Seller's Disclosure

We found a house!  Closing is in two weeks so it isn't final yet and I remain on edge that something may still happen to bring the deal crashing around my feet.  Worrying is not a natural state of being for me so my anxiety level is extraordinarily high.  This is not a happy place for me.

Holy cow what a process to even get to this point.  As I've said before, shopping is not my forte.  Combing through racks of clothing is annoying enough, walking through house after house is downright exhausting.  We have bid on three different houses, each with its own set of problems.  The current house is by far the most expensive and it was difficult to get the seller to come down to a palatable price.

Then came the inspections.  We were confident that this was a rather clean property and actually considered forgoing the cost of inspection.  Woooo, Buddy, that was a VERY BAD IDEA.  We are SO glad we went ahead with the inspection.  So glad.

The relator suggested an inspector he has used often with the understanding that this guy is very thorough.  And he was.  He pointed out every little bump, crack, and possible hiccup with the house.  He even showed hubby how to operate the windows, humidifier, and dryer flue.  The inspector raved about the quality of the house and said it had been cared for very well... and then submitted a list a mile long of stuff right down to cracks in the back of the fireplace.

This prompted several exchanges between us and the seller about desired repairs.  What's frustrating, though, a couple of items should have been on the disclosure.  I understand that no one caught the fissure in the back of the fireplace.  It took a bright flashlight and craning my neck to see it.  It's probably been there for over a decade, hiding in shadows.  But the disclosure was BLANK.  Not a damn thing listed.

The seller's agent was apologetic saying this property was in trust and that the trustee never lived in the house.  oooookay... 

There is a miniscule amount of termite damage that was revealed in our inspection.  When we inquired suddenly a warrantee popped up, quickly.  That tells me the trustee has access to information.  Furthermore, we found out through an insurance agent that a claim for theft was made against the property just a few months ago - WHILE IT WAS ON THE MARKET.  This pisses me off.  Oh and the theft we pieced together and was later confirmed by the seller was all of the copper water lines in the basement.  That's major.  I don't give a damn that the trustee didn't live in the house, this theft happened on their watch.  They submitted an insurance claim on it and the agent knew about it.  That is dishonest.

In speaking to other relators they agree it is shady, but not illegal.

While all of this is going on one of my friends is also shopping for a house.  She found a gorgeous home complete with an in-ground pool.  I was happy for her, but her timing totally screwed with my anticipated move.  Allllll about me, right?

Then she, too, encountered non-disclosed issues with the house.  Unfortunately her seller is uncooperative (worse than mine) and refuses to repair the $10-$15,000 estimate of termite damage.  That's pretty significant.  There were some other major issues before the termite situation arose, also not disclosed.  While termites can wield their damage rather quickly and may have not been something the owner knew about, the other items WERE festering issues.




As a seller I'm not sure what I would do in that situation.  Chances are the people just don't have the cash to make the improvements, I'm definitely sympathetic with that.  Yet, having a beautiful home that needs significant repairs means the price has to come down or you are stuck with a rotting, empty house.  And that, my friends, is an even more expensive proposition.

I will have to keep this in mind as one day my property will have to go back on the market.  It is so very important to keep a house maintained and repaired.  This very reason is why I advocate that renting a house is not always a bad idea (another blog post for another day).  I will be a loud reminder to fully disclose the known flaws of a house going up for sale.  Yep, it might affect the price but that was your bed to make a long time ago by not keeping the property in good repair. 

A Horse In The Front Yard

We spent the weekend at my brother's house and like a dumbass he failed to fix the fence correctly so one of his two horses decided to escape. Jasper never wandered away from the house and there wasn't too much concern about him straying off the property. At some point somebody would fix it and get Jasper back in the field with Willow.

I had to laugh after touring the woods on their property to see Jasper standing next to my niece's bedroom window, kindly mowing the lawn.