<< Back to all Blogs
Login or Create your own free blog
Layout:
Home > Oh man

Oh man

June 7th, 2014 at 03:06 pm

The home deal negotiations continue. Seller was supposed to sign the counter-counter-counter-counter-counter-offer agreement last night. He didn't, but his agent says he's confident he will sign today.

Fingers crossed please! I was ambivalent about this deal because I knew that carrying two mortgages and trying to sell our current place would be a massive strain on both our budgets and my sanity. But a funny thing happened along the way ...

The seller rented out the upper unit (the one we would live in). They weren't supposed to do this, but they apparently couldn't bear to not be making money. And they said if they had to kick out their new tenants, they would want our deal to include a forfeiture of the earnest money if the deal fell through.

The choice was easy for me. Having month-to-month renters in our unit is perfect, because it gives us time to renovate and stage our home. Having the lower unit empty is perfect because our friends can move in right away and start paying us rent. Plus, we can start storing our stuff in the basement of the new place to help the condo look less cluttered for selling. "Free" storage -- bonus!

The new renters would need 45 days notice if we wanted them to leave. They knew when they moved in that the house was being sold, so this wouldn't come out of the blue if we asked them to move in 3 months or whatever. If our condo doesn't sell easily, we can keep renting the new home while we wait. If it does sell, we'll just make sure the closing date gives us time to move out the renters and move ourselves in.

Before, I was looking at this as our monthly housing costs until the condo sells:
- Condo mortgage $1040
- Condo dues $700
- (Minus parking spot rental $85)
- New mortgage $3100
- New secondary loan $100
- Utilities on new home $400 (highest estimate)
- (Minus friends' rent $1100)

Total after rents: $4155 per month

Now, with all the same considerations, except $2200 for upper-unit rent and $200 less utilities because renters will share that expense?

$1755 per month! In other words, only $100 more than our current housing expenses of $1655.

So now I REALLY want this deal. I wasn't too bummed at the thought of it falling through before, but now I would be rather devastated if it does.

I repeat, oh man.

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments »

9 Responses to “Oh man”

  1. Another Reader Says:
    June 7th, 2014 at 04:19 pm 1402157991
    1402157991

    You have completely unmotivated sellers that continue to hope for a better offer. They know you really want the house and they can do whatever they want and you will hang on, hoping the deal will go through. My bet is the seller is hoping to sell it to an investor, with the new lease in place, over the weekend. Or the seller may rent the lower unit as well for the $1,495 and decide to take it off the market.

    You need to get a copy of the rental agreement before you sign anything. You may find it's a lease, and you are stuck with the renters through the term. Nobody moves into an apartment thinking they are going to be forced to move out in as soon as 45 days.

  2. ceejay74 Says:
    June 7th, 2014 at 06:04 pm 1402164266
    1402164266

    You could very well be right. We shall see! Just got an update; their latest promise has a time-stamp -- 3:30pm Central today. We'll see if they stick to it!

  3. ceejay74 Says:
    June 7th, 2014 at 07:13 pm 1402168399
    1402168399

    I looked back thru the email chain and it does look like it's month to month; here's what my agent said after she asked them about it: "They know that the property is listed for sale. You would need to give them 45 days notice to move out. We talked about various scenarios. The tenants can stay as long as you want them too. After the close, you will get the $2175 rent/month plus the security deposit – which you will have to give back when they leave so its really not yours to keep. ... [seller's agent] manages other properties so he offered to find them a place."

  4. Another Reader Says:
    June 7th, 2014 at 07:46 pm 1402170398
    1402170398

    What people say and what is in writing are often different. In your shoes, I would request and read the rental agreement. I wonder what these people said to the new tenant....

  5. ceejay74 Says:
    June 7th, 2014 at 08:15 pm 1402172120
    1402172120

    That would be quite a whopper to tell, even for these guys! But to your point I'll try to get a look at the renter agreement before we sign. Honestly though, would be more of an inconvenience than a deal-breaker. The renters are a huge weight off my shoulders!

  6. Looking Forward Says:
    June 7th, 2014 at 08:18 pm 1402172316
    1402172316

    Why would they rent part of it when they know they have deal on the table? That strikes me as super odd.
    What happens if you end up getting the place and they renters won't leave and you are forced to evict them - much longer than 45 days worth of time. Frown

  7. ceejay74 Says:
    June 7th, 2014 at 08:31 pm 1402173073
    1402173073

    Worst case scenario, there's plenty of room to shack up with our friends in the lower unit while eviction takes place -- and our friend we'll be renting to is a lawyer, so I think we'd get it straightened out pretty quickly! Big Grin

  8. Another Reader Says:
    June 8th, 2014 at 02:37 am 1402195035
    1402195035

    Eviction = no income. Could easily be 90 to 120 days, depending on the process in your state.

    More important, did you get the signed counteroffer?

  9. ceejay74 Says:
    June 9th, 2014 at 02:22 am 1402280536
    1402280536

    No income from the upper unit was the original scenario. Tight budget, but we could make it. So even the worst worst case scenario takes us exactly where we were before!

    And yes! We FINALLY got it.

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]