Buyer takes possession
Dear Phyllis
I think the real estate questions and answers are very interesting. thank you. A year later, her daughter and her husband finally accepted the offer and closed escrow. We had a quick escrow of just 30 days. The owner had moved out before the house was put up for sale, but her daughter was left behind in the sale. After closing, she had a week to move, but they were concerned that packing had not begun at the time of the inspection. She said things were chaotic when she did her final inspection just before closing, so she was confident she would be able to leave on time. Apparently, she didn’t hire professional movers and the water stop valve broke while moving her washer and dryer. So her “movers” turned off the water to the house. After waiting a week to get her, her daughter had no water to start cleaning her house. The seller’s plumber couldn’t arrive until after the weekend. When the plumber came on Monday, she told him the water heater needed to be replaced because she hadn’t unplugged the recirculation pump and the water had stopped. So she took two more days to install the new water heater. Fortunately, her daughter’s real estate agent had the seller put her $5,000 in escrow as her deposit. She spent $500 patching, repairing and painting her daughter. She thinks her daughter should keep all her savings. What do you think? amber
Dear Amber
I’m sure my loyal readers understand that I’m a real estate agent, not a lawyer. Therefore, I can only tell you what I think is “fair”. Since your daughter hasn’t had water for her 4 days, do you think it’s “fair” for her seller to reimburse her for her daily PITI (Principal, Interest, Taxes and Insurance)? Masu. I think your daughter didn’t want to move into her house before it was cleaned. Additionally, I believe it is “fair” for the seller to pay for the patch repair.
I have been selling real estate for 30 years and have never encountered a situation like this. What’s interesting is that the money you save by not hiring professional movers will end up costing you more money in the long run than if you hired professional movers. Fortunately, her daughter’s agent negotiated the deposit, which saved her a lot of trouble.
Phyllis