"Bob G." wrote in message
...
:
:
:
: Sorry BUT I only read your original message down far enough
that I
: came to the conclusion that I woudl say NO and tell the buyer
to
: take a hikle...
:
: I have only some one home in my entire life (it was my Dads
place
: after he died and to be honest I hatted delaing with most of
the
: buyers to be...seemed they all kept pointing out little things
that I
: SHOULD FIX or I SHOULD REDUCE my price if I did not....TOLD
THEM all
: NO... The house sold in a few weeks...as is .. for exactly
what I
: asked for it... BUT most of the buyers really did leave a very
bad
: taste in my mouth...
:
: Bob G.
:
:
:
: On 12 Jan 2006 21:49:16 -0800, "Shiba"
wrote:
:
: I'm in the process of selling my house. It was built in 1965,
I am the
: second owner, having resided here for 7 years. When I bought
the home,
: I had an inspection done. The inspector basically said that
the house
: was pretty clean. He went into the crawl space and didn't
note any
: real defects. The only thing that he noted was to watch out
for a
: front deck where wood was touching earth (which I ripped out
and put in
: exposed agregate). Another was that the roof was a torchdown
(since
: there is a flat area over the enclosed carport), and just to
watch that
: I kept the debris off of it, but it was otherwise in good
shape. He
: also said that there was some slight settling (1" to 2" max)
in the
: foundation on a corner of the house. That inspector said that
wasn't a
: problem, that it was normal in a house this age.
:
: I'm in the Seattle metro area, which has an extremely hot
housing
: market right now. My home is in a desirable neighborhood and
I've
: spent quite a bit of money updating the kitchen, main
bathroom, and
: landscaping in this home. I also replaced the water heater
and
: converted the furnace to forced air gas two years ago. I asked
269K for
: this 1941 sq foot home...I had a lot of activity, lots of
lookers and
: interested parties. We were averaging 1 to 2 showings a day
and then
: we have a bite on day 6, with a woman making an offer on the
spot.
:
: Ironically, the day before this offer, we suspect that this
same woman
: called my realtor "fishing" for information and asking about
arranging
: a showing with my realtor: She said her name was Pat, that
she was
: moving here from Idaho, asking things like: "Is she firm on
the price?
: How anxious to sell? etc..." The next day, this woman
shows up at
: the house with her agent (her son) and makes an offer on the
spot.
: Ironically, this buyer's middle name is Pat and she just sold
her house
: in *gasp* Idaho. She and her son write up an offer that
night. First
: off, she low balls me 5K off of the asking price, which is
fine. I
: countered and met her halfway at 267K and she immediately
accepted.
: She schedules her home inspection immediately, within 24
hours...
:
: Now that are nit picking to death every little thing they
could find
: with this 41 year old home! All of the defects were
supposedly found
: in the crawl space. She found the same slight settling that I
had
: recorded 7 years ago (no change or movement in foundation).
She gave
: me this laundry list of things to fix before she will buy:
:
: Correct slope in floor & leaning support post
: fix leak in kitchen sink drain
: Tighten main bath toilet to floor
: Replace wax ring in other toilet (2nd bathroom)
: repair leaking bathtub drain
: repair leaking water supply line
: place all electrical wires under house in junction boxes
: remove wood plumbing & heating supports & replace with
plumbing straps
: reconnect heating duct
: vent dryer to side of house
: reattach insulation that has fallen in crawlspace & unblock
vents
:
: She wants the house jacked up and that area under foundation
repaired
: so there is no settling, which I know wont be cheap.
Replacing wax
: rings is no big deal..... but I feel like I am getting nickel
and
: dimed here. I'm ready to have this be a deal breaker and
walk. Of
: course my agent is bending over backwards, wanting this deal
to close
: so she can get paid...I feel like she is more concerned about
the buyer
: than me. She's also saying that we will have to do a new
sellers
: disclosure and document all of these findings, which could
scare off
: new potential buyers.
:
: I'm thinking about getting my own appraisal and a second
inspection
: (which I am kicking myself for not doing in the first place).
Just to
: see if these problems are real "deal breakers" or if she is
just being
: nit pickey. Or should I just give her the finger and keep on
: fishing...
:
: I can't help but wonder if the inspector is a family member to
her like
: her son realtor. She sure is anxious and wants the house....
:
: Any words of advice from people that have been through this
kind of
: thing?
:

IMO, this thread's pretty much reached the point of diminishing
returns with a lot of people suggesting the same basic response
but deciding they're experts on all kinds of things, including
some which weren't even in the original post.

The OP should decide whether they want to be firm on the price
(sounds like it would be logical to do) and just tell the buyer
"yeah, sorry you'll have to spend a little extra money; hope it's
worth it to you" and let them decide. Just don't hide anything,
don't lie, take a position and stick to it. Then it's someone
else's decision and not theirs to worry about.
On the other hand, you could set a "minimum" price in your own
mind to accept, and tell them something like "Oh, OK, I'll take
as little as ... but that's my only concession", but not more
than a couple thou difference.
NO house is going to be perfect for the buyers, period.
Something will always be not quite right; it's the nature of the
game to be picky. Pick and attitude - stick to it. You'll have
time later to take a new one if it's really necessary. Doesn't
sound like it is.
There are some real con type people out there too - they're
the ones are "fun" to deal with if you don't take them too
seriously. Just be agreeable, nod politely, and say NO when they
underbid it.

That is, IFF as the OP indicated, there is time for all that.
Otherwise some concessions may be in order. That's also part of
the game.

My two cents anyway,

Pop