Need advice asap!!

[jennylove]

So, my realtor is also the realtor for the guy who is buying my house. Which means I am my own advocate. I am getting very tired from this and I need some advice. I am not sure what to do!

 

I was asking 73k, but buyer offered 76k with me to pay 3k of closing. I accepted. A week after the contract was signed, he had his inspector come out to inspect. His inspector found termites in my basement. My realtor told me that HE (our Realtor) will send a termite inspector out to give an estimate. It didnt sit well with me that the realtor was insisting that I use the company he sends, but since the estimate was 850, I did not bother getting a 2nd opinion. The termite cleanup was supposed to take place on aug 26th as arranged by my realtor. I was out of town that day, but my realtor said the termite guy will have access thru the keybox. I assumed he came out since I didnt hear otherwise. I was going to pay the 850 at closing.

 

The day AFTER the termites were exterminated, the appraisal took place. So, aug 27th. I found out on Aug 31st that the house was only appraised at 72000. I told my realtor that 72k is fine, but I will not pay closing fees or termites. My realtor said that the buyer wants me to contribute 1500 towards closing + termites fees. I called the deal off. My realtor sent me an email begging me to reconsider. I was firm in price and again said No. Realtor then said ok, I will be getting a bill for the termites and its on me to pay it, no other penalties involved.

 

The next day, Realtor called and said He will pay for termites out of his commision, if I will accept paying 1500 towArds closing. I said yes. So, he sent me the contract, and I wanted it revised to say that the buyer will pay the first 1500 of CC and I will make up the difference of up to 1500. So, hypothetically, if CC are 2k, buyer will pay 1500 and I will pay 500. Realtor said no, and basically told me that tbe buyer is getting the raw deal, going on to say that he's already invested 1k in the house with his inspections. I told him that he is misleading, that the inspections are not part of the equation, but nonetheless, I will go along with it. An hour later, another surprise email....

Realtor told me, oh btw, the termites are now going to be exterminated tomorrow but dont worry, I am footing the bill. I said, no no no, the termites were taken care of on Aug 26th, remember? He replied, Ok I must have forgotten to tell u that I cancelled the extermination on the 26th because I didnt want to accumulate costs for u in case the appraisal didnt go through as we hoped. I sent him another email saying he should have told me this 2 weeks ago, and then I questioned why he told me that I will be getting the bill for the termites when I called the deal off earlier this week. His excuse is, he forgot.

Is it just me, or am I being taken advantage of? I havent signed the new contract and Im thinking about calling it off again.

[luminousone]

Well, it all sounds normal except that the realtor forgot he had cancelled the termite guy.

 

It is really unfortunate for you that the appraisal came in lower than your original deal. But the bank won't give your buyer more than that, so you had to lower the price. If you kill the deal now, you would still not get over the appraisal price with a different buyer.

 

That was good of the realtor to give up some of his commission. He is getting the double commission but what he gives up will help keep your deal alive.

 

You should just pay half of the closing costs and have your buyer pay half- don't try to change the deal after the fact and don't try to nickel and dime the buyer.

 

I really don't think you are being taken advantage of, but you can certainly get a second opinion on the termites with your own inspector and pay for a second appraisal if you like.

[ParisPaulette]

Bottom line, if you don't feel the person you've hired for a job is doing the job you expect them to do then you are a free agent to go elsewhere. And that's the case with anyone you hire to do a job regardless of what the job is.

[jennylove]

Yes, exactly my point. My closing costs cannot be THAT much. That is why I am asking us to go in on closing at 50/50, with me contributing a max of 1500. Seems fair to me. But no, realtor says I am responsible for the first 1500 and then the buyer will pay the rest.

[luminousone]

Yes but Jenny- it depends on how badly you want or need to sell. If you want to quibble about a thousand bucks then you risk losing the whole deal. If you lose the deal then it goes back on the market and it may end up costing you that much to pay another few mortgage payments. Or even property taxes (mine come up due in a month). So it may still be better for you to sell with this deal rather than wait.

[jennylove]

Im not desperate to sell. I only bought it for 67k 2 years ago, but Ive put around 5k worth of repairs into it. Its def move in ready. My realtor gets 7 percent, so as u can see, Im trying to get as much out as possible.

[luminousone]

Im not desperate to sell. I only bought it for 67k 2 years ago, but Ive put around 5k worth of repairs into it. Its def move in ready. My realtor gets 7 percent, so as u can see, Im trying to get as much out as possible.

 

Ah yes- so you would just break even... Or actually lose money, with the fees.

 

Well, you always have the option to stay there longer while the equity goes up and then try to sell later. Still, there is no guarantee that it will appreciate in value nor is there a guaranteed that you will get a buyer later.

[jennylove]

Its a great house....well built and very solid. My friends gasp when they walk in because its so beautiful. The town is now very high in unemployment though. I like to think I can do the FSBO at 72k and offer to help with closing up to 1500. At least i wont be paying realtor fees on top of it. I was willing to go with the flow, but my Realtor is playing games in my opinion. Not cool with it.