got that right! And California has gone off the deep end with inspections and disclosures. I distinctly remember buying and selling property with 3 to 5 pages of paperwork. We're now up to about 60 pages on this sale and only 75% through the process.

Our second house is old too. Our contract says specifically "As-Is" yet the modern day as-is means as-is but perfect!.

Our buyers have nothing into the deal what-so-ever. The only thing they have is a job and have qualified for a loan. They get 100% financing and no down payment. Even their insurance and taxes are financed! Then we had to kick in some of the "normally buyer" closing cost in order to close the deal because they could not even afford that.

You can see why so many is such a situation just walk away. They have nothing invested; just renting-to-own. So then the loan companies get skittish and here comes the hundreds of check boxes, disclosures and inspections. If they have to repossess they want to make sure they can resell. If they'd simply require the buyers to have some skin in the game I'm sure there would be fewer walk offs.

I hear loan companies may get stricter after the first of the year (or sometime later). In the meantime it's the sellers who suffer having to please the loan companies not the buyers.

That's all so true. Especially the part about skin in the game and rent-to-own. If I remember the disclosure in Maine is about one page long and covers the obvious things, floods, biohazards, water supply/quality, septic system (if applicable). Beyond that, it is illegal to hide something if asked about it. I'm not advocating sticking a buyer with a serious/expensive problem, but the nit-picking is just plain stupid. But, people pay the home inspector to find something, and they oblige.

If an older home is for sale, generally the price reflects the fact that not everything is shiny and new, latest and greatest. That can often be offset by a good location, established neighborhood, etc. I think people have become confused about what they are actually buying. Watching too many home buying improvement shows on TV or whatever.

Jinman - Congratulations on your land sale! Raw land is moving slow around here for sure. I see some good deals out there, for someone who is in the market, on decent homes with larger acreages (30-50 acres). There is no way a person could recreate those properties for the sales prices.
Dave.

 

[EddieWalker]

The home inspection is often required by the banks, but even is it's not, it's a good idea for the buyer to spend the money to know what they are getting. What the inspection finds then becomes part of the negotiating process. The seller is under no obligation to change anything, but that of course means that the buyer does not have to buy the house either. It can be very frustrating when trying to sell a house, and what they want fixed.

I've actually left a few things undone on homes that I was flipping so the inspector would find them and not hunt so hard for something to put on his report. They will find something wrong with your house, so leaving them a few carrots just makes it easier for me to agree to fix them and allows the buyer to feel they are in control.

As long as it's disclosed, it's just a matter of what they will live with and still buy the house. This is very common with additions and home improvements that were done without permits. Where I'm from in CA, anything over $100 is supposed to have a permit. Can you do anything to your house for under $100? Where I live now, you need a permit for $10,000 or more jobs. To stay legal, I just break up bigger jobs into smaller jobs.

In the end, it just depends on how desperate you are when you sell the house, as to what you are willling to do to make it happen. The last house that I sold, I did what they wanted on their initial offer, but then they started adding to that list after I'd completed that first list. It was stupid stuff like a different shower door. I got fed up and told them no. They got pissy, but bought the house anyway.

My parents put their house up for sale just before prices crashed. They had allot of lookers, but no offers. I came back to help them prep the house, but my Mom fought me on everything. She's a collector and thinks her clutter is something that a buyer will admire. WRONG. It fills up the house and makes it harder for a buyer to think of it as "their" house. We got some of it cleared out, but she had also painted all the walls white, and the place looks very serile. It's not warm and inviting. She refuses to take my advice, and after two years on the market, they took it off the market. With some new trim to enhance the windows and different paint, it will be allot more marketable. They disagree.

Eddie

 

[hobie]

Eddie, I can really sympathize on the mother issue. My father was more receptive, but they missed out on a lot of $ because of her resistance. She would still be in her own home if she'd listened to me. She's in a nursing home now.

 

[EddieWalker]

My mom grew up in Northern Saskatchawan. She was the first born in Canada, but her parents and siblings were born in the Ukraine. She never saw a flush toilet until she quit school in the tenth grade and moved to Vancouver to work in a bank. There really is no way to comprehend how poor she was, or what their life was like there. No electricty, hand pump for water and going outside to use the outhouse.

I think that has allot to do with her taste and her need to keep things that she buys. She's not a hoarder to any extreme, instead she's a neat freak, cleanaholic with displays of her collections almost overwhelming their home.

With 3,500 sq ft, she's using every bit of it for her displays and it's just too overwhelming for people who came to look at the house. It actually feels crowded and small with just the two of them living there.

Eddie

 

[dave1949]

My mom grew up in Northern Saskatchawan. She was the first born in Canada, but her parents and siblings were born in the Ukraine. She never saw a flush toilet until she quit school in the tenth grade and moved to Vancouver to work in a bank. There really is no way to comprehend how poor she was, or what their life was like there. No electricty, hand pump for water and going outside to use the outhouse.

I think that has allot to do with her taste and her need to keep things that she buys. She's not a hoarder to any extreme, instead she's a neat freak, cleanaholic with displays of her collections almost overwhelming their home.

With 3,500 sq ft, she's using every bit of it for her displays and it's just too overwhelming for people who came to look at the house. It actually feels crowded and small with just the two of them living there.

Eddie

I don't think you will be changing her mind anytime soon as I read the situation. Sometimes when our older parents get an idea or way of doing things, we just have to go with the flow I guess. At some level, she probably agrees with what you are telling her, but those collections represent something dear to her. You have my sympathy, don't take it personally.

Dave.

 

[ultrarunner]

I've actually left a few things undone on homes that I was flipping so the inspector would find them and not hunt so hard for something to put on his report. They will find something wrong with your house, so leaving them a few carrots just makes it easier for me to agree to fix them and allows the buyer to feel they are in control.

Eddie

Very shrewed and something I need to consider!

I've found it easy to get mired with buyer requests/demands...

I will look over the list and take care nit picking things... the aerator in the faucet needs cleaning type of things...

Then I will credit a small amount in Escrow for other items if I want to make the deal... there is nothing I hate more than getting hung-up on "Repairs" and then have the deal fall apart or being on the hook for warranty of the repairs after the sale...

Sold one home in Pleasant Hill that had the original steel sash windows... the old style cranks were no longer available... the seller wanted me to repair or replace the windows... I spent about a day modifying new cranks to fit and every window worked perfect... she was not happy because her plan was to replace them and her friend worked for a window company...

At least leaving a little money on the table keeps you out of the repair side of things and should anything turn-up later... you can say the buyers were credited...

My brother is seeing more offers with lots of demands... new windows, new doors, new toilets are big items in Hayward/Castro Valley... Home Inspectors write up older toilets as non-compliant or not up to code... doesn't matter that they work flawlessly... same for non lowflow shower heads

 

[dcyrilc]

Rob and Loretta,

All I can say is WOW! I've been reading your thread for the past three days straight to get up to the present time. I think I'm going to have to keep watching this thread to get my fix as well. Your home is beautiful!! Sorry to hear about your tractor.

I'm going to have to look for your other threads. I'm quite interested in the mods you made to the box blade and TNT. Do you have seperate controls for the two tilt rams so that they can be operated independantly? The grapple is fantastic also.

 

[3RRL]

Rob and Loretta,

All I can say is WOW! I've been reading your thread for the past three days straight to get up to the present time. I think I'm going to have to keep watching this thread to get my fix as well. Your home is beautiful!! Sorry to hear about your tractor.

I'm going to have to look for your other threads. I'm quite interested in the mods you made to the box blade and TNT. Do you have seperate controls for the two tilt rams so that they can be operated independantly? The grapple is fantastic also.

Thank you Cyril,
Regarding the separate controls, yes, they are operated by a 2 spool valve.
I can't remember whether of not I posted links to the boxblade conversion, the TNT and side link install or the grapple install? I know I have separate threads on each of them. If you can't find them, let me know via PM and I will get the direct links for you.

 

[dcyrilc]

Thank you Cyril,
Regarding the separate controls, yes, they are operated by a 2 spool valve.
I can't remember whether of not I posted links to the boxblade conversion, the TNT and side link install or the grapple install? I know I have separate threads on each of them. If you can't find them, let me know via PM and I will get the direct links for you.

Will do. Right now I'm trying to catch up on the rest of the threads I haven't been reading for the last three days because of being glued to your thread.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Rob, have you noticed how many views of this thread? WOW