Lynn Minnick
By Lynn Minnick
Although I’ve been in real estate for 10 years now, I just closed on my first HUD foreclosure. We haven’t had that many in my market (yet!) and so far I’ve somehow managed to avoid them. I almost fell out of my chair at the closing when the HUD attorney handed me a survey to complete regarding my experience selling the property! Really? I had a lot to say about not getting answers from the transaction management company when I asked, but mostly my beef was with the additional expenses incurred by the buyer.
1. When the information lists a repair escrow, it’s not the same as you’d think. In this case, it meant the buyer has to mortgage the amount listed ($2,000 in our example) which is held in escrow by their lender, and paid out to the contractor upon completion after the closing. This was unclear to me, the buyer, the lender and the attorney involved. There really should be some type of disclosure/explanation attached regarding this on the offer documents or somewhere in the paperwork.
2. In the case of a condo, as mine was, HUD does not provide resale packages. At $100 a pop, this was another surprise expense to the buyer, and there is no clause for condo document review. There was no ability to add such a clause either.
3. Not only are there no keys to the property, which of course I expected, but there was no remote garage door opener, and no mailbox key. (Looking back, I suppose none of that should have come as a surprise – we imagined we’d be able to get an extra mailbox key from the association – that wasn’t the case – the buyer has to install a new lock there as well. That’s more of an annoyance than an expense.) Continue reading »
Cory Brewer
By Cory Brewer
An agent in my office recently had a deal where the clients on the other side of the transaction carelessly posted information online and it ended up costing them, BIG TIME.
When selling a house, it’s very important that the seller provide full disclosure about its condition.
When purchasing a house, it’s very important that the buyer provide full disclosure about their ability to qualify for financing.
Posting more personal or emotional details online for the world to see, however, is a different story.
My agent was representing the seller and received an offer from Mr. & Mrs. Buyer. My agent then caught wind of the fact that Mr. & Mrs. Buyer were posting the step-by-step details of the deal on their online social networking account, which severely compromised their negotiating position. Among other things, they gushed about how often they drove by the house, how badly they pined for it, and how worried they were that they weren’t going to get it, or that another buyer would swoop in. The biggest mistake they made, however, was posting the actual amount they were willing to pay (which was A LOT MORE than the amount they originally offered).
OOPS! My agent’s sellers counteroffered for said amount, and were able to benefit from Mr. & Mrs. Buyers’ carelessness.
This is just one of the many ways that people can get into trouble by misusing social media. Think twice before you hit the “post” button!
Cory Brewer is a REALTOR® in the Seattle area and branch managing broker at RE/MAX Preference on Mercer Island. Connect with Cory at www.CoryBrewer.com.
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